I'm not defending the activities of those people causing trouble but some of the vitriol aimed at students per se by a few on here is embarrassing. I can only think it's motivated by envy or jealousy.

oooooh you did so well guessing last time. No where near this time.

I don't hate the police.
I did watch it live simultaneously on both sky and the BBC. So i had both a right wing and a central left (if tories are to be believed eg jeremy hunt) i saw everything.
I have the sense to see that they had decided to report on the most extreme areas. The most extreme being smashing windows. Not to extreme. The French would have set fire to cars and buildings.
A minority were throwing things. A minority of police got hit on the head. As you say they were wearing helmets. The fact remains not one police man was injured. They were heavy handed and their planned tactics were horrific. You say they could have given them a 'pasting', how is that acceptable. So they almost killed a couple of students when they could have killed many. So what? they were heavy handed. I have said that it wasn't all the police. Just a select few.

You don't know what those students went their to do. Unless you were there. were you? If so you are a bit of a hypocrite.

Well okay you want to believe the kid was trying to desecrate the dead. That is sad. I don't understand why he would. is that the platform you think he was going for? so his train of thought was "okay there are many students here. I wil take this oppurtunity to show my hatred for the dead"? really? Nah, he is daft and made a mistake. I have only seen the cenotaph once and it had to be pointed out to me. I understood what it was after someone had said what it was. He most likely thought he was standing on, say, a statue or monument like a fountain. If he stood on the Victoria statue at the mall or the lions at nelsons then no one would care. He was just unlucky in where he stood. You shouldn't assume just cause you know something, the world does.

And when will you learn. Don't insult me. Insult the argument. I'm not a member of the male anatomy. You sound like a sulking preteen when you say things like that. It makes your (flawed) argument sound petty.

One thing is for sure if the officers didn't wear their PPE, then I'd guarantee you there would of been police fatalities. You throw a metal bar/snooker ball/lump of concrete at some ones head there is every likelihood it will kill them, FACT!

I really can't see how you can defend the rioters!

1 thing is for sure, and that there will be more civil unrest in the country. Next month vat goes up, as will unemployment, the gas and electric bills will rise, a rise in council tax will be announced, more people will be losing benefits.

These Student/Wombles-led riots are only the beginning.

The whole policy would seem unfair to me on those who intend to study full-time in the future. To make it fair then all current graduates or those who have received any training for City and Guilds and the like should retrospectively pay the cost of their higher education. This would also assist in closing the budget deficit.
I guess this would also be a vote winning policy considering how all the passengers on the Clapham Omnibus off here seem to think it only right that students pay for their education. The only downside would be that I’d guess the protests that followed the announcement of this policy would make the poll tax riots look like the teddy bear’s picnic.

For what its worth my own view is that everybody should have access to free education for as long as they want it. Its ok for the righteous to criticise courses in media studies, video gaming and the like but the reality is that if Britain is going to be anything approaching an economic power in the future then it will require an highly educated workforce specialising in such fields as the policies of the last tory government ensured that the UK has no manufacturing industry left that’s worth talking about.
Strangely enough I was actually in London last Thursday and Friday and never saw or heard a peep of this widespread mayhem. There was however a report in the Evening Standard on Friday and the actual estimate for the clean-up costs for the devastation left behind was actually less than the average debt that a student will graduate from university with – puts it all into context for me.

It's not a free education, somebody as to pay!

alot of people will not be receiving a pay rise for the next couple of years is it right that they fund young Tarquin in his degree on David Beckham!

This arguement has more holes than a sieve
No policemen were hurt, cobblers. Two separate news media companies (BBC and Sky, I dont watch ITN, I prefer my news bulletins to be aimed higher than the audience of SpongeBob Squarepants) reported that the police received x amount of injuries (I can't remember the amount now, but their figures did tally).
Clips showed officers being carried away to receive treatment.
Even if the Police weren't hurt, what were the intentions of the rioters (that's what they are) towards the Police when they were throwing rocks,snooher cues and metal bars...to tickle them. NO, THEY WANTED TO HURT THE POLICE.

You've only seen the Cenotaph once and had to have it pointed out to you. "FLIPPING HECK" HOW POOH THICK ARE YOU In case you don't remember, every November, huge amounts of the population wear red poppies and reflects on the hundreds of thousands of British Troops who have lost their lives defending our lands and that of our allies. Many of them assemble round the Cenotaph (yes, that thing you've seen on the news over the years that says THE GLORIOUS DEAD and is always called The Cenotaph. I hope this helps. I new what the Cenotaph was, and what it stands for while I was at junior school). You really must be a little "silly".

And your corker "he made a mistake".
A mistake is picking up the wrong brand of beans when you go shopping
A mistake is totaling up a few numbers and getting the answer wrong.
A mistake is putting a red sock in a whites wash.
A mistake IS NOT climbing up on a war memorial, swinging on a flag and generally acting like a knob. It's called unacceptable behaviour and I hope he gets punished appropriately.
When are people (and their sympathisers) going to take responsibility for their actions, instead of classing it as high jinx, and pleading for leniency when they get found out.

I've seen you write some questionable material on this forum over the months, JDRocket, but this has a cherry on the top of it.

FWIW, I hope everyone, protesters and Police, who've transgressed in these sorry episodes, get what's comming to them. As I said before TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR YOUR ACTIONS

Your argument is completely full of holes and has absolutely no substance to it. Do you really think that the various news agencies would actually bother to report from the areas where there was nothing going on and ignore the places where there were problems? The fact is that most students went there to lawfully demonstrate, but their demonstration was taken over by a number of diverse groups who were hellbent on causing trouble. I strongly suspect that many of the people causing problems were not students at all, but were full time agitators. Your argument re the Centotaph is just pathetic. Whether Mr Gilmore wanted to cause offence or not, he did offend a large number of people and the argument that he can be forgiven because he was full of drugs is ridiculous. I strongly suspect that you are a student yourself, probably a law student. If that is the case you should know that being drunk or under the influence of drugs is not a legal excuse for wrongdoing.
You also mention the Police actions and that had the demo been in France there would be cars burnt etc. Maybe you should look at some of the recents demos in France and look at the Gendarmerie response.
The fact is that there was violence towards the Police and they responded to it.

look again at the photograph

Can soon put an end to all this.Get the water cannons out.Apparently listening to the radio today they cost 1 million each + the water is very cold which in this weather being soaking wet would feelike your in the Arctic.Not many would hang around then.Only problem would be that the peaceful demonstrators would get wet.Mind you some of these students wouldn't mind a free bath i bet

It all began with the protesters ripping up the metal barriers and trying to ram them into the police at head height,
that was the first flare up. Did you not see this? the police stood their ground and took this abuse for quite a considerable amount of time, when the police did advance they were using shields to push the rioters back, even though some of the protesters were trying to decapitate the police. Seriously jd what would expect the police to do stand there and take it like a punch bag?

As for Charlie boy, his step dads band recorded an album about the loss of life in war and the effect it had on those left behind, I'm sure charlie would of listened to it at some point, I don't believe for one minute he didn't know what he was doing, he was acting the big anarchist in front of his mates swinging on the union flag!

Unfortunately for charlie somebody took his picture, silly little rich boy.

Brutum, out of interest did you support the Police during the Miners' Strike? I would be interested to hear of your comments surrounding the 'The Battle of Orgreave'. Made the student rally look like handbags.

PSvoid judgment which is in legal effect no judgment at all. I found that funny. Then again I was a student once before I started paying tax again.