Student protest at Westminster

davetherave

Watching this on Sky News for the last hour now.

"Students" are protest outside the commons over the introduction of tuition fees.
Three police officers have been hospitalised, one with what is being described as a serious neck injury.
A mounted unit rider was dismounted earlier as well. Flares, paint bombs, bottles, missiles and god knows what else being fired at them.
Victoria station has been closed because of the fire risk.


Gone to a vote now, could be interesting if it passes. :eek:

msg11

Voted threw

goldie fish

Really kicking off there. Lots of mindless criminal damage. Wondows broken at HM Treasury and Supreme court.

eroo

http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/Politics/Fees-Three-Police-Injured-As-Students-March-On-Westminster-Over-Rising-Tuition-Fees/Article/200808215850255?lpos=Politics_Top_Stories_Header_0&lid=ARTICLE_15850255_Fees%3A_Three_Police_Injured_As_Students_March_On_Westminster_Over_Rising_Tuition_Fees

I hope that mounted officer is alright.

1922

fair play to the met

seem to be doing a good job. fantastic restraint too

MagicSean

1922 wrote: »

fair play to the met

seem to be doing a good job. fantastic restraint too

Restraint is one way of putting it. However i'm sure the hospitalised police and the victims of the criminal damage won't feel as happy about it. To me it stinks of a "let them tire themselves out" attitude.

davetherave

Apparently they are still been contained on Westminster bridge. News reports are saying they are being let out one at a time and being compared against photos taken earlier in the day.

It's looked like an interesting technique of getting the mounted officer that was thrown to safety, grab what you can and drag him. I'm sure his colleagues had good intentions and wanted to get him secure but what if he had had a neck or a back injury


What would concern me is how Prince Charles car was led into a mass of bodies and secondly, how the police escort and the Royal Protection unit allowed people close enough to crack a window in the car. Either that was the planned route and nobody bother to change it, or one of the out-riders took a wrong turn. :eek:


Where is the water cannon when you need it though, a soaking from the freezing Thames finest would sort out the large majority of that crowd. Or even some rubber bullets, but that wouldn't be politicly correct would it?

meathstevie

Eh..the term rubber bullets is probably not the right one to use. They're called AEP's these days and are a lot more accurate than the yokes that were used in days gone by and are also a lot less likely to cause serious injury or death. For the rest of your comment, I agree 100% that a good drenching from a water cannon could have been some help there.

Ziycon

davetherave wrote: »

It's looked like an interesting technique of getting the mounted officer that was thrown to safety, grab what you can and drag him. I'm sure his colleagues had good intentions and wanted to get him secure but what if he had had a neck or a back injury

Think it was a case of life over limb as he was very close to being trampled on by the horse. Hope he makes a full recovery.

Rialtas

davetherave wrote: »

What would concern me is how Prince Charles car was led into a mass of bodies and secondly, how the police escort and the Royal Protection unit allowed people close enough to crack a window in the car. Either that was the planned route and nobody bother to change it, or one of the out-riders took a wrong turn. :eek:

I don't think they were let drive into the containment area. The BBC map below would indicate that they were quit a distance from the route of the march. I think the problem was that the group was fragmenting so much, there was no way to secure the Royal's route. The SO14 outriders could have recced the route 2 minutes before hand and the group could have popped out of a side street unknownst to anyone. It was only a group of 20 so it probably wouldn't have even registered to anyone with a bird's eye view.



Some have also questioned the use of the Rolls Royce due to the profile of it. The threat level would probably have been better suited to a Range Rover or Jag, but the Variety show is a big Royal event for the public so they needed something with good visibility to see the Prince. I don't think there was anyway to sanitise half of London so something like this was bound to happen.

I'm sure it doesn't help those involved when you have all these retired policemen second guessing their former colleagues on Sky News.

All in all, it must have been mental in some command room in Scotland Yard yesterday. Imagine having to monitor a massive civil disturbance and the safety of multiple VIPs at the same time?:eek:

LeixlipRed

Why do do they waste tax payers money monitoring their well being at all is the question people should really be asking.

Terrontress

meathstevie wrote: »

Eh..the term rubber bullets is probably not the right one to use. They're called AEP's these days and are a lot more accurate than the yokes that were used in days gone by and are also a lot less likely to cause serious injury or death. For the rest of your comment, I agree 100% that a good drenching from a water cannon could have been some help there.

Not even a direct drenching. Scoot the water over the top like a light rain. In that cold weather they would have headed off once they got wet.

meathstevie

Terrontress wrote: »

Not even a direct drenching. Scoot the water over the top like a light rain. In that cold weather they would have headed off once they got wet.

You should see the way continental Police forces use watercannons, I've had the pleasure of seeing the Belgian Federal Police at it a few times at football matches that ended in riots...it's like bowling. When that thing opens up for real you either move back or get knocked over by a high power jet of cold water.

Their machines would be identical to the ones the PSNI has. Great piece of equipment. Even the sight of them rolling up the road will make the average rioter think twice, they're just an impressive brute of a machine.

Shield

Couldn't believe learning that the water in that had to be heated, otherwise it was a breach of the rioters' human rights! The mind boggles..

meathstevie wrote: »

When that thing opens up for real you either move back or get knocked over by a high power jet of cold water.

eroo

psni wrote: »

Couldn't believe learning that the water in that had to be heated, otherwise it was a breach of the rioters' human rights! The mind boggles..

Well in fairness, it's probably the closest thing to a shower some of them will ever have!

CB19Kevo

here's a few high quality pictures from the riots.
If thats the future of society we sure are in trouble:eek:

http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2010/12/london_tuition_fee_protest.html

angelfire9

psni wrote: »

Couldn't believe learning that the water in that had to be heated, otherwise it was a breach of the rioters' human rights! The mind boggles..

Does that not TOTALLY defeat the purpose?
Might as well hand out shampoo & shower gel as well then :rolleyes:

meathstevie

psni wrote: »

Couldn't believe learning that the water in that had to be heated, otherwise it was a breach of the rioters' human rights! The mind boggles..

Should have two spouts on it so, one soap and one water....All joking aside, the right detergent would turn a street into something far slippier than an ice rink

KevR

davetherave wrote: »

Apparently they are still been contained on Westminster bridge. News reports are saying they are being let out one at a time and being compared against photos taken earlier in the day.

It's looked like an interesting technique of getting the mounted officer that was thrown to safety, grab what you can and drag him. I'm sure his colleagues had good intentions and wanted to get him secure but what if he had had a neck or a back injury


What would concern me is how Prince Charles car was led into a mass of bodies and secondly, how the police escort and the Royal Protection unit allowed people close enough to crack a window in the car. Either that was the planned route and nobody bother to change it, or one of the out-riders took a wrong turn. :eek:


Where is the water cannon when you need it though, a soaking from the freezing Thames finest would sort out the large majority of that crowd. Or even some rubber bullets, but that wouldn't be politicly correct would it?

In fairness, water cannons can cause serious injury including ripping someone's eyes out.

I don't think that water cannons should never be used (there are cases where their use would be justified) but I hope they are not used with people under the impression that protesters will only get wet and cold.

Also, I think the talk of them being used in London is a little bit knee-jerk.

KevR

KevR wrote: »

In fairness, water cannons can cause serious injury including ripping someone's eyes out.

My baton can cause serious injury too, should I not have that? Basically, if you are hanging around once a water canon is deployed only you are responsible for any injury that you incur. You get enough warning to leave an area before water is deployed.