LONDON – Police arrested 20 people when thousands of students marched through London yesterday in the latest display of anger against the government’s austerity measures.
Several of the arrests came after a group of protesters split from the main route and pitched more than 20 pop-up tents at the base of Nelson’s Column in Trafalgar Square, mirroring an encampment of anti-capitalist protesters over the last month at St Paul’s Cathedral.
Seeking to avoid a repeat of the stand-off at St Paul’s, police moved into the square and cleared the tents from one of London’s most popular tourist spots.
Minor scuffles broke out as police carrying riot helmets funnelled protesters on the main march through the streets towards their rallying point in the financial district.
Four protests by students late last year led to clashes with police, assaults on public buildings and the Conservative Party’s headquarters, and almost 400 arrests.
Up to 10,000 people from across Britain had been expected to join the demonstration against the education policies of the coalition government, although estimates suggested the figure was lower.
It was the biggest protest in London since the capital and other English cities suffered four days of rioting in August, the worst urban violence for decades. – (Reuters)