Updated on
Summary
Thousands of students and school pupils protested across Britain on Tuesday against planned rises in university tuition fees, bringing disruption to central London and putting strains on the coalition government. This protest began with a short rally in Trafalgar Square but the planned march to Parliament did not take place. In fiery exchanges in parliament, Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg, the leader of the coalition's junior partner the Liberal Democrats, defended the fee hike which his party had promised to vote against during campaigning for May's election. Outside parliament, there were bizarre scenes of cat and mouse as protesters dispersed from the route of a designated demonstration fanning out across central London with police in hot pursuit. The protesters clashed with riot police while others played out a game of cat and mouse with authorities, breaking into groups and dispersing from the designated demonstration route. The Metropolitan Police, who had prepared themselves in large numbers at Parliament Square, struggled to catch up with the students, but there did not appear to be any incidents of violence as in previous weeks; where as the police also arrested 5 students during this protest.
