SPIRE: School of Politics, International Relations and Philosophy @ Keele University

By Dr Brian Doherty (11.11.10)

 Around 250 Keele students and staff were on last Wednesday's education cuts demo (10.11.10) – a surprisingly high turnout for our small and politically quiet university. For most this was their first demonstration, a student rite of passage perhaps – but this was different in many ways from my own participation as a left-wing student in past protests. This time there were hardly any Trot paper sellers and no one asked for solidarity with Nicaragua. Make no mistake there was no shortage of political passion and ideas – about justice and fairness, but no sense that this was part of an ongoing ideological struggle. Little of the commentary in the media on this demonstration has focused on its most remarkable feature, which is the willingness of the current generation of students to take action on behalf of future generations.



So, what did we learn from our day of doing politics in the street? That you can put in a lot of hours and feel that you are just one of those making up the numbers. The Keele coaches arrived very late; by the time we had joined the march it was almost over and we hardly got to walk more than a few hundred yards. We also learned our own experience can be completely at odds with the news. We took part in a noisy and good natured protest, but the real story according to the papers was that a peaceful protest had turned ugly. No it hadn't – for us and for all but a few hundred protesters the protest started and finished peacefully.
But the occupation of Millbank, damage to the building and the injuries to police and protesters became the story and as someone who researches and teaches on protest there was much that was familiar in the way that this played out. First was the claim that non-students (probably 'anarchists') must have been responsible, although it now seems that most, maybe all, of those who went into the building were school, FE and university students. Most protests involving young people get reported in this way – the young are supposedly impressionable, easily led, vulnerable to manipulation and simply less sensible than those of us with children, mortgages and pensions. But as more details emerged there were other, more complex, stories. The crowd that was supportive of the students getting onto the roof was hostile to the one person who dropped or threw the fire extinguisher, and so, was not merely an irrational mob. Also since Millbank was targeted because it was where the Tories had their HQ, it is remarkable (and a relief) that the 'thugs' don't seem to have attacked any actual Tories.



It struck me that more experienced protesters would have been able to get into the building without using violence – and might have been able to do something more interesting without smashing up the building. For instance, if the aim was to stay – why not prepare for an occupation with lock-ons and supplies – making that roof a site for an ongoing argument about the cuts? But the skills of non-violent direct action (NVDA) are developed through practice and in movements that plan carefully. Skilled NVDAers don't go into the wrong building first. Any planning and co-ordination for the Millbank occupation was probably of the kind that says – 'we'll see if we can get into the building and then see what happens.'



Was it all spoiled by a few hundred folks then? Yes, and no. Yes in that people were injured and the violence became the story but no in that good consequences can sometimes come from bad actions. The surprise combination of the largest student protest for decades and the anger expressed in the mini-riot at Millbank has changed the perception that the cuts are being accepted. Until now most people have probably felt that the cuts would not affect them. None of the main political parties has any credibility on student fees or wider public sector cuts, but it needed groups with organisation and resources like the NUS and UCU to kick-start something. It's hard to say whether we will now see a build-up of opposition but an indication that we might came in the unlikely setting of a presentation by Cheshire PE teachers that I attended the night after the London demo. They run a Schools Sports Partnership which over 10 years of volunteer work backed by government-funding has built up a fantastic programme linking school students with sports clubs and providing them with coaching and other qualifications – a great example of what the Big Society might actually mean in practice. It became apparent, however, that this was all about to disappear as Schools Sports Partnerships were a casualty of the 'Bonfire of the Quangos' announced in the summer and many of those speaking that night would lose their jobs. But there was a petition, a campaign and plans for a march. I don't know how much of this is going on in other places where the cuts are about to bite, but if the PE teachers are mobilising, the government should be worried.