Here’s to the Great British Protest

You would have to have been living under a rock to have missed the fact that London’s students have been in uproar for the past few weeks. The Lib Dem u-turn on tuition fees has raised questions everyone hoped we wouldn’t have to ask of the coalition – are things going to get worse, rather than better?

For those uninvolved in the sit-ins, demonstrations and TV interviews, you would be forgiven for thinking that the student population has degenerated into a baying rabble, largely undeserving of the funding they are so desperately defending. Footage of drunk guys swinging from war memorials and teenagers in balaclavas hurling missiles at the police presented an apocalyptic view of the country’s youth, set against a backdrop of fire and smoke.

Yes, some of the demonstrators have let the side down over the last month. That moron who threw a fire extinguisher out of the 20-somethingth floor of Millbank Tower because he was just so bloody anti-establishment springs to mind. As do the ones who graffitied things like ‘fuck you Cameron’ on a deserted police van. But for every thug who saw it as an opportunity to start a fire and be on TV, there are thousands of others who are genuinely furious about a government that has broken promises, cut corners and taken away from those who don’t have much to give.

Whether or not you agree with the protesters, or indeed the manner in which they’ve been protesting, I for one have been surprised and shocked by the reaction of the government, the police and in some cases, the press. We are lucky enough to live in a democracy, where we have a right to form unions and protest peacefully if we disagree with how the country is being run. It is worth noting that compared to many other European countries (France in particular springs to mind) this is a right that we exercise rarely.

Last week, the government made the controversial decision to authorise the use of water cannons when dealing with further demonstrations – a strong statement to make, and one that is only likely to fuel further unrest among demonstrators.

While the majority of the police force, like the majority of protesters, have acted respectfully, there have been a few worrying deviances. Notably, shocking footage emerged last week of several officers pulling disabled protester Jody McIntyre out of his wheelchair and dragging him along the pavement during the demonstrations in Central London. This was covered minimally by the majority of the press, who chose instead to focus on pictures of students starting fires or throwing missiles. Instead, the incident was viewed thousands of times on YouTube, and generated heated debate on social networking sites such as Twitter.

When the incident was finally reported, journalist Ben Brown interviewed Jody McIntyre on BBC News as if he were a child with an ASBO – repeatedly asking whether he had provoked the police. On three separate occasions, he asked a guy with cerebral palsy – who had already stated that he is physically unable to move his own wheelchair – whether he was throwing missiles and inciting violence. He then referred to Jody McIntyre’s online presence and the fact that he has described himself as a ‘revolutionary’ as further evidence that he posed some kind of threat.  It watches more like an episode of Jeremy Kyle than an impartial news broadcast from the BBC.

I’m not excusing the actions of a small minority of protesters who caused unrest, violence and vandalism across London. However, the government needs to take note of the fact that the British public has finally found its voice and it doesn’t seem likely to quieten down anytime soon. Perhaps its time to stop labelling all protesters as troublemakers and ‘revolutionaries’. Most of them are neither – they’re just disappointed and let down. And they have every right to try to make their voices heard.

Image by bobaliciouslondon courtesy of Flickr