- Demonstrators smash into police van and steal uniforms
- Two officers injured as they clash with protesters
- Territorial Support Group rushed in to bolster police lines
- Huge crowds are 'kettled' on section of Whitehall
- New unite chief Len McCluskey hails 'poll tax spirit'
- More protests in Cambridge, Birmingham, Manchester and Glasgow
Police officers were seriously injured today as angry demonstrators protesting against the hike in tuition fees again brought chaos to the streets.
Around 10,000 students and protesters flooded London for a new demonstration just a fortnight after anarchists unleashed mayhem at the Tory Party headquarters. More than 25,000 students in total are believed to have taken part in protests across the country today.
Scotland Yard, determined not to be caught on the hop a second time, ensured hundreds of officers were on duty and quickly reinforced numbers as flashpoints developed.
Confrontation: Police remove a demonstrator during clashes in Whitehall this evening
Flashpoint: Demonstrators vent their anger by setting a bus shelter alight in London's Whitehall
One constable suffered a broken arm and a second officer was knocked unconscious as he battled to contain protesters outside the Foreign Office. He injured his leg and was taken to hospital. Six members of the public were also taken to hospital with minor injuries.
Huge crowds had attempted to break the security cordon outside the building but the line of police was quickly bolstered to ensure the barricades were not breached.
Confrontation: Although the demonstration began peacefully, tensions increased once student protesters reached Whitehall and came head-to-head with a barrier of police officers
School's out: Pockets of protesters were still lingering in the capital well into the evening
Out cold: A police officer lies on the road, apparently out cold after clashing with protesters outside the Foreign Office
Surge: Police battling to hold back protesters outside Foreign Office and Treasury buildings
Protesters tried to use a barrier to smash through the police cordon
The Territorial Support Group, who are more highly-training in public order containment, were then rushed in after protesters tried to batter their way to Downing Street using a barrier.
Demonstrators were tonight being held in a section of Whitehall, using the controversial practice of 'kettling' despite criticism of previous attempts at using the strategy.
Earlier, a Metropolitan Police van parked in the middle of Whitehall was targeted by youths who leapt on the roof, smashed the windscreen, hurled sticks and sprayed graffiti.
Witnesses said a smoke bomb was thrown inside the van as protesters, some covering their faces with scarves, hit the windows with wooden sticks.
Destroyed: A vandalised police van is towed away from Westminster, in London, tonight
A protester wearing a police helmet and holding a riot shield in central London today
Fanning the flames: Demonstrators set fire to their placards in London
Pupil power: Protesters steal police riot shields from a police van while another attempts to protect it
Student Zoe Williams tried to intervene when youths started rocking the van from side to side but was given short shrift.
She said later: 'Some kind of anger and aggressive behaviour can show the Government that we are not joking around and will just let them do it [hike fees] anyway but showing we're this violent and ready to take it to this level is detrimental.
'A lot of people aren't here to support the cause, they are doing it to have a day off school and be rebellious and burn stuff. It really does dampen the efforts of other people.'
Fireworks were let off nearby, greeted by cheers and whistles, as lights were smashed. There had been fears of serious injury when it was rocked and came close to toppling over.
Stop: Protester Zoe demands demonstrators do not overturn the police van
Light relief: A demonstrator dances on a police van while another urinates against it
The van was abandoned a short distance from the Royal United Services Institute where Met boss Sir Paul Stephenson has been giving a speech on terrorism.
Students eventually managed to break inside the vehicle and looted police uniform and equipment, including body armour.
So far, three people have been arrested for violent disorder and theft and six members of the public have been treated for injuries.
Tom Lugg, 23, studying mental health nursing at Kingston University, Surrey, said: 'It shows the young people of Britain are pretty angry.
'I don't agree with what some of them are doing but we have to empathise. Why should the next generation have to pay more? The Tories are hitting working families, just like they did with the Poll Tax.'
Pursuit: A female protester sits at the wheel of a police van during the protests
Smash and grab: The protester sits at the wheel of the police van after students smashed their way in
The clashes came as newly elected leader of Unite, Len McCluskey, hailed the 'poll tax spirit' and called for a growing 'resistance' to spending cuts.
Mr McCluskey said the TUC had to 'co-ordinate' the anger that was building against the Government'.
He argued: 'The very fabric of our society is being dismantled before our very eyes and we have a duty to lead a resistance against this attack. It is slaughter by stealth.'
The lifelong activist refused to rule out anything over plans for fight the cuts, adding: 'I don't believe we should have an objective of bringing down the Government - that would be dangerous - but I do believe that when people come together, anything is possible.
'I am delighted that people are talking about the poll tax spirit because there we had a prime minister at the top of her power, with a big Commons majority, who was brought down by people power.
'We need to demonstrate to people that we are dealing with a Government that does not have a mandate, that is living a lie and has deceived the people.'
Kicking off: A protester attacks a police van in central London today
Flashpoint: Protesters targeted a police van left in Whitehall during today's student demonstration
Mayhem: Protesters sitting on top of the van, which is scrawled with anti-Tory slogans
Dangerous: Protesters rocking the police van left in Whitehall
In other areas of Whitehall there was a party atmosphere, with students jumping up and down to dance music as helicopters hovered overhead.
The protest has been dubbed Day X, with parents, teachers and trade unionists invited to join students.
Many of the rallies have been organised by the Education Activist Network and the campaign group Youth Fight For Jobs.
A delegation of students were due to present a letter to Nick Clegg expressing their disgust over the Lib Dem U-turn on fees and his office in Sheffield is also likely to be targeted.
The letter reads: 'No amount of twisted reasoning from either you or Vince Cable can hide what everyone can see: you have lied to us.
'We call on you to withdraw LibDem support for Conservative cuts to our education system, or face the disappointment and anger of a generation that has been betrayed.'
Fury at Lib Dems: Protesters in Nick Clegg's home town today
Students expressing their anger in Newcastle and attacking wealthy Cabinet ministers
Protesters had also shown their anger last night by hanging an effigy of the Deputy PM on the gallows and chanted: 'Nick Clegg, shame on you, shame on you for turning blue.'
Such is the fury at the Lib Dems change of heart that Mr Clegg has been warned not to cycle to work in case he is attacked.
By mid-afternoon, police had given up trying to disperse the crowds and decided to contain them in Whitehall.
A Scotland Yard spokesman said: 'There is a containment on Whitehall to prevent further criminal damage and we will look to disperse anyone being held as soon as we can, when we can ensure that no further damage will be committed elsewhere.'
Jenny Jones, a member of the Met Police Authority, questioned their methods. She wrote on Twitter: 'Police have kettled demo. Mad. Just makes crowd distressed.'
University workers have organised simultaneous rallies in Birmingham, Glasgow, Manchester and Cambridge.
In an early sign of trouble elsewhere, around 50 students stormed the Great Hall at the University of Birmingham this morning after security had tried to force them out.
In Sheffield, around 1,000 students gathered in the city centre, many from schools as well as the two universities.
There were reports of pupils walking out of a number of secondary schools before gathering at Sheffield University Students' Union.
Many in the crowd appeared to be of school age, some as young as 13 or 14. A line of police guarded the front of the Victorian town hall as the crowd chanted and waved placards.
Hundreds more took action in Leeds, attacking Nick Clegg for 'turning blue'
Demonstrators also protested in Glasgow, despite Scotland being unaffected by the fee rise
In Manchester, where several thousand protesters had gathered, a group of several hundred broke away from the main demonstration and headed towards the town hall.
Around 3,000 protesters had made their way from Manchester University student union shouting 'No ifs, no buts, no education cuts'.
In Cambridge, more than 200 students scaled a fence of the Senate House - a building reserved for graduations - and marched into the grounds of King's College shouting and waving placards.
Bystanders reported a huge police presence and said officers were using batons and their fists to push back the students. Around 3,000 people staged a noisy but peaceful protests in Liverpool.
There were some minor scuffles between protesters and police in Bristol, where around 2,000 people joined a demonstration.
About three dozen police officers were blocking the entrance to the town hall, where protesters were sitting down reading books. Horses being ridden by mounted police were spooked by a firework.
Youth Fight for Jobs spokesman Paul Callanan claimed the fees hike will create a two-tier education system. 'Education will become a privilege for the few that can afford it,' he said.
Mark Bergfeld, of the Education Activist Network, said: 'We're there to build a mass movement, we're there to build a movement which can overcome the divisions between the different people, between the different sections of society and actually start to generalise the fight against austerity.'
Mounted police lead the crowds in Bristol, where the protests remained mainly peaceful
Police horses were spooked in Bristol after protesters threw fireworks
Demonstrators brandishing placards condemning the cuts in Oxford
Police monitored all information sources in a bid to avoid a repeat of the violence two weeks ago, which saw Millbank overrun.
Government plans to raise fees up to as much as £9,000-per-year from 2012 have caused outrage, particularly to the Lib Dems who had promised to oppose any hike during the election.
Parliament is due to vote on the increase before Christmas, with several top Lib Dems still likely to vote against despite Mr Clegg supporting the Tories over the change.
The Lib Dem leader insisted again today that he 'massively regrets' his U-turn after pledging to stop fee rises but urged students to examine the fine print.
Asked how it felt to have students hang him in effigy, the Deputy PM told the BBC's Jeremy Vine: 'I'm developing a thick skin.'
He said: 'I regret of course that I can't keep the promise that I made because - just as in life - sometimes you are not fully in control of all the things you need to deliver those pledges.
'But I nonetheless think that when people look at the detail of these proposals (they will) realise that all graduates will be paying less per month than they do at the moment and the poorest quarter will be paying much, much less and we will be making it easier for some of the youngsters currently discouraged from going to university to go to university.
'I hope that over time - perhaps not overnight - people will say "OK, this was controversial, it was difficult for the Liberal Democrats, but actually they have put something into place which will finally allow our education system to do something which it hasn't done for generations, and that is to promote rather than thwart mobility."'
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