as night fell, police used mounted police to charge crowds containing children and peaceful protestors. more arbitrary cordons led to scuffles, and a few by now very angry protestors stopped some traffic and broke a couple of windows. those kettled were gradually let out, some having spent ten hours imprisoned.

with thousands kettled and the night drawing in, protestors lit fires to stay warm. some took their frustration out on police lines, but interestingly, many of the students stopped others from committing acts of violence. i saw one group pushing back an attempt to use some fencing as a battering ram, and the angrier demonstrators were disarmed.

once again, new people arrived outside the kettle, and police brought in even more massive reinforcements to begin an operation to clear whitehall by pushing people up the road away from the kettles.

the kettles themselves still contained thousands of people, and as the cold set in, more fires were started. many of those held had been there for more than eight hours by now, and there were a few concerted attempts to break through police lines and at one point about a hundred made a successful breach and got away.

the operation to clear whitehall became quite violent as lines of riot police pushed forward, knocking people off walls, occasionally using batons, and pushing anyone infront of them, including press. the police lines were aided by a dozen mounted police, who on occasion charged their horses directly into the crowd. as people scattered in panic, it was pure luck that no-one appeared to be trampled or otherwise injured.

as the crowd neared trafagar square it was clear yet another line of police were coming the other way, and to avoid yet another kettle, some charged through, and others also escaped down great scotland yard.

once free in trafalgar square, some went on the rampage, pulling bins and other debris across the road, and unaccountably smashing a couple of bus windows on their way.

one group of about 50 people was surrounded in duncannon street near the strand, and one photographer was pushed over by a bullying transport police inspector. as people surrounded this cordon, tension rose, and more riot police arrived and pushed people away from the cordon. there were a couple of attempts at a sit-down protest on the strand, but police waded in, drew batons, and very forcibly cleared the road.

back at parliament square, by 9pm police had pushed the original kettle further up the road, and on the far side were letting people out in small numbers at a time, sometimes, though not always, taking details as people left.

press were not allowed past police lines, and police were anxious to clear loiterers out of whitehall.

overall, there were several key moments to the day.

first, police stopped a march that had been publicised as going to parliament square, then kettled thousands of people, some of whom were not part of the protest, and most of whom were peaceful.
next, police started pushing into the crowd, provoking a response, and then there was the mysterious single abandoned police van.
then, the sinister and arbitrary sweep for young people in the area, some of whom were clearly not involved, but who were then detained for hours.
finally, dangerous use of mounted police charging into crowds that contained children.

after G20, for an all too short while, police attitudes to protest improved, at least in front of cameras, but after the equally orchestrated events at millbank recently, the police have found an excuse to behave dangerously, provocatively, and repressively.

however, there were two very positive things that emerged from the day. first, the students demonstrated all over the country and are clearly not going to back down over the cuts despite this repression. second, the public and passers-by showed tremendous support for the students, see it as part of a much wider struggle against a further deep attack by the rich against the poor, and showed genuine horror and disgust at the police repression of wholly legitimate protests against an illegitimate government out of control.