About 40 people, students and non-students, protested outside the Trent Building on Nottingham University's lakeside campus today. They were there in solidarity with the students in London who've been beaten and arrested over the past week by the metropolitan police.

The ULU students in London initiated a sit-in last week with a number of demands. They were there partly because of threats to the funding of the union and partly in sympathy with the cleaners and other casualised workers at the university who are struggling for better conditions and the recognition of their union. They are also concerned about the commercialisation of the university. All of these issues should be familiar to current Nottingham staff, students and alumni. Last Wednesday the University of London management gave the nod to the police, who violently evicted the occupation and assaulted many students inside and outside the building.