Civil disobedience Part 1 begins:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-11726822

complete with destruction of property, which won’t help their cause. Millbank Tower is surrounded by 40,000 students according to the NUS. It’s the fees and debt that they are protesting about.

Up the Proletariat! Etc etc.

Number 1 son there, came down from northeast. Actually quite proud of him for going, it's the first political act he's done, OK some self interest, but still proud. Only half way through his fisrst term and already maturing.

Hope he’s not caught up in the “action” - it seems that some rather unsavoury elements have hijacked the protest and it’s turning ugly in places. No conformation if knockabout protest bulkers Socialist Worker is involved.

I wonder if this is the taste of things to come.

I'm quite impressed they've managed to rip out a 3 metre window, get on to the roof etc despite the heavy police presence. If only there were some overturned and burning cars, then we could claim equality with our European cousins.

Add a few sheep and we could call ourselves French

Oh wonderful, people who come from families already on benefits will get even more help while those who's families just about manage will be put under even more strain with a child at uni. 'Poor' people in my uni got over £5,000 per TERM, against the £3,500 I got per YEAR, my parents could never afford to give me the extra £11,500...

What about upping the costs of pointless subjects like TV studies? Or yanking some of the monumental amount of money that runs out 'defence' department?

Yes, the university system needs to be shaken up, but not like this...

I'd like to know how they managed that; I only got £2100 per term (English student in Wales)...

Actually it is not self serving as these changes will take place after he has left, but it will benefit any younger children you have.

Personally I think far too many go to university devaluing degrees overall. I would rather it be free tuition with means tested maintenance grants with a sliding scale so that those part way up the income scale are not disadvantaged. It is much fairer.

Video footage:

The storming of the lobby.

The breaking of the window.

Pity it's not actually on fire. I need an excuse to play 'Babylon's Burning' at high volume.

Son left the area when he saw the way things seemed to be heading. Was not too long before he would have had to head for the bus anyway, and he didn't want top miss it.

Definately I have always been against tuition fees, the education should be free if you are capable of getting a place. I feel there are too many attending, that's why the tax system can't support it. Keeps people of the unemployment figures.

Support while you're there is a different issue.

Great song to celebrate a burning building. Especially Tory party headquarters.

Complete disgrace, and ruined the whole thing. Shame. (8-()

Well, I doubt I'm the only on that's thinking there's a lot more of this kind of thing coming down the line. And I'm not sure the Tories will be able to rely on the police to do all the ugly work this time, given their pay and conditions are being cut too. They patently didn't seem all that bothered about protecting Millbank did they?

A lot of people's perspective is as follows : Voting doesn't work (patently, since the vast majority did not vote for the policies that are being enacted). Peaceful protest doesn't work (ask the several million people who marched peacefully to stop this country going into a costly war in the middle east). There are only two options left - doing nothing or more aggressive protesting.

The powers that be really missed a trick with the stop the war march. If they'd thrown that lot a bone of some sort, then people would have said 'see, peaceful protest really does work' and we'd have peaceful protests. But they just ignored it and did what they wanted anyway. So now nobody believes a peaceful protest is anything other than a wasted day out. So now we get buildings trashed instead.

I'm not one to trash buildings but I can see the chain of logic which those who do have come to. If I was running Conservative Central Office, I probably wouldn't bother getting those windows replaced just yet.

Jon