By Jim Byagua
Five hundred students met on 5 March to protest outside Parliament as part of national walkouts/action against war. Around two-thirds of the protestors were school students.
Initially we shouted slogans from behind police barriers, but then the fencing was pulled apart and the demonstration blocked the road by Parliament.
After sitting down we marched towards Downing Street where people clung to railing and chanted against war by Blair and Bush. As police moved into to try to move the crowd away many sat down and linked arms. The police then dragged the protestors - some quite young - away, one by one.
The police surrounded part of the demonstration and prevented people from dispersing "for our own safety".
Protests like this are a sign of the increasing militancy of student activists who are determined to make their voices heard and to stop this war.
The event was called under the slogan "Education not war", and was timed to coincide with the National Union of Students' lobby of Parliament against the Government's White Paper on higher education funding. The NUS leadership had only managed to attract a handful of hacks and walked, suited and booted, away from the real struggle going on and into Parliament.
Students going to NUS national conference this year should support the "Education not War" candidates. More details from the Student Campaign Forum.
