I've decided to start writing again, having left it so long. And today was rather out of the ordinary. As you will have gathered it's the second student protest and we got to see it at first hand in Parliament - out of the window at lunch time in Bellamys. Opinions in Parliament on the Lib Dem side are fairly anti protest - which is understandable given the situation Lib Dem staff have found themselves in - having to defend the policy of their MP to their constituents. However, I feel that protests are often a good way to stir up an interest in politics in young people.
The country gave the Conservatives a majority of sorts (if 40% can be seen as a majority) and they need to accept the consequences of their actions. If young people can be incentivised to challenge Government policy and campaign for better political parties that can only be a good thing - far better than never reading the paper and remaining oblivious.
However, the police were atrociously behaved today. They kettled the protesters into a small space on Whitehall, rather than letting them pass. The protesters had to stand in two separated groups in a claustrophobic space with no idea what was going on, no one could even leave to go to the toilet. And they wonder why the protesters tried to break police lines. The police thought it prudent to viciously hit those protesters trying to leave with their batons - seemingly breaking the arm of one of their colleagues. Also suspicious was the police van left in the middle of the road with the protesters - why was it there - it seemed to be a good ruse on the part of the police to encourage the more juvenile protesters to attack it and thus render another protest irresponsible: it's a perfect recipe for damage if you leave several thousand protesters prevented from marching by being caged in an enclosed area surrounded by violent police officers. After a few hours what would you do if the only object of interest is a dormant police van? This is not a justification of smashing a vehicle, merely a valid point - if you provoke people enough they will retaliate eventually.
Also today I met a constituent who wanted to talk to Stephen about Palestine, having recently been. She was shocked by the deprivation and danger of the West Bank that the Palestinian people live in, having been on a very peaceful protest against the Israeli military in the West Bank with fellow protesters aged 50 and upwards. Faced with a handful of middle aged people marching, Israeli soldiers attacked them with tear gas and stun weapons. Compare that to the police in Westminster today and the difference is appalling. Yet whilst everyone in the UK will have heard about the London and regional based protests by tomorrow, very few will understand the conditions Palestinians in the West Bank live in on a daily basis. It surprised me how affected the constituent had been by her visit to Palestine - on a detour from her holiday in Israel. Before she had assumed if the states were not at war, life must be fine. Having seen the reality she is determined to do all she can to campaign against the unfairness of Israeli building projects and the lack of water available to the Palestinians. I imagined everyone knew the facts already but just didn't care about the Palestinians - it is sad that one must physically go there to fully comprehend why we need to take action so desperately.
On a different note I went to French class today in Brent, where we discussed the protest, EMA cuts, the royal wedding and how to combat climate change. I often view it as a kind of focus group to gauge popular opinion, unlike the focus group of one woman in the episode of the Thick of It. It struck me that out of the eight of us, only half of us spoke English as a first language. It seems that there is a correlation between already speaking two or more languages and wanting to learn a new one. This is understandable but sad. Cameron has decided immigrants to the UK need to have perfect English, but he should 'first remove the log from his own eye' and ensure all Government Ministers and preferably all British citizens can speak two or more languages, if he does not want to be seen as hypocritical.
