The Sacrificial Van

Whoever was in charge of the police tactics used at yesterday's student protest in Central London must be having a satisfied chuckle this morning. Every part of their plan worked.

However they may stand on the righteousness of the students' cause, members of the media are unanimous in their depictions of the mindless violence carried out by the 'trouble-makers' who they tell us were responsible for hijacking the event.

The main focus of this attention is the police van which was vandalised on live television. Foolish as it was of the students to attack this vehicle, we really ought to recognise the extent to which this formed the backbone of the police's plan.

This was no ordinary van... it was a sacrificial van which had been placed in a vulnerable position to draw the students into an act of criminality which would ensure that the media supplied a damning verdict of the students' motives and the police themselves could justify the suspension of the civil rights of everyone caught within the enforcement zone that they created through the controversial tactic known as 'kettling'.

The police had already trapped around a thousand or so protesters at the Parliament Square end of Whitehall when, without warning, they formed a line and closed ranks to prevent any of the students from leaving the scene. This was done without any provocation from the protesters (unless good natured chanting is now seen to be beyond the pale). There was no attempt to breach the police lines and the crowd largely accepted their temporary imprisonment inside the enforcement zone without much visible anger.

Latecomers continued to drift to the protest but they were not allowed into the enforcement zone and the police appeared content to allow them to vent their anger without any heavy-handed intervention. Any fears about police brutality appeared misguided and unfair.

Then it changed. A command came through the radio and the police formed a second line behind the newcomers. The first zone had been established by police officers who appeared to recognise that not everyone was there to cause trouble. They allowed tourists to slip through their lines and their approach was, under the circumstances, admirably restrained.

Not so the second line. Responding to shouted militaristic orders, they removed their caps and normal helmets in unison and replaced them with the riot headgear that instantly transforms their appearance from that of police and into that of paramilitaries. Around half of the line pulled riot batons from holsters and began aggressively slapping them into their free hands as they advanced forward.

I witnessed two tearful students pleading to be let through the police lines. They were angrily told that they were being held for their own protection. A baffling claim as there was absolutely nothing going on behind the second police line. Another woman was told that she should make her way to the other end of the cordon where people were being allowed into Westminster Underground Station. Not remotely true... the entrances to the station were well beyond the limits of the enforcement zone.

This second front began to advance down aggressively down Whitehall driving protesters towards the other containment zone. Only the media was allowed through the line.

This occurred at a point in the afternoon when the students' frustration at not being allowed to progress beyond Whitehall was leading to a natural and peaceful dispersement of the crowd and it seemed an inexplicably counter-productive by the police.

I had already noticed the isolated police van that sat in the middle of Whitehall and it was immediately obvious that it was likely to be subjected to the protesters' frustration if the situation deteriorated. The police's action guaranteed this.

What's most worrying about this tactic is the way in which it politicises the police's actions. They have participated in a deliberate propaganda exercise designed to undermine the students' cause.

Politicians are queueing up to condemn the actions of those whose violence was so lurid on last night's news (naturally, the police ensured that their sacrificial van was placed in a position which guaranteed that it's destruction would be caught by the full glare of the national media).

It's worth noting that the police also drove the students towards the Cenotaph which was surrounded by highly flammable wreaths of paper poppies. The police made no attempt to protect this sacred monument and it seems probable that a decision was taken to allow a desecration to take place to score propaganda points rather than to ensure its sanctity. Thankfully the students didn't bite and the Cenotaph was untouched by the mayhem that surrounded it but there was no recognition of this restraint in the media.

If this event was really overrun by anarchists and other sinister elements from the extreme left, why did they forego the opportunity to attack such a potent symbol of the glorious ritualisation of warfare under such extreme provocation?

Having already spoken to a few people about what I witnessed yesterday, I already know how reluctant we can be to believe that the police would participate in such a cynical exercise but this a dangerously complacent attitude.