Cool build-up to climate conference

’ university’s legendary debating society) a week after that. Coaches were to carry the Oxford students to the London event, and protests had to be organised for Clegg’s visit. As the capital greeted thousands of students from across the UK on a bright crisp November morning, the news emerged that Clegg had cancelled his visit to Oxford “due to an unfortunate clash of diaries”. The Oxford students may want to put up an oar somewhere to notch up the politicians they have beaten into retreat. Clegg’s cop-out is all the more bizarre as the Oxford Union, which has welcomed celebrity speakers such as Michael Jackson and Bill Clinton, features very tight security and a relatively small auditorium. And the members of the Oxford Education Campaign didn’t look all that threatening. The National Union of Students (NUS) and the University and College Union (UCU) had organised the protest march in London and initially estimated 15,000 participants. As coaches kept flooding in and protesters gathered in Horse Guards Avenue, the estimate was adjusted to 24,000 before the event had even started. A peaceful protest march chanting “No ifs, no buts, no education cuts” wound its way through the government quarter of Whitehall, past the Houses of Parliament towards the Tate Gallery, where the concluding speeches were to be held. Estimates crept up to 40,000 then to 50,000, but the demonstrators were still flanked by only a minimal police contingent of 225 officers. On their path, facing the river Thames, was the poorly protected office block, 30 Millbank, which houses the Conservative party’s headquarters. At around 1.15 pm, a group of 200 stormed the entrance lobby of this building, and some made their way to the roof. Reports from the occupied building suggest that the majority of those who got inside were inexperienced students, stunned by their own surprise victory, rather than hardcore troublemakers. As more than 1,000 others gathered in the courtyard of the building and pushed against a thin line of police officers, windows were broken and bonfires lit in the courtyard. The failure of crowd management alone, never mind the escalating anger of the protesters, could have turned this situation into a major disaster. Surprisingly, it produced only a small number of injuries, and the The current climate change talks in Cancun, Mexico are expected to be only a staging post to a new global deal on mitigating climate change to follow on from the Kyoto Protocol. Hopes were high this time last year that the climate talks in Copenhagen would lead to a new deal but that didn’t happen, to the great disappointment of many participants and environmental groups, with the tensions subsided as darkness fell over the site. Around 50 protesters were arrested at the end of the proceedings but were released on bail the next morning. During and after the “Millbank riots” large sections of the media rehearsed the old clichés about hardened troublemakers who cynically hijacked a peaceful demonstration. However, a significant minority of observers and commentators pointed out that the damage — rather insignificant in comparison with what could have happened — was largely due to the genuine anger of young people (pupils as well as students) afraid of being robbed of their future. And the crowd outside 30 Millbank knew very well where to draw the line. When an empty fire extinguisher was thrown off the top of the building, their chants instantly switched to condemn the dangerous act. While the events unfolded, Nina Power, a senior lecturer in philosophy at Roehampton University commented: “It is hard to see the violence as simply the wilfulness of a small minority — it is a genuine expression of frustration against the few who seem determined to make the future a miserable, small-minded and debt-filled place for the many.” The Conservatives’ headquarters bore the brunt of the protesters’ anger mainly because it was nearby and poorly protected. The real political target, however, will be the Liberal Democrat MPs, who, before the election, all signed a pledge not to increase students’ tuition fees, and