Student protests – live coverage

As parliament votes on higher tuition fees thousands of students are marching in London and Edinburgh. Follow the latest here. Send us your news:
@peterwalker99
peter.walker@guardian.co.uk

Follow the political developments on Andrew Sparrow's live blog

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Student protestors gather for a march on Parliament at The University of London — Student protestors gather for a march on parliament. Photograph: Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images

3.45pm: Ladies and gentlemen, we have our kettle. Esther Addley has telephoned in to say police in Parliament Square confirmed to her that a "containment" (their term) is in place. They add: "This is due to the level of violence that our officers are facing." They won't say how long it might be in place.

More generally, Esther adds, while there are some skirmishes in one corner of the square the bulk of the protest remains peaceful. There is now a bonfire, using some benches from the square, she says.
student protest

3.41pm: They're a media-savvy lot these students. Mindful of the news helicopters circling above Parliament Square they've painted a vast message on the grass in the centre.

3.29pm: It's probably high time we had a recap:
• As MPs debate higher tuition fees in the Commons tens of thousands of students and others have marched through central London towards Parliament Square.
• The vast bulk of the protest has been peaceful and good-natured, those on the ground say.
• However, there have been some isolated skirmishes, mainly protesters using barriers to try and force back police lines. Some placards and flares have been thrown.
• Scotland Yard says that so far there has been just one arrest (for drunk and disorderly) and no reported injuries, though both could change.
• Police have seemingly not been able to contain marchers as they had hoped. A large nunber have spilled onto the green of Parliament Square, painting a giant "No" in red paint.
• Some officers have donned riot gear and police horses are in place.
• There has been a smaller march in Newcastle and later today students in Edinburgh will hold a rally at the Scottish parliament.

3.20pm: I've just had a very noisy chat with Adam Gabbatt from Parliament Square where – brave lad – he was just a few metres from the police lines as some marchers threw placards and missles and tried to break through. For a brief moment the foot police parted to reveal mounted officers behind. Luckily for Adam they didn't charge. Professional that he is, Adam didn't drop his phone and run but kept talking.

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3.10pm: With the London protest now apparently in some sort of limbo near parliament, let's catch up with a few tweets, from Guardian staffers and others:

@estheraddley

Students huddling around bonfires made from burning placards in parl sq in to keep warm

Cheers as protester climbs up lamppost, waves, slides down lamppost.

@adambaggatt

Hundreds in Parliament Square. Police had said protesters wouldn't be allowed here

@shanecarmichael
John Redwood rushing down Whitehall in a nifty puffer jacket. He wasn't carrying a placard sadly

@jamiewelham
Police tell protesters "this is not a containment. You are free to leave"

2.58pm: It seems there is at least one idiot on the march. Adam Gabbatt tweets to say:

This was just thrown into the crowd beside me. Thankfully didn't hit anyone. It's heavy

In case you can't see the small crop of the photo very well, it's some sort of large industrial battery.

2.52pm: A missive from the Guardian's Jonathan Haynes, who's currently getting to know his fellow marchers much better inside Parliament Square:

Hello - trapped in crush where police hold protest back outside parliament – sure you have better view on TV. Crowd have homemade shields. One young protester picked up brick – immediately told by all around to put it down. Things have been thrown at police though – crowd increasing frustrated at having nowhere to go. Current discussion is whether protest in now kettled, no on seems to know.

2.43pm: Lest we – as ever her at the Guardian – get too obsessed with London, here's a gallery of photos from today's protest in Newcastle.

2.37pm: Polly Curtis, watching from the Commons, says she saw the centre of Parliament Square taken over in a matter of moments. She's tweeted one photo of a near-empty square, and another taken just three minutes later.

2.33pm: There's lots of shoving against the barriers on Parliament Square, with a few placards being thrown, TV pics show. The pic here was tweeted.

2.32pm: A slightly alarming tweet from the Guardian's Polly Curtis:

View from Commons: the entire police line has just switched to riot gear

2.31pm: A lovely Guardian video: Birmingham University student unfurl their anti-cuts banner on Westminister Bridge.
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2.15pm: An email from one marcher, Simon:

Protesters broke down the barrier into the green of Parliament Square. There are now literally hundreds of police approaching. At the back we are not quite sure where to go.

2.08pm: There's a bit of pushing and shoving at Parliament Square, from where I spoke to Esther Addley. She says things remain, for the most part, good-natured if slightly chaotic.
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1.46pm: 1.39pm: Esther Addley is biding her time by parliament, and sends in a photo of lots of police doing the same:

It is oddly quiet at Parliament Square, since most of the surrounding roads, including Whitehall, Millbank, Westminster Bridge and part of Embankment are closed to traffic. The main march from ULU is not expected here for another 30 mins or so.
But an enormous number of police – there must be several hundred at least – are already lined up across the bottom of Whitehall, on both sides of the road outside parliament and beyond, in a long line of fluorescent yellow.
Some are wearing blue Metropolitan Police caps rather than the more familiar black police hat, but most have a helmet dangling from their waists.
It's pretty good-natured at the moment, police officers joking with tourists and lining up for coffee in Cafe Nero. I haven't noticed any problems with people taking photos.
At present, though, there are still very few protesters here.

1.34pm: Some more audio from the march – Tanya, a student from London, talks about the mood of the protest and why she's there.
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1.25pm: Another nice pic from Adam, who tweets it with the caption, "We've had the youngest protester, is this the oldest?"

1.13pm: The technologically-savvy UCL occupation group have put together a Google map showing the progress of the London protests. Limited information so far, but I like the little green mounted police graphic.

1.10pm: We have the first skirmishes between marchers and police, minor stuff so far. TV footage shows shoving matches between protesters – who are seemingly trying to break away from the main route and escape possible kettling – and yellow-vested officers. In another context it would be known, I believe, as "handbags".

1.02pm: The snugly-dressed (see 11.08am) Esther Addley is near parliament, and tweeting away:

Queues of police collecting lattes at caffe nero, parliament sq #demo2010

Plenty of police at portcullis house, v few protesters so far #demo2010 http://twitpic.com/3ebt0j

12.53pm: There's also a march taking place in Newcastle, where one tweet says protesters have been kettled while trying to cross the Tyne Bridge. Updates available on the university occupation Twitter feed, who also re-tweeted this picture.

12.50pm: It's time for some atmosphere from the London march. Adam Gabbatt speaks to me from the start of the rally in Bloomsbury.
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12.32pm: There is, without a doubt, a heavy police prescence. Several tweets are talking about "rolling kettles" in place, presumably to prevent marchers splitting off.
Our man on the spot, Adam Gabbatt, writes:

Protesters listening to speeches near Russell Square, marshalled by police. Numbers are swelling rapidly, predominantly university students but younger and older faces too. Many are wearing green hard hats which were being given out at the University of London Union, bearing the legend: "Tax the banks not the students." Lots of calls from speakers for police to avoid kettling, and anti-Liberal Democrat rhetoric. Just been hearing from a Camden School for Girls pupil, which was occupied for 24 hours until this morning. Large police presence here, although it's very peaceful so far. An elderly man is playing the violin next to me.

12.27pm: Vince Cable has begun speaking in parliament; the debate has started. Andrew Sparrow will be following that part of today's events live.

12.18pm: Scotland Yard are once again, to use that well-known phrase, predicting a riot. These quotes are newly on PA from the force's Superintendent Julia Pendry:

Protesters will be allowed sight and sound of parliament. However, there is evidence to suggest a number of people will come to London intent on causing violence and disorder. They are jumping on the bandwagon of these demonstrations with no intention to protest or interest in student tuition fees. This is of concern to us.
Those who come to London for peaceful protest will be policed proportionately and appropriately. But those who are intent on committing crime will also be dealt with and they will suffer the consequences of their actions.

Npw Pendry is very experienced in this sort of thing, handling the policing at last year's Tamil protests in London. But if I didn't know better I'd say her words today sound like a coded warning: stay away or prepare to be kettled. Police expect 20,000 protesters, she added.

12.01pm: This pic was just tweeted in by Adam Gabbatt. He says: "Hard hats distributed to protesters. Slogan on the front: 'tax the banks, not the students'"

11.50am: A few tweets that caught my attention:

Seriously; lots of police with riot helmets and first aid kits, too. Plenty of press; more than I have seen before at these demos. #demo2010

best placard so far today: 'does my society look big in this?' #demo2010

Group of protesters just had placards confiscated by police opposite king's college.. #demo2010 #dayx

11.44am: The Sky News helicopter is already hovering above the ULU building. Get ready for a number of hours of over-exciteable news coverage. Not here, hopefully – let me know what's happening in your part of the march and we'll try to keep some broader perspective.

11.33am: It's worth recalling that a number of campus occupations are still ongoing. Shiv Malik emails with news of the long-running action at University College London:

Occupying students at UCL are still in last minute negotiations with their chancellor's office after a court awarded management a possession order today. The students who began their occupation two weeks ago could face eviction at any moment from the 200 capacity Jeremy Bentham Room and the Slade art college. However, the students successfully defended a claim for possession over the entirety of UCL's Gower Street campus. It is possible that occupation could relocate to another part of the campus and the whole process of eviction would have to start again but this is unlikely as students are worried about the issue of costs.
Quite cleverly Judge Faber, sitting at London County Court decided to defer the issue of costs until the 23 December. That's the deadline for the university to return to the court. So if the students behave badly, then the two named defendants, Sarah Crane-Brewer and Frank Harris both aged 19, could be billed for up to £40,000.
At the moment, the only sticking issue is the wording of a joint statement condemning university cuts. Last night this seemed to be up in the air as students wanted to press for both anti-fees and anti arts cuts statements, whereas management were naturally reluctant to condemn fee increases.
The latest draft sent by management would certainly act as another thorn in the government's side if the students can agree a finalised statement before the fees debate begins in earnest in a few hours.
"This removal of funding is unprecedented, as is the lack of significant public debate. At best it takes a huge risk with higher education institutions in the UK...
"At best [these cuts] take a huge risk with higher education institutions in the UK, the teaching activities of which make a vital contribution to society and to the economy. Higher education teaching is in effect taken out of the domain of public policy and becomes an entirely private matter between individuals and institutions, with the market playing a much greater role than at present....
"Although funding is withdrawn from all subjects, the fact that funding is withdrawn in totality from arts, humanities, social sciences and other classroom based subjects gives the impression that these areas which are so vital to the well being of society are not valued by Government, and it is essential that the Government makes a clear statement that this is not the case."
Oh and for Razorlight fans, they played a gig at the occupation last night.

11.25am: Adam Gabbatt writes, also tweeting a photo of some serious-looking barriers around Parliament Square.

I've just been to Westminster to have a look at the police preparations for later today. There are scores of officers, clad in their hi-vis gear, around the area, all the way from Portcullis House east of Parliament to the west. Portcullis House, parliament's modern overspill building, is lined with four-sided fence structures most commonly seen keeping revellers away from the stage at music festivals.
There are more than 20 large police vans flanking the seat of democracy, with more arriving. If organisers predictions are accurate then some 40,000 students could gather near Westminster from 1pm. Weather report: not as cold as it has been recently, although I'm still glad of my thermals.

11.16am: Here's a brief selection of light reading as you wait to take to the streets:
• Nick Clegg has made himself even less popular with opponents of fees ths morning by calling them "dreamers".
• "Today is our 1968 moment" says UCL's Michael Chessum on our very own Comment is Free site.
• Even the Daily Mail thinks that whatever the outcome of today's vote, "it is surely clear that the Lib Dems in general and Nick Clegg in particular have suffered dreadful damage from which it is possible they may never recover".

11.08am: On that very subject, the Guardian's Esther Addley – also heading out in London – tweets:

Have dressed for a kettling at #demo2010. look a bit silly. also, currently indoors, sweating.

11.05am: And now to one of the more relevant questions if you're facing the possibility of being kettled for some hours – what's the weather going to be like? Well, after the freezing recent days it's going to feel positively tropical. Both London and Edinburgh are forecast to swelter in temperatures peaking around 4C, with a good amount of sunshine. Still wrap up warm, mind.

10.53am:The intrepid Adam Gabbatt is out and about and tweets that there are already "scores" of police around Westminster. The Metropolitan police have made some bullish noises about the possibility of trouble today, a slightly alarmist message reflected in parts of the media. It would be a shame if, once again, the actions of a very small minority was allowed to obscure the reason for the marches, and what they've achieved.

It seems likely the tuition fees bill will pass but I'd still argue that – whatever your view on the merits of the new fees system – the protests have been a success at least in calling politicians to account for broken pledges, something you see rarely theses days.

10.39am: So what's happening when today? In London, the ULU/National Campaign Against Fees and Cuts march will leave the ULU building in Bloomsbury around midday, setting off through Holborn and Trafalgar Square and past Parliament Square, to then join the NUS rally on Victoria Embankment, which is itself scheduled for 1pm to 3pm. In Edinburgh the rally takes place at 4.30pm.

So what of timings inside parliament itself? It's maybe easiest if I quote Andrew's blog directly:

Andrew Sparrow. Photograph: Linda Nylind for the Guardian MPs are going to be asked to approve a motion tabled by Vince Cable, the business secretary, allowing universities to increase tuition fees to up to £9,000 from September 2012. Under the Higher Education Act, this can be done with a simple vote. Ministers want to get this through now because universities will send their brochures out for 2012 next year. MPs are not voting on the entire package of tuition fee reforms. That will not happen until next year....
The debate will start after business questions ends. This could be any time from 12.10pm to 12.30pm. The first vote will take place five hours later, or by 5.30pm at the latest.

10.24am: So here we are. Today is the crunch day, when tens of thousands of students and pupils (and some lecturers) find out whether the weeks of mass protest have paid off, whether enough opinion in parliament has been swayed.

An estimated 40,000 people are expected to rally in central London on two separate marches, one organised by the NUS and another by the University of London Union. Another big crowd is expected at the Scottish parliament in Edinburgh for a rally and "candlelit vigil".

The politics side of things is being handled by our Westminster live blogger supreme, Andrew Sparrow. But I'll be looking at the protests. We'll have reporters at the rallies but still want to hear from you what's happening – news and photos. Keep in touch.