The Battle of Parliament Square

In 2010 thousands took to the streets to protest the governments plan to treble tuition fees for higher education. Whilst on these demonstrations people were subjected to a host of violent police tactics: they were charged by horses, beaten and held on mass for hours in the cold. News reports however presented a narrative of the police as struggling to contain a mob bent on violence. Images of protesters pushing against police lines where shown with out context giving the impression that they were attacking the police rather than trying to break out of the cordon. The media campaign was continued in the aftermath of the demonstration with the police charging many people with violent disorder as a means of legitimating their tactics after the event.

Through interviews with academics and students who where on the demonstration on the 9th of December 2010 my film seeks to subvert this narrative and give an account of what protesters themselves experienced: indiscriminate violence and intimidation by the police the aim of which seemed to be to scare young people away from taking political action.