The Heavy Hand of the Law.

Tomorrow there will be a massive student protest in London. They will be protesting against the massive tuition fee hike they’re set to pay in 2012 which leaves them at least £27,000 in debt before they’ve even started their working life.

Tories and other unaffected citizens will no doubt condemn them for protesting. “Just take it on the chin” they’ll say. I wonder if they’d take £9,000 a year leaving their bank accounts on the chin. To be fair, some of them are so rich they probably would.

Whether you agree with them or not I think everyone agrees with their right to protest. We’ve had quite a few protests over the last few years, and most of them have been fine. I was surprised then to hear today that the police have been given the green light to use rubber bullets on the students should they need to.

RUBBER BULLETS!

They are allowed to shoot them! What the hell?!

I mean, they didn’t even use rubber bullets during the riots! They smashed shops, set family businesses ablaze, looted goods, terrorised people, but not a rubber bullet was fired, not even the water pistol was mobilised! The students threw a fire-extinguisher. SHOOT THEM WITH RUBBER BULLETS!

ARE YOU INSANE!?

If I’m watching the news tomorrow night and it’s all kicked off, because it probably will thanks to random people hijacking the demonstration and causing trouble, and the police have shot some students I will be very angry.

Just the whole idea of it appals me. Of all the protests, they’ve allowed rubber bullets for this. All this does is escalate the situation. I can guarantee that some thug has heard this news and has decided to attend the protest to start some havoc. Then the government will waggle their finger at them like a pathetic child yelling: “See! I told you it would get out of hand!”

What’s more, if a student gets shot tomorrow, what’s going to happen on Sunday during the remembrance service when a select group of Muslim extremists plan to descend on the Royal Albert Hall and chant during the minute’s silence? Will the rubber bullets be green lighted then? Let’s not get into that. I really feel sorry for the real Muslims who get their name tarnished by those idiots.

I think allowing the police to use rubber bullets on the students is ridiculously heavy handed. They’re students for God’s sake; they’re not going to set fire to Miss Selfridges! I just hate the way the students are constantly demonised for simply protesting against something they view as vastly unfair.

Again, it doesn’t matter if you agree with their view or not, surely people should be allowed to voice their opinion; although the protestors outside of St Paul’s Cathedral are probably crossing the line a little. I thought their problem was with the banks? Their message has been severely diluted now. I’m a fan of the Occupy movement but the St. Paul’s one is a bit of a blemish on the whole thing. Someone out there is making a pretty penny on selling those V for Vendetta masks too. Slightly ironic.

Saying that though, I’m quite proud that we, as Brits, will mobilise and protest against things we see as unjust and unfair. Yet everytime we do, everyone on the right side of the fence condemns us for doing it. I’m fed up of hearing Tories talk up the right to protest only to condemn us whenever we do. I wish they’d draw up a pamphlet letting us know when the right time to protest is.

Everyone is resigned to the student fees going up to £9,000, we can’t change it no matter what we do. We got Lib Dems in the government and even that didn’t work! However, we refuse to just take it lying down!

If we didn’t protest about things that matter to us then the government would just carry on doing what it wants, and the poor would get poorer still. The day we start just taking it on the chin will be a very sad day indeed.

Here’s hoping there’s no trouble tomorrow. If I don’t write for a while it’s because I held my breath.