At least two students from the University of York broke into the Conservative Party HQ yesterday amidst protests against cuts in higher education funding the trebling of the cap in tuition fees. Photographs and video footage of rioters holding YUSU branded signs were seen storming the building in Westminster, appearing on the BBC News at Six’s first bulletin.
Vision has also received unconfirmed reports that York students were also present at the roof of the building, where at one point a fire extinguisher was thrown towards the riot police below. It is believed approximately 200 protesters gained access to the building out of the 52,000 in total who marched through central London.
YUSU organised coaches left at 6.30 am Wednesday morning, with nearly 400 students embarking on the five hour journey. York Vision was also present in London; photographs and a full report will be online shortly.
Interesting to see what the Uni will say. They were most definitely on the side of the students before this; will it change their tune? They’re probably not a fan of having their reputation lowered, even if they sympathise with the passion of the individuals in question…
I did not expect this from our uni. Very disappointing…
Nice to see you giving credit for the source of that photo. For those that are considerate and don’t steal, it is a screenshot from the BBC News website, possibly the one taken by ex-pirate ex-president Tom Scott: http://twitpic.com/35ok1u
Also, in regards to “the BBC News at Six’s first bulletin”, there is only one “BBC News at Six” bulletin, and it is at six – how can it be the “first” one?
Back to the actual matter at hand, of course some violence was to be expected. Put 50,000 angry students in a crowded place and something will kick off. Once it does, it just snowballs, and gives the media something to talk about.
While I of course don’t condone the actions, you have to wonder how much press coverage the demo would have got itself without any of the violence.
An interesting point to make is that the students seen carrying YUSU banners could easily not be from York and just have stolen them from peaceful York protesters…
Photo has now been credited. Apologies for the oversight.
Milana, editor.
A report with full details of the protest is to go online shortly, as was always planned, Excusez-moi. Look out for it in the next hour.
Crediting the photo still doesn’t mean you have permission to publish it ;-)
@ Excusez Moi – they definitely were from York. See: http://tinyurl.com/dickheads333
If these are York students they should be hung out to dry.
I no expert on Libel Law, nor contempt of Court…but I’m not sure the video does show York students vandalising 30 Millbank.’ As in your strapline. Shouting yes, but vandalising, I don’t think so….though, vision never does like to let the facts get in the way of a good story.
Where is your EXCLUSIVE footage and photos?
Is it the SKY NEWS video, or the BBC NEWS photo?
In regards to the point above Contempt of Court, if people have been arrested and charged, then it is Contempt of Court to publish evidence.
Yet another delightful example of media spin and hyperbole. I wonder if Mr. Goddard witnessed “York Students Storm Conservative HQ” first hand? In fact they are not even at 30 Millbank in this crudely cut video but in the lobby of the adjacent tower. What evidence have Vision got of York Students being present on the roof of 30 Millbank? Or is this yet another unfounded accusation? It is shameful that a University newspaper is capitalising on a few photos and video footage of the youth of today rightfully displaying their anger and discontent at education cuts.
Former Vision Editor with NCTJ Media Law qualifications…but without the ability to proof-read his/her own writing. Classic.
I would be interested to know what some of the commentators would have made of the direct action used by groups like the suffragettes and the ANC
I fail to see how you can claim a video on YouTube is “exclusive”. I suppose the idiots who read Vision wouldn’t know the difference anyway.
Apologies for the oversight when first publishing this story. Although the video is a unique compilation, use of the word ‘exclusive’ in this instance may have been used liberally. This video alone does not show the two known York students committing vandalism and so this has been altered too to avoid confusion.
Editor
I’m sorry. But as a York graduate, and a current student at Worcester. I am disgusted that students could sink so low as to actively damage and vandalise public property.
I wonder how the demonstrators involved would feel if someone came to their house, broke in and wrote “student scum” all over the walls in spray paint.
It is childish, pathetic and despicable. It has in my mind set back the NUS campaign (which I agree with) because a few morons cannot keep themselves sensible.
I honestly hope that everyone who was involved in breaking into Millbank is prosecuted for either trespass or criminal damage (if sufficient evidence allows).
Out of interest, what is the legal situation with YUSU… if the insurers of the building decide to pursue YUSU for money due to their member’s seeming involvement… It would seem harsh to penalise all the students of York, for the actions of a handful of muppets.
Nice to see some quality editing and reporting from what is supposedly an award winning paper… there is no evidence of vandalism or anything remotely destructive in this video. I wasn’t aware that it is against the law to shout. And like Wake Up said, this isn’t even at the main lobby of Milbank centre. Although I am by no means condoning the violent actions of a few, part of me thinks that at least this way a message was sent, and the event got some serious publicity, even though things may have got a little out of hand.
With regard to this report though, vision should maybe consider hiring someone to actually proofread the unfounded statements they make before they publish.
@Fidel Castro – the very end of the video shows the York students inside the lobby of Millbank Tower.
What evidence do you have for them being york students? If you do then why doesn’t it say so in the article?
Because apart from the fact they are pictured holding a York banner, they are also in this photo: http://tinyurl.com/dickheads333
yeah, that clip at the end is not actually in 30 milbank though, it’s in the lobby next to it.
Don’t worry, all of the blues in disguise who went on the march for york uni (hypocritical dickheads) will be behind them cleaning up the mess and polishing the floors of their beloved’s HQ.
It seems rather imbecilic to criticise York Vision because the journalist in question could not account for it ‘first hand’. In fact if you look at pretty much any other news story you will find that the journalist was not there to see the actual incident happen. Being a journalist is not about being in the right place at the right time, it is simply about reporting what is happening.
Additionally, to imply that this story was sensational is another misuse of words, in fact it discounts what sensationalisation actually is. Ok so, Dan Goddard’s story is not a national exclusive, but it is an exclusive for York University and that is good enough – especially considering we are are a student newspaper with a very specific demographics to appeal to. Might I also add that although you might be angry with some of the statements suggested, you should probably direct your anger elsewhere – because it seems to me that the students’ in question were very much in the thick of something most other students condemn.
@Fidel Castro, firstly I doubt that you actually are Cuban uber dictator Signor Castro. Are you using some sort of pseudonym to hide your identity? I highly disapprove. Take it like a man ‘Castro’ (if that is your real name), like me… Von Marshmallow.
Secondly, have you got your facts straight, hmmmm? York Vision is not ‘supposedly an award winning’ paper. It is an award winning paper, there’s no supposedly about it.
Also, do you live in 30 Milbank? Because you seem to have a detailed knowledge of it’s layout. Some would say suspiciously detailed…
Love, rainbows and puppy dog’s tails.
HRH Princess Von Marshmallow OBE.
@Paddy Harte: “Ok so, Dan Goddard’s story is not a national exclusive, but it is an exclusive for York University”
Err, what?
Excusez-moi. Exclusive is a relative term. As in ‘national exclusive’, ‘network exclusive’, ‘world exclusive’ etc… As such, you can have a York University Exclusive – ie. exclusive to the York University media.
Paddy Harte. Firstly, thank you for managing to insult me within the first phrase of your comment, I assume it was at least in part directed at my earlier comment?
The fact that the author of this article has reneged on some of his previous accusations (or “oversights”) and has altered them shows that York Vision has acknowledged it’s own sensationalism or hyperbole, especially in implying that York students were committing acts of criminal damage. Yet there are still many unfounded accusations yet to be “altered”.
The York students in question did not “break” into the 30 Millbank building but walked through the front doors of the Millbank Tower adjacent to it, and walked right back out of them. Trespassing perhaps, but forced entry? No. Hundreds of people walked through that lobby. Myself included.
Additionally, the suggestion that said students were “storming” the Conservative HQ is in itself a complete exaggeration. This isn’t the 1980 Iranian embassy siege.
“Exclusive” in the sense that it was written by a York student and published in a York University newspaper and therefore exclusive to York University Media? Exclusivity suggests that an article has a particular angle on an event that no others have. The fact that the video featured on this article is crudely pieced together from various pieces of footage attained by national and international news stations points towards it’s rather obvious in-exclusivity. As does the fact that anyone with a remote understanding of the events in question and access to the worlds news websites could have written the above article. I appreciate that a York University paper has to cater to it’s demographic of York University students and therefore concentrate on the participation of the students that attended the protest, but to devote an entire article to how two students chose to protest is superfluous, especially when there was 398 other York University students participating.
Also, who are you to ask me to direct my anger “elsewhere”? I believe I have the option to comment on articles in the way I see fit so I am using that option. I was under the impression that we lived in a democratic society where freedom of speech and expression was allowed.
The fact that many students are claiming that the actions of a minority have overshadowed that of a majority is true. The actions and focus of the worlds media (including the “York University Media”), capitalising on the actions of a minority, has served to overshadow the reason why the protest was organised in the first place. That is what I find most alarming and upsetting. That is what I am directing my anger at.
‘Wake Up’, I did not mean to insult you. My intention was to explain how your specific comment was imbecilic, and that still stands. I am sorry you have misunderstood this.
Your reply is interesting and I would appreciate if you could answer the following two questions:
You seem to know a lot about the incident – might I ask why?
Do you seriously believe that the press is to blame for overshadowing the event? Because I was pretty sure that those student – the ones that smashed windows, the ones that walked onto private property and especially the one’s that stirred the crowd (a bit like ‘disturbing the peace’….)- were the one’s to blame.
Certainly. I know about “the incident” because, as I have said before, I was there at the protest, and I bore witness to what happened both at Millbank Tower and at 30 Millbank. I do hope you are not insinuating that I was in some way involved in the destruction of property at either location?
In answer to your second question yes, yes I do “seriously” believe that the press is responsible for overshadowing the real reason why the protest occurred, although not entirely as there has been plenty of coverage focussing on other elements of the protest, sorry if I did not make this explicitly clear. However, it is no coincidence that that the day after the protest nearly all the national, and even local newspapers (including our very own Yorkshire Post), had the same picture on their front page. I am in no way denying that the violence that occurred provided the initial impetus for such coverage, but I find it very difficult to not see that the worlds media have seized upon the actions of a few and have not reported on the event as a whole proportionately or representatively. Then again, that is my own opinion, which I am entitled to.
It would be interesting to know if you regard the speeches made at the protest, including the one made by NUS President Aaron Porter, as “stirring the crowd” and being amongst “the one’s to blame”. Additionally, if you are to organise a demonstration which an estimated 52,000 attended, expect the peace to be “disturbed”. An oversight which the Metropolitan police have already acknowledged.
I cannot believe Paddy Harte is a York Vision writer, how is this possible when you can barely grasp the fundamental concepts of grammar? Your writing is appalling! Although saying this, I can’t recall ever reading an article- let’s hope some one in the Vision offices is scribbling all over them in red pen prior to publishing, eh?
What? York media sensationalising things and publishing half-truths? Whatever next?
There’s no proof of the students involved vandalising anything in the videos. I expect the bespectacled Vision reporter who dredged this nonsense up was creaming their little pants with that they thought was a SCOOOOOP.
Is this what Vision gets more than 5% of the societies budget for, to wrongly sully the names of York students for their own perverse ‘journalistic’ pleasure?
@Anon. How in any way is that comment contributing to the debate. Slagging off someone’s grammar is a bit desperate.
@ James, it’s not ridiculous. This is one of the writers for this site/paper, the fact that his grammar is so bad might suggest something?
And Paddy Harte, if you don’t mean to insult people, then maybe calling them imbeciles isn’t the best way to go about it?
“@Anon. How in any way is that comment contributing to the debate. Slagging off someone’s grammar is a bit desperate.”
I wasn’t trying to contribute to the debate, on a public comment page you can post exactly what you like! I’m simply making an observation, I wasn’t intending to influence the debate with it, hence why it was an out-of-the-blue comment rather than specified to the parties. I honestly couldn’t refrain from commenting on his grammar, as it is truly awful. Sorry to offend you and your precious debate.
“I did not mean to insult you. My intention was to explain how your specific comment was imbecilic, and that still stands.”
LOL
I’m a bit lost…
Have we agreed they did anything wrong yet? If not legally for smashing stuff, have they done so anyway for taking part in the riot?
From what I can tell they seem to be York Uni students.
That photo was taken by myself. I have given York Vision permission to publish it and a similar photo as it concerns York students and has been all over the BBC and ITV.
Michael Shaw
‘The Student’ – Edinburgh
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-11765140 – well one of them is wanted by police anyway!
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-york-north-yorkshire-11783503 – looks like they’ve been arrested.
What do all the tossers above say to that fact two york students have been arrested?
Comment edited by moderator.
They should be named and shamed!
Love the irony of “Anon” saying they should be “named and shamed”!