Student riots self-defeating

The police, overwhelmed at times, should not hesitate to make an example of those ringleaders who scaled the roof of Millbank – where Tory HQ is located – and make them pay for the wanton damage that they caused.

Such lawlessness and mob rule has no place in a civilised society, even though the students concerned believe that they have a legitimate cause after the coalition signalled that the Browne report, complete with some safeguards, will be implemented.

They are particularly aggrieved at how the Liberal Democrats, a party that has assiduously courted the student vote in the past, reneged upon their pre-election commitment not to increase tuition fees. Yet, having shown that it can be an effective political force, the NUS should be using the democratic process – rather than violence – to exert its influence.

This was self-evident at Prime Minister's Questions yesterday when Nick Clegg, standing in for David Cameron, faced a torrent of questions about the Liberal Democrats' volte-face.italics His party, and therefore the coalition, looks particularly vulnerable on this issue. Even the PM could not escape the fray – he was asked a series of awkward questions by students in China.

Yet, by taking the law into their own hands, the students lost the political initiative. Their rabble-rousing simply perpetuated the belief that university life is not sufficiently robust. Furthermore, the inability of protesters to advocate a coherent, and affordable, alternative, was also stark.

Like the Labour Party which also has no creditable policy on this issue, the NUS fails to realise that the budget deficit necessitates extremely difficult decisions. If its members are unhappy with the eventual decision, they should influence the debate, and exercise their grievance, at the ballot box rather than injuring police and terrifying innocent bystanders.