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World|life|November 21, 2014 / 04:34 PM
London students want free education, protest sees arrests and scuffles

AKIPRESS.COM - Police have made 11 arrests after thousands of students marched through London protesting against education cuts, tuition fees and student debt, the UK media report.

Two were held after charging at police guarding the Conservative Party headquarters in central London.

The Free Education march was called to oppose tuition fees of up to £9,000.

The march was not endorsed by the National Union of Students, but was backed by groups including the National Campaign Against Fees And Cuts.

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The largely peaceful demonstration ended with a rally in Parliament Square after protesters broke through barriers to gain entry.

Some of them broke off to other parts of central London where there were clashes with police.

A small group pushed a wheelie bin at police at the entrance to the nearby Tory offices where a man and woman were arrested for affray.

The other arrests included two for assaults on police officers, one for criminal damage and possession of an offensive weapon and another for violent disorder.

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"Various missiles were thrown at the officers and protesters pulled down protective fencing around the grass area in Parliament Square," the force said in a statement.

Demonstrators chanted slogans such as "books not bombs" and carried banners saying "free education, tax the rich".

One student, 20-year-old Hannah Stewart from Central Saint Martins college, said: "I'm here because three quarters of students cannot pay their debts off.

"We have no alternative and there is no choice. Voting hasn't worked, but we have things that work - arts, literature, petitions and protesting," reports BBC. 

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