Education woes: clashes as thousands of students stage demonstration in London

Police and protesters clashed as several thousand students took to the streets of central London on Wednesday to rally against tuition fees, education cuts and debt. Riot police tried to push back protesters who stormed the Conservative party headquarters and tore down metal barricades as they flooded into nearby Parliament Square.
London's Metropolitan Police said they arrested 11 people, for offences including assaulting police, criminal damage, and violent disorder, as hundreds of police and riot officers were deployed. Britain's biggest student protest in four years started peacefully and in a party mood, with students marching towards the Houses of Parliament.
"Education is a right, not a commodity" read one of the placards held up by students, who are calling for free higher education and want to see tuition fees scrapped. "Tuition fees? No way! Tax the rich and make them pay!" the students chanted as they marched. "We want free education for everyone. It makes economic sense," said 26-year-old Nehaal Bajwa, who is paying £9,360 (11,690 euros, $14,660) a year to study a Masters in economics.