Thousands of students take to London's streets

Students marched through London Wednesday to protest cuts to public spending and a big increase in university fees.

Police said more than 2,000 people were taking part as the march set off with chants of "No ifs, no buts, no education cuts."� Organizers had said that they expected 10,000 to attend, the Guardian reported. �

One protester told the newspaper that construction workers on scaffolding along the protest route held up signs reading "unite the fight."

"It's good to see so much support from non-students; these cuts affect everyone," Lucy Gettings, the protester, told the Guardian.

Some 4,000 police officers were deployed along the route, which wound from the University of London to the city's financial district, according to Reuters.

At Trafalgar Square, a group of protesters erected more than 20 tents at the foot of Nelson's Column in the latest spinoff of the Occupy Wall Street protest camp movement.

The marchers were expected to link up with an existing protest camp against corporate greed outside St. Paul's Cathedral.

Annette Webb, an international development student at Portsmouth University, said tripling tuition fees to 9,000 pounds ($14,000) from next year "will price out most students."

Story: London police authorize plastic bullets if riot erupts at protest

"It will mean that education is only for the rich and I believe it should be for everyone," she said.

Previous student protests have ended in violence by a minority of demonstrators, including a spontaneous attack on a car carrying Prince Charles and his wife Camilla last December.

Police warned Wednesday that anyone involved in criminal activity during the march would face arrest and prosecution. Police said protesters may face being "kettled" ? contained inside a cordon ? if there is a threat of serious disorder.

Protest organizers accused the police of trying to intimidate marchers after reports that officers would be authorized to use rubber bullets if violence broke out.

The Metropolitan Police Force said officers along the route would not be issued with rubber bullets and they would only be used in "extreme circumstances."

Reuters contributed to this report.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45222767/ns/world_news-europe/

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