I set off on the 9th with plenty of food, drink and many layers of clothing; I knew it was going to be a long day. On the train into London I texted my oblivious mother that I would be attending the protest. I assured her I would leave if it turned violent, how naive of me to think I would be able to leave. I arrived at Russell Square and I could already feel friction in the air. After a short exchange of texts I met up with another person attending by themselves. We had arranged the night before to meet up via facebook, an unwise move I hear you shout. But I have been on facebook for years and can tell a fake account a mile off, facebook can be used as a tool to organise so long as you are switched on and aware. I know a lot of other people also met up and formed a group with people going on their own.

We made our way to ULU and mingled into the crowd. The atmosphere was truly electric, people from all different backgrounds united. Up ahead the news helicopters were filming our every move and portraying it to the nation even internationally. After 45 minutes the march began. The crowd around us during the march was peaceful; we chanted and danced to music. We made our way through a high street and people had thrown paint at the banks. This sort of action I consider to be reasonable, the paint can easily be wiped off but it showed we were unhappy with them.

We came to a halt just outside Parliament Square. We were in the middle so we couldn’t see why we had stopped. After fifteen minutes or so we poured into Parliament Square, people by this point were very hyped up, a lad next to me ripped off a strip of his placard and set it alight. There were fences set up around the green and within seconds they had been ripped down. The hardcore rushed to the front with their book blocs to defend themselves from the batons. We settled on the green and watched the battle between the police and protesters begin.  The police were reigning down their batons on the protesters. Equally a boy next to me was smashing up a cement block and throwing the smaller chunks at the police. I explained to him what he was doing was not helping the cause at all, some of the police supported our cause and what if his throw fell short and hit a fellow protester? To which he replied ‘I don’t care, fuck the police init.’ I figured there was no point arguing with him.