Sheffield Protest/Riots

[kristopherb]

Taken from the BBC Webiste
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-12711060

Nick Clegg to rally Lib Dems in Sheffield amid protests

Nick Clegg has told Liberal Democrats to "hold your nerve" as he prepares to face activists rattled by sinking poll ratings and public anger at cuts.

The Lib Dem leader is seeking to rally his troops as his party gathers for its spring conference in Sheffield.

He told the BBC the party had been right to go into government and should "hold our head up high".

Police are preparing for up to 10,000 people to take part in anti-government protests over the weekend.

South Yorkshire Police have spent an estimated £2m on a "ring of steel" around the conference centre and have said they are looking into one report there had been a threat to kidnap Mr Clegg.

Several hundred demonstrators demonstrated outside the police cordon on Friday afternoon, shouting anti-Lib Dem slogans and anti-Nick Clegg chants. The main protest is expected on Saturday.

In an interview with BBC Radio Sheffield, Mr Clegg urged students and others planning to demonstrate against Lib Dem policy not to turn violent or attend "just to cause a ruck".

He also defended the beefed-up security arrangements in the city - where he is an MP - saying it was for the police to decide how to keep order around such events.

Mr Clegg is expected to face hostility from members of his own party, with a motion tabled attacking Project Merlin, the government's deal with the banks to increase lending, as "weak and hard to enforce".

I am in sheffeild as a student, and I live literatly five minutes away from the conference centre. Today i decided to have al look at the £2million "defences" the police has put up. I mean they are defences, 8 foot high walls, streets cordened off, 100s of police (this is the day before the protest). They have restricted movement round Barkers Square, so bad it will be protesting in a corridor. They have essentialy kettled the protesters, before they have arrived.

I mean i want it to be a peaceful protest, but its impossible in thoses conditions.

So what is your veiw?
Poll comming

 

[Shekwan]

Why are they having it in Sheffield?

I don't know much about the place but it wouldn't strike me as a Liberal Democrat stronghold. I would've though of it as a run down industrial town?

 

[Mr. Dictator]

I wish them all the luck.

 

[Dachs]

Why are they having it in Sheffield?

I don't know much about the place but it wouldn't strike me as a Liberal Democrat stronghold. I would've though of it as a run down industrial town?

Nick Clegg's constituency is Sheffield Hallam.

 

[Shekwan]

Oh. Makes sense then.

 

[Kraznaya]

I am in sheffeild as a student, and I live literatly five minutes away from the conference centre. Today i decided to have al look at the £2million "defences" the police has put up. I mean they are defences, 8 foot high walls, streets cordened off, 100s of police (this is the day before the protest). They have restricted movement round Barkers Square, so bad it will be protesting in a corridor. They have essentialy kettled the protesters, before they have arrived.

They're British, fascism runs in their blood.

 

[holy king]

haha, now THAT's de-escalation for you...

 

[Formaldehyde]

Why are 10K people expected to protest? If the Lib Dems are "mid-left" in their political philosophy as Wiki claims, are most of the protestors right-wing?

Does the UK typically react like this to relatively small numbers of demonstrators? Has there been violence in the past?

 

[ParadigmShifter]

They binned allmost of their principles by going into a coalition with the Tories.

 

[tycoonist]

Why are 10K people expected to protest? If the Lib Dems are "mid-left" in their political philosophy as Wiki claims, are most of the protestors right-wing?

Does the UK typically react like this to relatively small numbers of demonstrators? Has there been violence in the past?

The police have gotten a lot worse at handling protests recently. Kettling has become the norm sadly, cause it almost always backfires.

A lot of people who voted for the Lib dems are upset with how they have handled themselves since the last election: they have made far far too many concessions to the tories.

 

[Abaddon]

The libdems have whored themselves to the Tories. Anyone who voted LibDem feels their vote was a lie.

LibDem voters were closer to Labour then Tory, so seeing their vote get Tories in power has angered many. Specifically LibDem's big election issues have been totally forgotten once they have got into the power sharing deal.