Education Protest in London Turns Violent

By SARAH LYALL
November 10, 2010

LONDON — A demonstration against government proposals to cut education spending and steeply increase tuition for university students turned violent on Wednesday as a core of protesters, evidently angling for a fight, attempted to storm the building that houses the Conservative Party.

 The protesters scuffled with police officers, set off flares, burned placards and kicked at windows until they shattered.

As of midafternoon, the protesters and police were at a standoff outside the building, Millbank Tower in Westminster. Some protesters had climbed onto a nearby roof terrace. Others continued to try, sometimes successfully, to enter the building, only to be escorted out again by the police. At one point the fire alarm went off and some workers left, but many then returned. the rest