Downing Street Says » Student Protests

Asked if the Prime Minister had any message for students who were considering protesting, the Prime Minister’s Spokesman (PMS) told the assembled press that our position on protesting was always the same: people had the right to protest peacefully, but those protests should remain peaceful.

Put that the Home Secretary had suggested yesterday that police should use water cannon on demonstrators and did the Prime Minister think the Home Secretary was wrong to suggest that, the PMS replied that what the Home Some Secretary had said was that operational matters were for the police to decide.

Put that the Home Secretary had specifically said that the police should consider using water cannon, the PMS said that the Home Secretary’s position was very clear on this; these were issues for the police.

Asked what the Prime Minister’s view was on the issue, the PMS said that it was the same. Put that the decision to use water cannon was entirely a matter for the police that involved no ministerial oversight, the PMS replied that the decision on how to deal with the protests, ensure public safety and what the best strategy was for doing that, were operational issues that were best left to the police.

On whether the Prime Minister would be reluctant to see the use of water cannon, the PMS replied that the police had made clear that the way they would approach these protests was to ensure their actions were proportionate and consistent with minimum force necessary.

Put that the image of water cannon being used on the streets of London was presumably one that the Prime Minister would not welcome, the PMS said that our preference would be that protests were conducted peacefully.

Asked if the Prime Minister was alarmed by footage that had emerged of riot police not wearing any identity numbers, the PMS replied that the police were looking at the events of last week and if there was an issue, he was sure they would be investigating that too.

When asked if the Prime Minister thought that the force used by police was proportionate, the PMS said that the police were faced with a difficult situation. This was not a minority of people; there were a lot of people on the streets intent on causing problems.

Asked if more protests were expected, the PMS said that there was a lot of speculation about more protests in the coming days and the police were working on that basis.

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» Monday, December 13, 2010

Student Protests

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