Police tactics questioned as PM condemns 'feral' protest

David Cameron today promised the full force of the law will be brought to bear on "the feral thugs" responsible for violence in London during and after the Commons tuition fees debate. However, he resisted calls for an independent inquiry into alleged police violence, or how the Royal Protection Squad let a car containing Prince Charles and his wife, Camilla, be attacked by protesters.

"I don't think we can go on saying a small minority were there. There were quite a lot of people who were hell bent on violence and destroying property," Cameron said. "When people see flags being torn off the Cenotaph, when people are despoiling a statue of Winston Churchill, police officers being dragged off police horses and beaten – I want to make sure that they feel the full force of the law."

But many of those who were present during the demonstrations complained of repeated incidents where excessive force was used by police, and disputed the charge that the protest had been characterised by violence.

The Independent Police Complaints Commission confirmed it had launched an investigation into the circumstances that saw a 20-year-old student, Alfie Meadows, requiring brain surgery after he was knocked unconscious, apparently by a police truncheon.

His mother, Susan, who was also at the protest but not with her son when he was injured, said he was recovering well after surgery, but it was unclear whether he would have lasting damage. She said: "Of course the police must defend themselves but I don't think hitting people very hard on the head is defence."

A police officer also suffered serious neck injuries on a day that saw more than 50 people wounded. Police arrested 33 people.

The Conservative MP Mark Pritchard said the breach in royal security, in which the Duchess of Cornwall was struck in the abdomen by a stick pushed through an open window, according to reports today, must be investigated by a "full independent inquiry". Keith Vaz, the chairman of the Commons home affairs committee, called for an independent inquiry into policing. Downing Street resisted both.

With Lib Dems reeling from the vote which saw 21 backbenchers rebel over plans to nearly triple tuition fees, the party's president, Tim Farron, said in a Guardian interview the party should retain the commitment to abolish tuition fees in its next election manifesto.

Posted in: