PM condemns attack on royals’ car

The Duchess of Cornwall and the Prince of Wales

The BBC’s Andy Tighe says questions will be asked over the royal ‘ambush’

Lessons need to be learned from a security lapse which allowed protesters to attack the Prince of Wales’s car, Prime Minister David Cameron has said.

Those responsible for the violence at Thursday’s student protest must feel the full force of the law, he said.

A window was smashed and paint thrown at the vehicle as Prince Charles and Camilla headed to a London theatre.

MPs last night pushed through plans to raise the maximum tuition fee level to £9,000 but 21 Lib Dems voted against.

A further five abstained, slashing the government’s majority.

Business Secretary Vince Cable has said the Lib Dems are still “united” despite the rebellion.

There were angry clashes as protesters – some throwing missiles – fought to break through police lines as thousands of students gathered in London.

Met Police chief Sir Paul Stephenson said the royal attack was shocking and the couple should be commended for their fortitude.

He also said the route was “thoroughly recced” in advance, including several minutes beforehand, and that his officers had shown “commendable restraint”.

Sir Paul Stephenson

Met Police Commissioner Sir Paul Stephenson said the royal route was cleared in advance.

He said: “The unpredictability of the – I was going to say demonstrators but I’d rather describe them as thugs – and how they moved about the capital meant that the protection officers were placed in a very difficult position.

“Yesterday was a thoroughly disgraceful incident and there will be a very full and detailed criminal inquiry into how that attack happened.”

Mr Cameron said of the royal attack: “We do need to learn the lessons of this. It was a very regrettable incident. But in the end let’s remember that this was not the fault of the police.

“This was the fault of the people that tried to smash up that car. Let’s be very clear about where responsibility lies. Responsibility for smashing property, for violence, lies with the people that perpetrate that violence and I want to see them arrested and punished in the correct way.

“But of course we must learn the lessons from what was a very regrettable lapse of security and that needs to be dealt with and lessons must be learned.”

London Mayor Boris Johnson said it was regrettable the heir to the throne could be surrounded by agitators and that people’s first instinct was to blame the police.

Universities Minister David Willetts said the attacks on the police were “shocking” and that the officers caught up in the violence should be supported.

The National Union of Students (NUS), meanwhile, said the violence had overshadowed the story it wanted to see in the newspapers.

Shane Chowen, the union’s vice-president of further education, said: “Not the headlines I wanted. I wanted to see the fact that the coalition government have just trebled tuition fees, sentencing a generation of students to record student debt.”

How the vote went28 Lib Dem MPs voted yes21 Lib Dem MPs voted no8 Lib Dem MPs either abstained or were absent6 Conservative MPs voted no2 Conservative MPs abstainedFull list: How Lib Dems voted

Clarence House said the royal couple were unharmed and attended the annual Royal Variety Performance at the London Palladium as scheduled.

The former head of royal protection, Dai Davies, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme he was “appalled” by the attack and surprised by the apparent lack of strategy.

He said: “One of the principles of protection is to have alternative routes and I would have expected there to be at least three different routes.

“I’m surprised, and clearly the commissioner is embarrassed and surprised also, why there isn’t better co-ordination – or appears to be – between those in charge of protection and those marshalling and dealing with the riots.”

In angry scenes, protesters battled with police in Parliament Square. Hundreds were contained on Westminster Bridge for a time by officers.

There were clashes as protesters – some throwing missiles – fought to break through police lines. Riot police had to force back protesters smashing windows at the Treasury and the Supreme Court.

Earlier, protesters had largely taken over Parliament Square and pressed against lines of police in front of the Houses of Parliament. Mounted police were used to control crowds, at one point charging a group of protesters.

Scotland Yard said 12 officers and 43 protesters were injured and 34 people were arrested.

Police said there were attacks using “flares, sticks, snooker balls and paint balls”.

Only 28 Lib Dem MPs – fewer than half – voted for the government’s plans for tuition fees. Six Conservative MPs voted against. Three ministerial aides resigned.

The Metropolitan Police Authority chairman, London Deputy Mayor Kit Malthouse, defended the tactic of holding of demonstrators in a small area, known as “kettling”.

He said: “You either go for dispersal of the crowd, and we’ve seen that in London in the past, what you then get is groups of protesters ranging through London.

“The other alternative is to contain, and that often calms the crowd down.”

The package of measures will see fees rising to an upper limit of £9,000 per year – with requirements for universities to protect access for poorer students if they charge more than £6,000 per year.

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Student ‘hit by police truncheon’

Protesters in Parliament SquareHundreds of protesters converged in Parliament Square during the voting
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A student suffered bleeding to the brain when he was struck by a police truncheon during the tuition fees protest, his mother has alleged.

Alfie Meadows, 20, of Middlesex University, was hit on the head as he tried to leave Westminster Abbey area, his mother Susan Meadows said.

Alfie underwent a three-hour operation and was recovering in hospital.

A Met Police spokesman said: “We are aware of a 20-year-old male with a head injury who is currently in hospital.”

“The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) has been involved,” he added.

Hundreds of protesters converged near Parliament on Thursday as MPs voted to increase university tuition fees to £9,000.

Several protesters and police officers were injured as the demonstration turned violent.

Protesters and police in Parliament SquareProtesters and police clashed during the demonstration

Mrs Meadows, 55, an English literature lecturer at Roehampton University, said her son had described being struck as “the hugest blow he ever felt in his life”.

“The surface wound wasn’t very big but three hours after the blow, he suffered bleeding to the brain.

“Basically he had a stroke last night. He couldn’t speak or move his hand.”

But Alfie, a second-year undergraduate philosophy student, was now “talking and doing very well,” she said.

He was attending the protest with friends, including two lecturers, Nina Power, his mother’s colleague, and Peter Hallward, a philosophy lecturer at Kingston University.

He was injured as the group tried to leave the area after police began a “kettling” operation, Mrs Meadows said.

He called his mother to tell her he was injured.

Mrs Meadows, who was also among the protesters in a different area, said: “I got out of the kettle and met him and he told me all about it. He knew he had to go to hospital but he didn’t initially know how bad it was.

“Alfie said to me before this happened ‘Somebody is going to get killed’”

Susan Meadows Injured student’s mother

“The policeman offered to get him an ambulance but he was in shock and didn’t know how serious it was.”

He was later taken to hospital and underwent surgery as his condition deteriorated.

She said her “extraordinarily idealistic and committed” son had been given advice by student union on how to stay safe.

“He would never try to be a martyr.

“Alfie said to me before this happened ‘Somebody is going to get killed’. It’s very frightening,” she said.

She said she felt “very strongly” about the “way in which these events are being policed”.

London Mayor Boris Johnson said: “I am appalled by the violence and I deeply regret that as we talk there’s a student who has suffered injuries.”

“It is very, very difficult for the police to strike a balance in this matter and you will remember how fiercely they were criticised for the kettling operation during the G20 protests, the tragedy of Ian Tomlinson, it is extremely difficult.”

More than 2,800 Metropolitan Police officers were on duty.

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Pakistan media in Wikileaks hoax

Pakistani men at newsstands in IslamabadReports about the bogus cables featured prominently in leading Pakistani newspapers on Thursday

Pakistani newspapers have admitted they were hoaxed after publishing reports based on fake Wikileaks cables containing anti-Indian propaganda.

US diplomatic cables were reported on Thursday as confirming many right-wing Pakistani views and conspiracy theories about their regional arch-foe.

They claimed US envoys thought one Indian general was “rather a geek”, and accused India of genocide in Kashmir.

It is still not clear who instigated the hoax.

The Guardian, a British newspaper which has all of the 250,000 leaked Wikileaks cables, said that an extensive search of the database had found nothing to match any of the claims carried in the Pakistani media.

According to the erroneous reports, Indian spies were said to be supporting Islamist militants in Pakistan’s north-western tribal region of Waziristan and the south-western province of Balochistan.

US diplomats were also said to believe that the Indian Army was faction-ridden; a “Bosnia-like genocide” was happening in Indian-administered Kashmir; and the Indian military was hand-in-glove with “Hindu fanatic groups”.

The English-language Express Tribune newspaper, which is affiliated to the International Herald Tribune in Pakistan, published a front-page retraction.

The daily said it “deeply regrets publishing this story without due verification and apologises profusely for any inconvenience”.

The News, another daily, said on Friday: “On further inquiries, we learnt from our sources that the story was dubious and may have been planted.”

But Jang, which had reported the fake Wikileaks story on its front page, made no mention of the matter on Friday.

And the Nation newspaper said in an editorial that the hoax had exposed “India’s true face”.

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Party united, say Clegg and Cable

Nick Clegg, David Cameron and Vince CableThe coalition won the vote on raising tuition fees but its majority was cut to 21

Vince Cable has said the Lib Dems are still “united” despite Thursday’s rebellion over the rise in student tuition fees in England.

The business secretary, who drew up the plans to raise the maximum fee level to £9,000, acknowledged there was a “division” in his party on the issue.

The government’s majority was slashed as 21 Lib Dem MPs voted against the plans and five abstained.

Mr Cable told the BBC the coalition would be “stronger for the experience”.

Despite winning the vote, which took place against a backdrop of violence and protests in central London, Mr Cable said ministers still had a challenge to explain the policy to the public and why it was fairer than the current system of student finance.

Thursday’s rebellion was the largest since the Liberal Democrats were formed. Its MPs had come under huge pressure – and been the focus of protests – after signing a pre-election pledge to oppose tuition fee rises.

Former leaders Charles Kennedy and Sir Menzies Campbell were among those not to back the leadership and two junior ministerial aides – Jenny Willott and Mike Crockart – resigned over the issue.

Despite the differences of opinion, Mr Cable said his colleagues acknowledged that he had “considerably improved” the proposals in terms of the support given to poorer students and securing the funding for universities.

“It was a difficult day,” he told BBC Radio Four’s Today, “but we are stronger having been through this experience.”

“We are united, we will go forward and I think the coalition will be stronger not weaker for the experience.”

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Live Coronation Street attracts 14m viewers

The live 50th anniversary episode of Coronation Street attracts an average audience of 14 million people, while critics widely praise the production.

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