PM condemns attack on royals’ car

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”.

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.”

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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