I went to the cuts demo in London today. It was a bloody long day but well worth it!! You're probably heard about the "violence" at Tory HQ. We tried to get in, a guy asked us to provide solidarity in the occupation, but we couldn't reach the front. There was a couple of thousand people just in the courtyard, two fires burning and flares going off. The bonfires certainly brought a literal meaning to the chant "build a bonfire..."

Us and the Manchester students also had a little rave outside the Department for Business and Skills, down near Westminster Abbey. You won't have seen that on the news though. We went with the intention of occupying (peacefully of course) but they saw us coming and locked the doors. We were dancing and singing to music, not causing any trouble, then the police got their asps out and came at us.

I'd like to make it clear that I DO NOT condone the violence that happened today. I believe in occupation to make a point, that was a necessary part of today, but attacking police officers and civilians, dropping fire extinguishers from the top of an eight storey building, graffiti, throwing missiles, destroying property is NOT what I stand for. The point one tries to make in an occupation is completely negated once that line is crossed. The whole media coverage is focused on that, not on the point we were making and that's not the idea of an occupation. I also think it was a dangerous idea to light a bonfire where loads of people were gathering. If there had been a riot or the line was pushed, people could have got seriously injured. I know people get caught up in the heat of the moment and they probably didn't expect thousands of people to cram into such a small space but still, its not hard to think before literally stoking the fire.

I have a video of when the first occupation reached the roof, I might upload it tomorrow.

The police presence was shockingly low though. Having been on other demos where the police line each side of the procession, we were surprised to see no police at all until we got to the Department for Business and Skills. We managed to break away through Downing Street to the Treasury without even being stopped.