The NUS informed the Police that there would be 5000 students attending the demonstration yesterday. They upgraded that to 15,000 on Tuesday night. The final figure was possibly as much as twice that number.

The students arrived from all over the country, many in NUS organised coaches.

There are many eye witness accounts of NUS officials being right in the middle of the mêlée which ensued.

Many of the students who attended were visibly shaken at what was unfolding before their eyes.

The staff working in the offices at Milbank were terrified.

Someone threw an extinguisher off the roof which easily, so easily, could have killed someone.

Sir Paul Stephenson, has been incredibly professional in the way he has come out this morning and taken the hit on the chin.

Many of us MPs don’t believe that is right. Westminster was swarming last night with literally hundreds of Police officers. If Sir Paul had known the correct number of students attending, maybe he could have had enough Police in place quickly enough.

It appears that the President of the NUS, Aaron Porter, did not brief him adequately. The NUS organised a demonstration which has resulted in people in hospital and students with criminal records, before they have even had time to fill in a job application form.

It was an NUS demonstration. It is not good enough that today they want to distance themselves from what happened with a ‘not me Gov’ statement. They cannot.

It is not good enough that the police are expected to shoulder all of the blame.

Aaron Porter should resign. He was the architect of a dangerous demonstration which could have resulted in the loss of life.

The Police should be congratulated for what they did manage to achieve in the face of adversity.

Everyone has a right to peaceful demonstration. No one has a right to terrify and endanger the lives of others. Aaron Porter was responsible for that. It was an NUS demonstration and therefore they are fully responsible.