London Could Ban Student Marches After Protests Over Massive Tuition Hike

London's police commissioner has announced that he's considering taking steps to ban student marches in the wake of massive protests, some oh which turned violent, over a recent decision by British Parliament to triple university tuition rates.

Via Raw Story:

Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Paul Stephenson said "it is one of the tactics we will look at and something we will keep under review, and if we think it is the right thing to do then we will do it."

Under Britain's Public Order Act, a police chief can request a three-month ban on processions, provided the local government and the national Home Office agree to it. The Act doesn't give police the power to stop protests, only to keep the protesters from marching.

Understandably, students and others in the UK are not happy about that possibility, as it would throw the baby out with the bath water, barring even peaceful protests from happening around London.

The move has prompted some observers to declare that Britain may be headed towards "martial law" as police push back against angry youth who find they can no longer afford an education, at a time when jobs openings are rare...."Peaceful protest is an integral part of our heritage and it is the responsibility of the police to help facilitate that," said Aaron Porter, president of National Union of Students of the UK.