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If I were to sum up yesterdays protest for UCA students, it would be “oppressively policed, but defiant”.

A handful of UCA students from across campuses were joined by three of our Campus Officers (myself, Dean Smith, and Steve Martin) to protest the disastrous ‘White Paper’, bringing with it the privatisation of Higher Education and further massive cuts to UCA.

NUS backed the demonstration, however it is this Officers opinion that it did so more implicitly than explicitly. More could have been done to continue the fight.

The energy and excitement of protest, of action in the face of adversity, has done wonders for the student movement since last year and Unions have been unwise to underestimate this.

It is not a done deal, and the fight is not over. The tuition fees were raised, but the White Paper adds a whole new dimension for us to resist in the coming months.

Why was it “oppressively policed”? The entire march took place in the confined space of a Police ‘rolling kettle’. A line of riot police and horses took up the front, with officers and horses down the sides, dictating the pace of the march. Which—by the way—was a waddling stroll.

And of course, little over 24 hours before the march took place the Metropolitan Police very publically announced their willingness to utilise ‘baton rounds’ (plastic bullets) against peaceful protesters.

This is a less than subtle way of saying ‘don’t bother coming tomorrow’ from the Met Police, but luckily, thousands of students saw past this for what it is; as an empty threat.

Chants of ‘stick your rubber bullets up your arse’ to ‘She’ll Be Coming Round the Mountain..’ said it all for me. In fact, they have been available for use at several student protests last year.

Marching students passed by construction workers holding up their fists and cheering to the stream of protesters, as chants of “Students and workers, unite and fight!” rang out. The sheer energy of this exchange was intense. Though at a height on their scaffolds, it felt as if there was no barrier between us.

However, an artificial barrier was placed between protesting electricians and students on the demonstration when Police stopped the electricians from joining the march, before kettling them and several UCA students.

The Police were stifling our ability to protest. Three helicopters bearing down on Malet Street as we arrived, riot police in balaclavas on bridges glaring down at marchers, the rolling kettle. It was evident they did not want us to march, and do not want us to march again.

However, despite their efforts, the defiance shown today could be the spark that lights a new platform for student action across the country. Students at UCA must take up the baton (no put intended) and resist the policies that will wreck so much havoc on UCA, on arts institutions nationally, and on the creative sector. For creative people, the white paper has repercussions beyond University.

And beyond that it is integral we link up the fights between workers and students, especially on our campuses. On November 30th, lecturers and support workers will strike at Universities across the UK due to cuts to their pensions, while they must pay more for less.

So, in the overheard words of a City banker as we left Occupy London – “Lets capitalise on this!”