Bugs, biscuits, trench foot: from the front line of the uni protests

00:00 05:38

Angus Colwell has narrated this article for you to listen to.

On the grass in front of UCL’s main building, on Sunday night, there were about 30 tents and the portico was plastered in handwritten signs: ‘Students: You’re in debt so UCL can fund a genocide!’ Some protestors sat on chairs, eating biscuits. Others stood at the front gate chanting ‘From the River to the Sea’. ‘Do you want a tent, bro?’ asked one protestor. I explained that I was a reporter and was immediately whisked away to talk to a spokesman. ‘Spectator, Spectator … yeah, I think that’s left-wing. All good.’ A girl who had come along for the day received a keffiyeh tutorial and as night began to fall, I watched as most of the demonstrators headed towards the front lawn to pray.

One student didn’t fall asleep until 6.30 a.m. ‘Trench foot,’ he murmured

The next day, Oxford and Cambridge students joined in with their own protests. At Oxford, they got up at 4.15 a.m. and snuck on to the rainy grass in front of the Pitt Rivers Museum. By the afternoon, this was marshland and most of the tents were sliding into the squelchy ground. The Pitt Rivers is right next to a road, which meant trouble. A car drove past and a Cockney-sounding troll screamed: ‘Iz-ray-yawl! Iz-ray-yawl!’ Booing followed, and another round of ‘From the River to the Sea’. The tactic was to crank up the singing when the Sky News cameras started rolling, I was told.

At Cambridge on Tuesday, the vibe was more of a party. The sun shone on King’s Parade, and the protestors were singing. There was also some dancing: ‘Down, down with occupation, up, up with liberation!’ You bent down for occupation and got up for liberation, I learned.