Clashes outside Parliament after tuition fee hike passes in lower house

Protesters took to the streets outside British parliament in London on Wednesday night after MPs narrowly passed university tuition  hikes in the lower House of Commons. The proposal will raise the cap on tuition fees-- effectively tripling the cost of a university education in the UK.

Reuters/Eddie Keogh

A total of 323 lawmakers voted for the proposals, while 302 voted against in the lower House of Commons.

Meanwhile,  outside Parliament, protests turned violent as several police and demonstrators were hurt, some with head wounds, as masked protesters repeatedly tried to break through a police cordon. Others tried to rip up metal barricades and throw parts of a fence at police.

"I was on the front line. I walked up to the police, had my hands behind my back," said Julyan Phillips, 23, a student at Goldsmiths College, London. Blood was coming from a cut in his head.

"The guys who were next to me were pushing a metal fence towards them but a policeman decided to lash ot at me instead with a baton," he told AFP newswire.

"Education is a right, not a privilege," he added.

Police were trying to contain people to within Parliament Square "due to the level of violence officers are faced with," acccording to a statement from Scotland Yard.

"Missiles including flares, sticks, snooker balls and paint balls have been aimed at police," the statement added.

Seven people have reportedly been arrested so far.