A new era of violent protests on Britain's streets has begun as the nation prepares for cuts to public services, the head of the Metropolitan Police has warned.
Sir Paul Stephenson said his officers had failed to predict the change in mood among demonstrators before the Millbank riot two weeks ago.
Britain's most senior police officer said the violence, which saw anarchists and students run amok through buildings housing the Conservative Party headquarters illustrated that "the game has changed".
He said police would be prepared for a more robust response to future protests, as demonstrated yesterday when riot officers used controversial 'kettling' tactics to marshall crowds.
Speaking at a meeting of the Metropolitan Police Authority (MPA) at City Hall, Sir Paul said the ''likelihood is for more disorder on our streets''.
He said: ''We have been going through a period where we have not seen that sort of violent disorder.
''We had dealt with student organisers before and I think we based it too much on history. If we follow an intelligence-based model that stops you doing that.
''Obviously you realise the game has changed. Regrettably, the game has changed and we must act.''
Yesterday's demonstration, which included many school pupils, was contained in Whitehall, close to the entrance to Downing Street.
He said when several large-scale marches linked up in Whitehall police wanted to stop them getting into Parliament Square and beyond.
The meeting heard a smaller group of known troublemakers tried and failed to target the Lib Dem Cowley Street headquarters earlier in the day.
The demonstration was the second against a planned rise in University tuition fees in a fortnight but the damage caused by rioters was far more limited.
Sir Paul said in recent years the Met has been reducing the numbers of officers and other resources deployed to tackle demonstrations.
He said: ''Regrettably we are going to have to review that. We are going to have to take a more cautious approach.''
Speaking about the clashes yesterday, Sir Paul said: ''The bottom line is we did not get it right two weeks ago and in my opinion we did get it right yesterday.
''We did put an enormous amount more assets out yesterday but we did get it right.''
Sir Paul said out of the 35 people arrested yesterday, nine were held for vandalising and looting a police carrier left stranded in the centre of Whitehall.
He added that seven officers were injured, including a woman who suffered a broken bone in her hand and a man with "soft tissue damage" to his leg.
A further 11 members of the public were treated by paramedics as thousands of people descended on Westminster.
Several landmark buildings, including those in Whitehall, were "locked down" over fears protesters were planning to occupy them by force.
Police said protesters wore masks, ripped up roadworks, destroyed a bus shelter, threw smoke canisters and ignited aerosols, burning some people's faces.
A police van was vandalised and broken into.
Sir Paul said there were no police officers in the vehicle and it was abandoned because of the risk of getting it back.
He added: "It is beyond irritating, it is disgraceful, but had we deployed to that carrier we would have achieved nothing. We could have injured protesters and police officers.
"The decision was made to leave it there and evidence gather and deal with the criminals later, which is what we have done."
Speaking about the decision to pen in protesters, Sir Paul said there were fears some would try to occupy the Liberal Democrat headquarters.
He said: "Given their intentions and the criminal damage seen in Parliament Street and Whitehall, a containment, also known by another phrase, was authorised at 1pm.
"The command team was in no doubt if protesters were given free reign in Parliament Square and the Government security zone, they would have tried to enter premises by force."
Sir Paul said police wanted to release those held in the pen earlier, but could not because of renewed violent clashes involving people outside the area.
He added that the process of photographing and identifying suspects before they were allowed to leave was "frustratingly slow".
The meeting heard that clashes continued late into the evening with sit-down demonstrations on Westminster Bridge and in Parliament Square.
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