THE violence seen in London two days ago was deplorable and cannot be condoned in any way.

But the protest in general, by students arguing against the raising of a cap on university tuition fees, should start to be listened to by the coalition government.

It is clear that a minority were there ready to cause trouble and have a confrontation with officialdom, just as at other marches in the capital.

It is a disgrace, though, that this lunatic fringe did nothing except damage the cause of the genuine protesters as much as they damaged the windows of Millbank.

Too many will now disregard the fact that there were 50,000 students demonstrating against a rise in fees.

That is a huge number but question as well just who these students are and why they were demonstrating.

Many of them will not be affected by the rise, having graduated by the time it comes in.

But they are fighting it for the next generations of students and that must be considered when the Government makes its final decision.

Wednesday’s disorder should also be looked at in the light that the Government needs to do more to listen properly to these protests.

We have already witnessed the disgraceful no-show of Business Secretary Vince Cable in Oxford for fear of becoming the focal point of protests, while his Liberal Democrat leader, Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg is also not coming to the city now — blaming a diary clash.

Instead of scuttling away, politicians should discover their backbones and make themselves available to talk about the proposals.