I WAS appalled by the comments from Dan Sidley (Letters, December 11). He said “a few windows in Whitehall can easily be replaced”. Did he not see the damage that was done?

Any sympathy I had for the students ended when I witnessed the violence and desecration of our capital city. These were supposed to be intellectuals but all I saw was mindless thugs. They even miss-spelt graffiti; what a waste of taxpayers’ money.

People died so that we could have freedom of speech; not freedom to desecrate their memorials and behave like animals. As far as I’m concerned the man who urinated against Churchill’s statue and the man seen swinging off the cenotaph flag should have been shot.

The banners about education being a right not a privilege just show how far from reality they live. Education is paid for by the taxpayer until a person leaves school. That is a right.

Higher education is a privilege. Do they realise how many third world countries charge for basic education?

Do they even know there’s a recession? Thousands are losing their jobs and their homes. Open your eyes to the real world and learn some respect.

Donna Greenwood, Clifton, York.