Reading Fights Fees & Cuts!
REPORT – JAN 2011
The London demo 29th Jan
Students from the University of Reading, in the company of local college students and trade union members, travelled to London on Saturday for another demonstration against fees and cuts.
It was a largely good-natured march, with little sign of the heavy-handed policing which marred earlier protests. There were clowns, songs (‘if you hate the coalition clap your hands…’), fancy dress and street theatre. From traditional trade union banners to home-made cardboard placards, many were inspirational and some were funny. As the first of the marches to be held on a weekend, there was a good turnout from working people in support of student demands for our right to education.
The official route led us down Whitehall and through Parliament Square to Milbank. We tried not to speculate as to why Topshop seemed better protected by the police than Tory HQ, but were amused by the spectacle of dozens of anarchists chanting “Pay Your Taxes” (at tax-avoiding companies such as Boots, or members of Sir Philip Green’s empire). The march was supposed to finish here with a rally in the park opposite Tory HQ, but we didn’t want to risk being kettled, and didn’t really fancy listening to boring speeches either, so a very large group – perhaps half of the entire march – continued on in search of the Egyptian Embassy to show our solidarity with the people of Egypt. After leading the police on a bit of a merry dance round London, and sometimes being confused as to where we were headed, we eventually arrived near the Egyptian Embassy. Protesters there (Egyptian students; families with young kids…) welcomed us delightedly and started chanting “Cameron Out” as well as “Mubarak Out”. All in all a good day, which left us footsore but well satisfied.
Demonstrating is important, and we would like to see as many people as possible mobilised for the ‘March for the Alternative’ on 26th March. (There will be transport arranged for this one.) Yet demos are not everything, and we are also working in other ways.
Reading Fights Fees and Cuts
We are a group of students and others who came together in November 2010 as part of the emerging struggle against the ConDem coalition’s cuts to education.
We are not linked to any political parties, so we make our own plans and decisions. We are, however, associated with “Save Our Services” in Reading, an umbrella organisation that gathers together groups and individuals active in defending local public services against the cuts. We do not just see education in isolation; we are also concerned about other issues such as unemployment and see our campaign as part of a larger effort. Save Our Services is concerned with all the impacts of cuts on communities, families and jobs in Reading.
We don't believe at all that we are fighting a losing battle over fees.
Firstly something could still be done to prevent the tuition fees increase in the short term. We, along with others, are working towards a possible amendment to a Government education paper in March. We are working with councilors at Reading Borough Council who are opposed to the tuition fee increase.
Secondly, we believe that in the longer term we can get fees abolished altogether. There has already been more protest than there was when fees were first brought in, and many students have been energised by those protests. This undermines the ConDem line that There Is No Alternative. It is up to us to put up robust arguments for free education. Fees encourage the belief that a university degree is little more than a transaction through which individuals buy themselves a highly paid job.
Thirdly, the issues at stake for the future of higher education are not only to do with the proposed increase in student tuition fees. We believe that the public university is essential both for cultivating democratic public life and creating the means for individuals to find fulfillment in creative and intellectual pursuits. So we are determined to fight the proposed cuts to higher education spending, especially social sciences, arts and humanities. There is overwhelming public support for spending on higher education. In a study for the Higher Education Funding Council, 80% said it should increase or stay the same.
We are also campaigning against other changes which make it difficult for young people from poorer families to go to university – the abolition of the £30/week Education Maintenance allowance (EMA) and the ‘Aim Higher’ programme for people who are the first in their families to go to university. It seems this govt want working class kids to ‘aim lower’.
If you are interested in being involved in the local and national fight against education cuts, get in touch with us:
e-mail: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Phone or text 07582051029. (Leave your number and we will get back to you.)
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/groups/ReadingFightsFeesandCuts
