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A Loud London Day

By Farooque Chowdhury

12 November, 2010
Countercurrents.org

Student activism and politics in the United Kingdom, both at national level, have shown their close connection. Both, moored in economy, are acting with each other, and pronouncing aloud old questions related to politics, citizens’ rights, state’s role, and education.

Consequently, political problems are raising heads seeds of which were sowed by the orthodox politics of perpetuating disparity and disregarding principles of equity. London tiptoed these problems followed by a day of protest, and a stray incident of anger ventilation. This reflects the mood in general: ready to reject and protest austerity the ruling class is imposing.

Hundreds of coach loads of students and lecturers from across England joined together on November 10, 2010 to protest plans to treble tuition fees and cut university funding in England. A section of the protesters, in the words of the Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Stephenson, to the “embarrassment for London”, hurled eggs and bottles, and took over Tory headquarters after pushing back outnumbered, and virtually baffled policemen there. Banners set on fire added heat to the scene while a few other acts told intensity of anger. The London police later regained control of the building with smashed windows and protest flags flown from the roof after “moving the crowd back … a meter every minute”. Demonstrators also gathered outside the Liberal Democrat headquarters as the LibDems were wearing a mask of hypocrisy.

The National Union of Students has threatened to try to unseat LibDem MPs who go back on pre-election pledges they made to oppose any rise in tuition fees. All the LibDem MPs including the Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg and Business Secretary Vince Cable signed pre-election promises to oppose any increase in fees. In June, Nick said the coalition would bring in a right for voters to re-call their MP and force a by-election if the MP was found to have been engaged in “serious wrong-doing”. Now, students’ first target is Nick. Nick is now also repentant for his election-pledge to oppose increase in tuition fees. But still now there is no law to make “re-call” possible. That may assure the pledge-bound MPs.

While the massive protest march of more than 50 thousand students was passing off peacefully the Question Time in the Commons witnessed a fiery exchange between the Nick and Labour Party's Harriet Harman over fees. On the London streets, the protesting students shouted: “No ifs, no buts, no education cuts”. Students from many higher seats of education including Oxford, Birmingham and Ulster Universities joined the peaceful protest march. David Barclay, Oxford University Student Union president, said: “This is the day a generation of politicians learns that though they might forget their promises, students won’t.” But, protests do not always help politicians learn. They wait, in most cases, till defeat pushes them down from the stage of politics. But, defeat does not act all the time. Sections of politicians know the trick.

The protesters in the Tory headquarters building released a statement that opposed all cuts, marketization of education, and “the system of helping the rich and attacking the poor”. They stood “in solidarity with public sector workers, and all poor, disabled, elderly and working people”, and called “for direct action to oppose these cuts.” It said: “This is only the beginning of the resistance to the destruction of our education system and public services.” The statement seems universal as education has been and being marketed in most of the countries, as poor, disabled, elderly and working people are suffering in most of the countries.

Protesting students raised the question of disparity. One of the student leaders said: “Politicians don’t seem to care. They should be taking money from people who earn seven-figure salaries, not from students who don’t have any money.” Similarly, the issue of actually making a market with university fees has also been raised. Sections of politicians really do not care; never do they have any intention to put their hands in the pockets of the rich to finance poor men’s welfare program.

A boom for private universities is being apprehended by students. They see the plan as the abandonment of the key principle of state funding for teaching, withdrawal of funding for subjects other than science, technology, engineering and mathematics, and privatization of university teaching. Politics for status quo will not like philosophy, literature and history as these do not ensure profit.

Organized by the National Union of Students and the University and College Union, the march was the biggest student demonstration in generations that told: “We’re in the fight of our lives ... we face an unprecedented attack on our future before it has even begun. They’re proposing barbaric cuts that would brutalize our colleges and universities. This is just the beginning ... the resistance begins here.” Brutalization of educational institutions in many countries has been initiated many years ago as corporate capital made those serve corporate interests, as sections of educational institutions were made part of military-industrial complex. One of the student leaders said that the “miserable vision” would be resisted, and students would take their protests to their constituencies. Probably, this November will witness more student protests.

The government plan, an incomplete compromise, has failed to mask its pro-rich face in a reality of disparity. According to the NUS, “The number of black students applying to go to university has fallen by 10 per cent since 1997 and the number of applications from men from working-class backgrounds fell by 7 per cent in the same period”. The NUS said that proposals for “top-up fees” – extra tuition charges of up to £5,000 suggested by Vice-Chancellors at some of the top universities – threatened to turn the higher-education system into one based on financial muscle, rather than academic. In many countries, education solely relies on financial muscle; the poor lack that muscle.

Even a section of LibDems protested their party’s position. Students in Northern Ireland apprehended that the same fees increase would be imposed on them. This led them to protests at Stormont.

The flare at the Tory HQ is an indicator of a country ready to rise in protest against pro-rich steps, against job cuts, against making education commodity and making it a domain of the financially powerful. It may be, as an NUS leader claimed, the “beginning of a campaign to run until the General Election to persuade political parties to rule out top up fees.” Goldsmiths students recently took over Deptford Town Hall. There were a few more incidents of student protest in the UK this year. The London student protest carries deeper message, a message against making education mere investment for profit, a message for establishing “link between education and the broader social good.”

There is a possibility that workers under the sword of job cut will also rise in protest. Thousands of council job losses at Sandwell council, Derbyshire County Council, Leeds City Council and Stoke on Trent City Council are waiting for the working persons. The student protest may add encouragement.

The London student march is now part of politics, an initiative by students to safeguard their space, an initiative that requires interacting with politics, an initiative that feels compelled to pull out issues related to politics. The London student march shows, a lesson for many in many countries, student activism should not ignore student problems in the name of getting engaged with lofty-sounding slogans.