Tuition Fee Rises - Part 1

A lot of people have been talking about the rise of tuition fees. I've kept relatively quiet so far but there a few things I want to get off my chest about the whole thing. There is a lot of misinformation going around about it all, and I'm sure I'll be guilty of this at some point during this post but if you do want to question anything then you should probably double check YOUR references first.

I don't really have any particular political leaning at the moment. Probably, when I get older and my circumstances change and politics affects me more than it does now, I'll pick sides. But at the time of writing I intend to stay pretty neutral. Whether or not I agree with the cuts, only time will tell, but I do feel that university has become almost a 'get-out-of-jail-free' card to some people (I will talk more on this in part 2). How many universities will ACTUALLY raise their fees to £9,000 remains to be seen.

I feel that this particular cut was inevitable. The people this cut affects the most are easy to exploit as they will either still be too young to vote by the next election or because a staggering 56% or eligible voters between 17-25 are not even registered on the electoral role. I also feel that the coalition government has a long task ahead of them in rebuilding the economy. You can shout 'Tory Scum!' until you go hoarse but a global recession and a free spending labour government led our country into the financial hole it's in now. I feel these cuts are severe, especially when approximately £40 billion is spent on the Trident missile systems. However, to expect a government to cut spending on defence and national security in such a severe way is fantasy. I just want to point out to anyone who says, "If I was in charge of the country I would do x" is also living in a fantasy world, you'd do exactly the same as everyone else, look after yourself and those you sympathise to.

There are many people out there who feel Nick Clegg has sold out everything he promised in the pre-election campaign, but honestly people, pre-election promises are rarely met. If you really trusted Nick Clegg then you were just waiting to get fucked. Politicians may start with the best intentions but quickly become self motivated and greedy and this was highlighted during the expenses scandal. The only remorse these people showed was when they got caught, most of them didn't even think there was anything wrong with pocketing thousands of pounds in tax payers money. Many of them refused to pay this money back. If this had been any man or woman in the street, they would have had to pay every last penny back as well as incurring a steep prison sentence.



I do feel that Nick Clegg has put a black mark next to the reputation of the Lib Dems and this may affect their long term standing. He was too quick to try and get himself and his party a little bit of control and now he has helped create a coalition whose 'toe the line or get out' attitude is unnervingly fascist, nor do I feel it is the action of a progressive government.

The protests themselves were tarnished by violence and a heavy handed response by the police. The protesters who chose violence did nothing but underline the cause of everyone else and those who wished to protest peacefully SHOULD have distanced themselves completely from this minority. However, this didn't appear to happen as both sets of protesters steered from the designated route. I'm aware that the police initiated a containment procedure outside parliament but the protesters advocating peace should not have stood side by side with those committing violence in the first place, or even been at parliament at all. I haven't heard of any peaceful protesters attempting to calm the situation. Many of the people protesting wore bandanna's and scarves over their faces in an incredibly intimidating fashion which I feel only further alienated them as a whole. The continued damage and vandalism to public property will be shouldered by tax payers money, further alienating the cause to the rest of the public.



As for the police, while many of their tactics appear questionable they were just doing their jobs. I am definitely NOT an advocate for the police but as upholders of the law they were just trying to get between the protesters and the politicians. These people are not the ones you should be fighting with, they are facing huge cuts as well. If any innocent protesters were injured then it continues to show that they should have distanced themselves from the violence as soon as it began to appear. They stood with incredible humility as bricks and fireworks rained down on them and only charged when orders were given. The police are just regular people like me or you, can you honestly say that in the same situation you would stand your ground unflinchingly, when faced with such hostility?

I do find the attacks on Charles and Camilla to be a little to coincidental. The antithesis of struggling students, an upper class member of the royal family who has never had to worry about the cost of schooling drives round in an ostentatious car while students film it all on a typically shaky camera phone. I'm not normally one for conspiracy theories, but seriously? I feel this was a smokescreen to put the protesters in an even worse light and the media chose to run this as the main story the next day. This will have suited the politicians just fine. The media, especially the BBC has acted in a completely one-sided way as well. Interviewing posh boys at Bristol Student Union and then shady, hooded characters on the streets will never produce accurate feelings of young people as a whole.

Next I just want to challenge a few of the absurd statements made by the some of the protesters, many of who don't even know exactly what they are protesting for. Also, those who were jumping around in the background at the first sight of a television camera rather than voicing your dissatisfaction does nothing but make you look even more out of touch with what's going on.

"Education is a right, not something we have to pay for."

Well, actually you do get a free state education from the age of 4-18 which is more than can be said for most countries. In many parts of India and Afghanistan, woman are not entitled to education and in many countries including Ethiopia and Somalia less than 50% of children receiving any form of schooling. Also, you already DO pay for the privilege of attending university.

"We're from the slums of London, what's to stop doing drug deals on the street,"



Excuse me, slums of London? Unless you live in a mud shack with a corrugated iron roof you don't live in the slums. I understand that there are some incredibly under privileged young people living in Britain and I sit here typing away in comfort and I admire you for trying to better yourselves through education but just because you don't get your EMA any more doesn't mean you have to start pushing drugs. London is one of the most populated and industrialized cities in the world and you're telling me you can't get a single job? I don't mean this in a preachy way and I'll talk more about this later.



Also, this sign make you look stupid. And if you don't understand what I mean you obviously aren't going to get into university anyway.