Cambridge students march at London #GrantsNotCuts demo
Students from Cambridge and Anglia Ruskin were among 10,000 protests in London on Wednesday demonstrating against government changes to higher education funding
Students from Cambridge and Anglia Ruskin universities marched in London yesterday protesting against recent increases in tuition fees and government plans to reform maintenance grants.
A small band of fifteen students, whose travel was provided free by CUSU, joined an estimated 10,000 other students in the capital to participate in the National Demonstration for Free Education organised by the National Campaign Against Fees and Cuts (NCAFC).
The organisation states that its aims are the abolition of tuition fees for both domestic and international students, an increase in marginal taxation for the richest in society, and a significant expansion in the provision of living grants for students.
During the march, students chanted “No ifs, no buts, no education cuts” and “What do we want? Free education! When do we want it? Now!” The subject of slogans also included the refugee crisis, the morality of capitalism and David Cameron’s alleged forays into animal husbandry.
The march, which began outside Birkbeck and SOAS of the University of London, ended in violent clashes between a minority of protesters and the British Transport Police outside the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills.
A few protesters, dressed in all-black with scarves covering their faces, were confronted by police after a firework was set off.
A statement by the London Metropolitan Police stated that a "small number of smoke bombs and eggs were thrown at police outside [the] BIS” and that twelve arrests had been made.
Prior to the event, Labour’s Shadow Chancellor, John McDonnell, spoke to the assembled students and offered his support in their efforts to demonstrate against changes in education funding.
He declared: “Your generation has been betrayed by this government with the increase in tuition fees, [the] scrapping of Educational Maintenance Allowance and now the cuts in maintenance grants and education generally.”
He told the assembled students: “Your voice needs to be heard … Stay safe and make sure the politicians know that we're not going to stand for this any more. Education is a basic human right.”
He also implored students to have a “peaceful demonstration”.
Speaking exclusively to Varsity on Whitehall, Natalie Bennett, the Leader of the Green Party, said: “The energy and the enthusiasm is great. This is a sign of the way that politics is changing – more people are getting involved.
“Even people passing by will get the sense that politics is stepping up, is getting exciting and that they should get involved.”
Asked whether she thought that anything practical would come of the march, she added: “One of the things we learnt, if we go back to the huge march against the Iraq War, is that one march very seldom if ever turns things around.
“What we need, and what we’re increasingly building, is a movement of people … We’re building up pressure for electoral reform … and a new kind of politics … That’s going to take lots of individual effort, but things are changing and people can feel it.”
Extended analysis of the event and its significance, including interviews with Cambridge students who attended the demonstration, can be found in Varsity’s print edition tomorrow.
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