www.studentdirect.co.uk
Monday 8 November 2010
Demo in pictures Page 6
Where have all the protesters gone? Page 31
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Give it a go – Cheese & Wine Page 33
Salford Students March on London Gemma Blackman
L
ast Wednesday 10 November almost 400 Salford students took to the streets of London to protest against looming education cuts and tuition fee rises. 50,000 students marched towards the Houses of Parliament and Salford students were amongst them; leaving at 5.30am just to make it in time. The protest was against the government’s education cuts which will see all funding for arts removed as well as others across the board, an area which the future of the country depends on, and the cap on tuition fees being lifted. The protest was aimed at the Lib Dem MPs who signed a pledge before the election stating they would not vote for a rise in tuition fees. This includes Nick Clegg and Vince Cable. If this were to happen then thousands of students may not be able to go to university, being unable to afford £27,000 of debt for the three years. The University of Salford Students’ Union was overwhelmed by the support for the cause, originally planning for 200 students to attend and having to book extra coaches the day before the event in order to cater for the demand. People even came at 5am on
Wednesday morning in the hope that they could still be squeezed on to the seven coaches going down and many were successful, but not all. On the coach down many people were very excited despite the early morning. Joseph Bijster, a Languages student, was particularly excited to be able to make a difference: “Having not been able to vote at the general election [being 17 at the time], I feel very strongly about this as I can finally have my say.” The coach loads of Salford students got separated on the journey down and London was overflowing with protesters so the two groups remained apart during the march. Despite being near the back of the march, the group was in high spirits. Chants had been created on the coach down which caught on quickly with the crowd. Most popular was “No if’s, no but’s, no education cuts!” which spread from the Salford group to various universities around. The march started off slowly, but soon gained momentum. The placards around were very witty, showing just what the future of the country will be missing out on if the cap on tuition fees are lifted. There was even a giant vulture being carried by one university, a very artistic portrayal which will be lost once arts funding is cut. Unfortunately a few anarchists ahead of the
Salford group had broken into Millbank, the Conservative party headquarters, burning placards outside it and a police stand-off ensued, with riot police called in. This meant the march could not continue. Many protesters simply faded away from the street and moments later the area was clear. Samantha Cryer, a Sociology student said: “It is such a shame we didn’t get to finish the march. Violence was never part of the plan for anyone I know who came down today.” Spirits remained high though, students had still been a part of a huge, potentially life-changing march. Ricky Chotai, the President of the Salford Students’ Union said after the march: “Today was a big success. It was amazing for the 371 Salford staff and students to make the effort to stand against these cuts. The student solidarity was brilliant and I am so pleased to have been a part of it. It is great to be involved with something on such a big scale, there were over 50,000 students there and I am proud to say that we were there.” Salford students arrived back from London 18 hours after they set off, satisfied and tired, certain that they will have been heard by the masses but disappointed that the Millbank incident will outshine the peaceful protest, at least for a while.