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Violence flares up at BAE Systems student fees protest confirm 1,400 As we go to print scuffles have broken out between police and thousands of students who are marching on Westminster to protest plans to treble university fees from 2012. Some of the protesters have broken through metal barriers around Parliament Square and are pouring onto the green towards Whitehall. Some protesters are throwing sticks and glass bottles into the secured police area outside Parliament. “It has the potential to really get quite ugly here,” reporters have warned. “It’s largely quite peaceful at the moment but there are agitators in the crowd who are trying to push others into pushing and surging forwards.” The demonstrators are angry at coalition proposals being debated now in Parliament - that could see students being forced to
pay up to £9,000 per year. The march in the capital began at University London Union, in Malet Street, at 12pm. Protesters have been streaming through Russell Square, Holborn, Kingsway, Aldwych, Strand, Trafalgar Square, Admirals Arch, Horse Guards Road, Great George Street into Parliament Square hoping to get to Whitehall. From there, the crowds will be dispersed along Victoria Embankment, where a rally will be held at 3pm. Just before 2pm, a smoke bomb or flare was thrown over the lines of police vans
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and filled the air with red smoke near the Carriage Gates entrance to Parliament. Officials, activists and members of some of the country’s biggest trade unions were expected to join the march. Other protests against the proposals are also set to take place across the country. Ahead of the vote, Prime Minister David Cameron insisted increasing tuition fees would widen access to university. They will also create incentives to improve the quality of courses and leave the
poorest graduates better off than under the existing system, the Conservative Party leader said. I want to make an appeal to Liberal Democrat MPs who are thinking of abstaining because if too many of them abstain, they will let these tuition fee changes through. He has rejected critics’ claims the Government is simply seeking to save money by removing state subsidies and heaping the burden of university funding on to students’ shoulders. But the University and College Union’s Sally Hunt said: “The introduction of a market in our universities will lead to students making their choice of degree based on its price. “That might not be an issue for the millionaires in the Cabinet but it will be for tens of thousands of students and their hardworking families.” Business Secretary Vince Cable has announced further concessions aimed at easing the financial burden on poor students in a fresh bid to win over critics.
jobs to be cut
BAE Systems has confirmed it intends to cut almost 1,400 jobs following the Government's defence review, which axed the Harrier and Nimrod aircraft. A consultation has begun with staff and unions at six sites and two RAF bases. BAE's managing director of Military Air Solutions, Kevin Taylor, said the cutbacks were designed to ensure the firm remains competitive as it pursued "a number of opportuni-
ties" for its other products. "I appreciate this is difficult news for our people and we are committed to working with employees and their representatives to explore ways of mitigating the potential job losses," he said. But BAE may be in for a fight. The Unite union's Bernie Hamilton was scathing in his reaction: "This is a tragedy for the workforce and for Britain. "The coalition Government's Christmas present to over a thousand skilled workers who support Britain's armed forces is the sack."
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