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Protests against tuition fees strain UK coalition
Demonstrators light placards as students demonstrate through central London, November 30, 2010. Credit: Reuters/Paul Hackett
By Isabel Coles and Mohammed Abbas
LONDON | Tue Nov 30, 2010 3:15pm EST
LONDON (Reuters) - Thousands of students and school pupils protested across Britain on Tuesday against planned rises in university tuition fees, bringing disruption to central London and putting strains on the coalition government. In fiery exchanges in parliament, Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg, the leader of the coalition's junior partner the Liberal Democrats, defended the fee hike which his party had promised to oppose during campaigning for May's election.
Outside parliament, there were cat and mouse games between police and protesters, who deviated from the route of a designated demonstration to fan out across central London. Later there were minor clashes with officers in riot gear. There were similar protests in other major cities, as anger about the Conservative-led coalition government's plans to almost triple tuition fees to up to 9,000 pounds ($14,500) a year showed no sign of abating.
Students have been occupying university buildings to campaign against the hike, part of austerity measures which will see 81 billion pounds of spending cuts over four years. "It's starting to go back to how it was when only the upper classes could go to university," said Daisy Tolmie, 18, taking part in the third protest this month in the capital. Saoirise Cox, 17, said: "I want to make them realize that we are political as a group, and that we're not going to let them get away with this."
Protesters say they feel betrayed by the coalition government, in particular the Liberal Democrats because of their pre-election pledge to oppose higher tuition fees.
EMBARRASSMENT
The issue is embarrassing for the party. Business Secretary Vince Cable, a Liberal Democrat minister whose department is responsible for implementing the proposals, said he might join other Liberal Democrat lawmakers in abstaining in any vote. Even Clegg, who has written to student leaders to try to explain the government's case that the new system would be fairer, declined to say during a debate in parliament what he would do in a vote, expected before Christmas.
"If he votes against, that's the only principled position," said Harriet Harman, opposition Labor's deputy leader. "If he abstains, it's a cop-out; if he votes for, it's a sell-out." While it would be unlikely to block the bill, a rebellion by a significant number of Liberal Democrats would strain relations between the two coalition parties. There is little immediate danger to the coalition as Liberal Democrat popularity ratings have collapsed since they joined forces with the Conservatives and they would face disaster at the ballot box if they walked out now and forced an election.
Tuesday's protests in London were more peaceful than the two previous demonstrations in the capital this month. Protesters, who feared being "kettled," a containment tactic used by police, broke up into groups which spread across the capital. There were scuffles toward the end of the day and police said they had made seven arrests. The student demonstrations are the first major protests directly linked to the government's spending cuts.
Trade unions are warning of strikes and more action as anger rises over job cuts and the loss of some public services. Riot police were called to break up a demonstration against cuts planned by the Lewisham local authority in south London on Monday, with 16 officers suffering minor injuries in clashes. Protesters forced their way into council offices in Birmingham, central England, but left peacefully hours later.
(Writing by Michael Holden; editing by Andrew Roche)
