Stroud student protest today

Outside Neil Carmichael's office this afternoon a group of students were protesting - Neil was in London but his office staff were seeing them. I spoke very briefly to several students and also contacted the press as this is an issue that really should get a hearing.

Photo: Clegg signing pledge this April

What on earth are we doing to the next generation?? Climate change, nuke waste and all the other problems are more than enough....here is my hurried quote to Stroud Life:

I welcome the protest in Stroud to highlight the shocking assault on education funding. The recession has already hit young people harder with disappearing university places and increasing youth unemployment. Now the Educational Maintenance Allowance is being scrapped, college funding slashed and there are huge rises in university fees. Over 300 academics note the planned increase in fees means the "effective removal of higher education" for working people while the Institute of Fiscal Studies says that the cuts will lead to "insignificant savings to the taxpayer".

The Lib Dems are rightly the focus of much anger. You can't make an election pledge to oppose increased tuition fees then break it weeks later. With workers and students on the streets many of us may wish this will hasten the fall of this Government. There are better ways to tackle the deficit like reclaiming the billions lost in tax avoidance and investing in our future with green technologies.

Meanwhile with all the comments about violence it was good to see the Green party's Jenny Jones writing on the student protests and young greens call for NUS to organise NVDA training: "I personally agree that many of the Coalition’s actions justify civil disobedience. Where I draw the line is the argument that violence is justified because the impact of this government’s brutal policies will have a destructive impact on people lives. As soon as protest turns violent we lose the argument." See more here.