Student protestors lobby Southampton MP (From Daily Echo)

Student protestors lobby Southampton MP

2:00pm Saturday 2nd February 2008 in

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STUDENTS gathered en masse today to protest against tuition fees and the rising burden of university debt.

A group from Socialist Students took to Bitterne's shopping precinct to lobby Itchen MP John Denham - the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills.

Brandishing placards and posters and armed with a loud speaker, campaigners demanded free education for all.

Mr Denham, who was holding his constituency surgery at the time of the rally, came out to meet the demonstrators.

He said further education had become more widely available since he attended university.

"The number of people from poorer backgrounds (going through further education) continues to rise and there is no evidence that the introduction of fees has put people off," he said.

"We will look at fees next year when we have evidence from the first three years of the fees system in operation."