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Student protestors lobby Southampton MP
2:00pm Saturday 2nd February 2008
Comments (18)
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."
Your Say YourDaily Echo
Sue, Southampton says...
2:22pm Sat 2 Feb 08
Jim Smith, Soton says...
5:38pm Sat 2 Feb 08
John Harris, Southampton says...
5:42pm Sat 2 Feb 08
Ron wrote:How do you know which ones are students and which ones are chavs fron the flowers estate?
I finally managed to escape living in the Bedford Place area last year after putting up with student noise from parties and abuse when asking them to quieten down, and seeing them out in the area drinking themselves into a stupor on a Friday and Saturday night - they seemed to have enough money to be able to drink like that, vomit it up in the street and then start again. Sunday morning was a real pleasure walking past the vomit, urine and broken bottles around Bedford Place and London Road.
No sympathy for them at all, they are their own worst enemy.
King Mush, Woolston says...
5:57pm Sat 2 Feb 08
I finally managed to escape living in the Bedford Place area last year after putting up with student noise from parties and abuse when asking them to quieten down, and seeing them out in the area drinking themselves into a stupor on a Friday and Saturday night - they seemed to have enough money to be able to drink like that, vomit it up in the street and then start again. Sunday morning was a real pleasure walking past the vomit, urine and broken bottles around Bedford Place and London Road.
No sympathy for them at all, they are their own worst enemy.
How do you know which ones are students and which ones are chavs from the flowers estate?"
Easy - the students' tattoos are spelt properly
Automan, Southampton says...
6:09pm Sat 2 Feb 08
As for Denham, it's funny how he benefitted from a free University education + grant when Mrs Thatcher was in power and I was lucky to go to Uni during the Major years. Anyone who went to Uni under Blair/Brown must be at least £20k in debt with little chance of getting onto the housing ladder or making a savings provision for the future.
Best course of action? vote Denham and his gravy train colleagues out at the next election.
Get it right, Hythe says...
6:12pm Sat 2 Feb 08
Jim Smith wrote:...fewer people...
Although i do not agree with student fees in principle, i have to admit in practice it will encourge students to choose their degrees more wisely. I have no doubt that the statistics will show less people on mickey mouse degrees (e.g. media studies) and more on proper degrees such as physics and chemistry.
viki, soton says...
6:49pm Sat 2 Feb 08
Adam, Portsmouth says...
6:52pm Sat 2 Feb 08
As we know there is no such thing as a free dinner, and these companies would seek to bolster the degrees that they would benefit from ( e.g. a pharmaceuticals company pouring money into pharmacy degrees and neglecting English degrees) effectively dovetailing education into Universities being chosen on cost and not on merit.
The Ministers proposing these hikes in fees benefited from free education. therefore is it fair that they then increase the price for students' education and withdraw government funding?
Billions of pounds are spent for every day that this country occupies Iraq, and yet Britain is the fifth worst spender on education. is this really right?
Our protest was not based on the idea of having a 'free ride' or 'getting in those extra drinks' but creating a free and fair education, and not selling out education so that the Government can bail itself out of debt.
Automan, Southampton says...
7:39pm Sat 2 Feb 08
Shame on this government for selling out to the class bigots at Oxbridge- look at the flack Brown got for sticking up for Laura Spence all those years back!
As for more people going to University before 1992 there were fewer Uni's as we had Poly's and Institutes of HE where most poor people went.
Amanda Regan, says...
4:42am Sun 3 Feb 08
With the expense of day to day living and ever increasing taxes we cannot afford to take on the debt and added financial hardship further education would entail.
This country isn't interested in helping those that wish to learn probably because the government needs our tuition fees to help pay for Scotlands free tuition.
George Hass, Southampton says...
11:46am Sun 3 Feb 08
Adam, Portsmouth says...
11:58am Sun 3 Feb 08
They took my photo while talking to Denham :)
Fitness coach, Southampton General says...
5:40pm Sun 3 Feb 08
be £30.000 .
Alex, Southampton says...
8:36pm Sun 3 Feb 08
Vladmir, Leningrad says...
8:39pm Sun 3 Feb 08
Alex wrote:haha!
I like how ron, sue and jim smith all have right wing narrow minds
you're right there!
Jenny, Portsmouth says...
3:16am Mon 4 Feb 08
We recieve a loan which barely covers living costs due to extortionate rent and are expected to survive on that for a year. It doesn't take a genius to work out that £4,000 a year doesn't stretch very far, hence why many students have to work part-time to ensure they have enough cash for food and books. The tuition fee loans do cover the costs, yet they are still loans which will have to be repaid once we are in full-time employment earning over £15k per annum. If the tuition fees rise again then for some people it will take many, many years to repay their debt. This is especially unfair for women who in some professions have no equality in levels of pay, so it takes even longer to pay off.
Again for mature students it poses even more of a challenge. No one knows what life will throw at you and if the opportunity to go to university at 18 was closed off due to other events you should not be discriminated against. I feel for mature students who juggle part-time work, studying and providing for their families.
One comment that particularly touched a nerve was that relating to the choice of degree courses that some people take. I am being forced to take a second degree to get into my choosen career which I shall recieve no financial help with - no loans, nothing! When I was 18, as I'm sure many people will agree, I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life. It's unfair to close down options to those who made mistakes in their youth who have to take on further qualifications to achieve their career goal.
At the end of the day, education should be available to all, and at reasonable costs.
Helen, Southampton says...
10:47am Mon 4 Feb 08
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Ron, Locks Heath says...
2:21pm Sat 2 Feb 08
No sympathy for them at all, they are their own worst enemy.