Find your courage! Letter to lib dem mps!

Following the reports that Clegg and other Lib-dems are considering abstaining, I write this blog letter to persuade the lib dem mp’s not to stand by and let this injustice occur!

Dear Lib Dem MPs

In your manifesto, you may recall that you stated that you would “scrap unfair university tuition fees so everyone has the chance to get a degree, regardless of their parents income” . You and your leader signed an NUS pledge to “vote against any rise in fees.” So here we are a few months later facing a bill that intends to put up student fees free fold, very little lib dem opposition to this , and the best we have is possible abstention. Well I say this is not good enough!

I come from an underpriveliged background and I worked hard through secondary school to gain my GCSE results and similarly through sixth form college to get my A-Level results. Like many of people in a similar position, I wish to go to university in order to better myself and escape from the
deprivation I was born into. I find it hard enough with fees of £3290 a year which alongside my maintainance loan which I find vital, which will saddle me with massive debts when I leave. By tripling fees, people like me will find it even harder and many will be put off university altogether due to the enormous cost. That means a potential Einstein, a potential Stephen Hawking will be turned away. They may have big brains yet their talent may not be realised as they do not have big wallets.

How is this just? How is this progressive and HOW IS THIS IN THE NATIONAL INTEREST? You make much of the deficit stating that we shouldn’t “create a future built on debt” , yet by doing this you ensure it is a reality for a whole generation! How is this right?

A graduate tax has been proposed as an alternative to higher fees and thus this would seem a fairer alternative to fees which would price the underpriveliged out of a greater start in life, gaining better more high paid jobs and thus would contribute greatly to society in terms of higher income tax and a more qualified work force.

Abstaining will still allow the law to pass as it will bring down the amount the Tories need to pass the law to 297. Abstaining still allows this injustice to occur. Abstaining betrays the pledge you made to students. You threaten to rob us off all aspiration and you turn this promised land into a wasteland, you leave us to die on the rocky road to Jericho.

I urge you not to walk on by on the other side of the road. I urge you to speak out against this injustice like you promised in the pledge. As Robert Kennedy once said “when we fail to speak up and speak out, we strike a blow against freedom and decency and justice.” I urge you in the name of justice, to speak out and not stand idley by and let this happen! The young people wishing to make a better life for themselves deserve nothing less!

Anthony

“I say this man is without honour”

Shameful- Clegg signing a pledge he had NO intention of sticking to!

 

Just when I thought my opinion of Clegg and the lib-dems couldn’t get any worse, I saw this article on the Guardians website today! http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2010/nov/12/lib-dems-tuition-fees-clegg

In the piece, secret documents reveal that the Liberal Democrats were drawing up plans to abandon Nick Clegg’s flagship policy to scrap university tuition fees two months before the general election.

The documents reveal that a month before Clegg signed the pledge in April , where he vowed to scrap the “dead weight of debt”, a secret team of key Lib Dems made clear that, in the event of a hung parliament, the party would not “waste political capital defending its manifesto pledge to abolish university tuition fees within six years.” In a document marked “confidential” and dated 16 March, the head of the secret pre-election coalition negotiating team, Danny Alexander, wrote: “On tuition fees we should seek agreement on part-time students and leave the rest. We will have clear yellow water with the other [parties] on raising the tuition fee cap, so let us not cause ourselves more headaches.”

This shows Clegg for the betrayer he really is, a man without honour, a man who is willing to sign an agreement without beliveing in it. This is a man with no belief, a man willing to sell his principles and his voters for power like a whore selling his body. I hope there are still some Lib-dems who have a shred of honour and vote against this rise in tuition fees which, in their own leaders words, would burden the young with a “dead weight of debt”. If they do not make a stand, remember this your leader and your lack of resistance have signed your death warrant. You may forget the promises you made Clegg, but the students will not! WE WILL NEVER FORGET!

Traitor,

Is their no depths to the levels you descend?

You sign an agreement, a promise, yet you pretend,

A double cross you plan, betrayal you intend,

Honourless, you mouth breeds nothing but lies.

Judas,

Were the 30 pieces of silver worth it,

Was the chance of power worth selling yourself whore?

You’re false words, false promises will hang you yet,

The blood of your brothers lies on your hands,

We will never forget!

Betrayal! Lib-dems betray the students!

Students in universities in England face tuition fees rising to £9,000 per year, as the government confirmed plans for higher education.

Fees will rise to £6,000 – with an upper tier of £9,000, if universities ensure access for poorer students. Universities Minister David Willetts told MPs this was a “good deal for students and universities”. Labour’s Gareth Thomas said the fee hike represented a “tragedy for a whole generation of young people”.

The National Union of Students dubbed the plan, which will mean almost a threefold increase, “an outrage”, with NUS president, Aaron Porter, stating that Liberal Democrat MPs who were going to ditch their election pledge to vote against any rise in fees should be “ashamed of themselves”.

I ,like Aaron, and other students are OUTRAGED by this measure. Outraged at the government being short -sighted and seemingly placing the burden for paying the deficit on the very people whose qualifications would ensure growth. Outraged that the yoke of further debt will put poorer students off going to uni to better themselves or even worse, settle for a course not suited to them because its cheaper. But I am enraged that the lib-dems, who shamelessly courted the student vote, have betrayed their pledge so blantantly. This is a dark day for our Nation, however we will march in November and we will continue to campagin against this as much as possible! WE WILL NEVER FORGET the day we were betrayed and the yoke of debt placed upon us!

We will never forget

We will never forget,

Your promises to us,

When you courted our vote,

Shamelessly you courted us.

We will never forget how you betrayed us

How your words pledges were all lies,

You whore for power!

You place us under debt’s yoke.

We will fight your injustice,

We will march and contine this fight,

WE WILL NEVER FORGET!”

Another pledge from the pledge-breakers!

Barely a couple of days after Cable’s endorsement of the Browne report heralded a betrayal of their tuition fees pledge, Nick Clegg has made another pledge, stating that £7bn will be spent over four years improving the education of England’s poorest children. This extra funding is thought to provide 15 hours of free pre-school education a week for two-year-olds, a “pupil premium” for those at school and help to get to university.

The deputy PM said that “next week’s spending round would see “difficult cuts” but would also invest in “fairness”, adding that £300m would go on the pre-school support and about £150m a year would be targeted at bright youngsters who might otherwise have been “deterred” from going to university. Ha, how ironic when higher uncapped uni fees may put these very children off going to uni!

SO, the question in mine and everyone elses heads is where is this money going to come from? What will be cut in order to fund it- public sector cuts? The government has not confirmed how the £7bn will be found, maybe it will be part of the surprises in store next week, Oh the joys!

To me, and to others this is another pledge from people who don’t seem to be very good at honouring them- have they forgotten the Tuition Fees pledge so soon? Something about the policy seems to good to be true! Is it a genuine method of ensuring child equality for disadvantaged children or a cynical exercise to placate his Mp’s who may potentially rebel over the Browne report? Will we ever get a straight answer and get rid of the riddles? Time will tell!

The deciever concocts his mysterious schemes to the bells of old Big Ben,

Bereft of free will, he crawls on his kness to the lord of number 10.

You can cover the cut with a bandage,

You can drug us to numb all the pain,

Yet the scar will remain from the cuts that you make with your lord in number 10.

Our goal to expose your traitorous words, to the sounds of old BIG BEN!!!

Browne review needs a rethink!

The latest salvo in our war against the unjust fee rises came today on the NUS website: http://www.nus.org.uk/en/News/News/Government-must-rethink-Browne-review-as-poll-shows-opposition-to-tuition-fee-hike/

The site stated that an approval poll for the Coalition government fell from +4 to -7 in just a day in the wake of Lord Browne’s review of fees, with the poll also showing that the public oppose Lord Browne’s recommendations on student fees by 45% to 37%.

“A separate ICM/Sunday Telegraph opinion poll on Sunday showed 61% of voters back a graduate tax while 29% would rather see higher tuition fees”

NUS president and one of my twitter brethren Aaron Porter stated that

“Lord Browne’s dangerous proposals are clearly out of touch with the public mood and would put our future at risk.”

“The Government must now rethink this review to ensure the fair and sustainable funding of students and universities that recognises their central importance to our economy”

Well said Aaron, and I think that the government should listen to the public mood on this issue and rethink this review as the public see this as an unjustice and unwise measure that will leave an entire generation under the yoke of massive debts!

If any of this has prompted you to action, please follow the below link and add your name to an open letter to Vince Cable to get him to reconsider his position! This is a war and we must voice our opposition to this foolhardy measure!

http://www.standupforstudents.org.uk/?utm_source=taomail&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=5743+URGENT%3A+Browne+Review+recommends+massive+increase+in+tuition+fees%2C+act+now%21&tmtid=25197-5743-2-1381-322674

The wind is against you,

A small breeze has turned gale force,

A hurricane of opposition threatens you,

Turn back now captain,

You deny fairness under the guise of progression,

You shackle a whole generation,

A generation wanting to progress suppressed.

You kick the ladder away,

A ladder offering an escape from poverty,

Remember your promise, the ink most certianly does,

She will expose your pledge,

Your betrayal laid bare.

Turn back now captain,

Don’t fight against this tempest!

War against fee hike mach 2!

First of all, I would like to thank everyone who viewed the Open Letter to Nick Clegg and I’d especially like to thank those who retweeted the link and spread the message!

For all those who haven’t seen it, do follow the link below and do take a look, I hope that you spread the message and I hope it may help in the fight against this injustice!

Open letter to Mr Clegg- immoral fee rises!

In the Commons today, Vince Cable ”told MPs that his previous pledge to scrap fees was “no longer feasible” – and that he saw Lord Browne’s proposals to raise fees as “on the right lines”, heralding the lifting of a cap on fees meaning that universities were free to raise fees to at least £7000 or even more.

However Cable was challenged by MP Liz Kendall, who pointed out to the RIGHT HONOURABLE gentleman that he, and along with Nick Clegg and other Lib-dems, signed the NUS pledge on fees and thus his actions today seem to ride roughshod over this pledge.

I have a message for you Cable, a man who abandons his pledge, who abandons his supporters amongst the student community, and a man who abandons his very principles should LOSE the right to be called a RIGHT HONOURABLE gentleman.

This is why I urge everyone who has any sense of justice, especially the Lib-dems who campaigned so vigourously in this area and signed the aforementioned pledge to vote against this monsterous measure!

Blessed are the youths,

Bright future clouded by doubt,

Blessed are those weighed 30 grand down FOR YOU,

Shackled, under debts yoke FOR YOU,

Lied to and betrayed by you, you who appeared to stand for us,

Your signature the prints on the weapon, mark of your dishonour,

Blessed are those wishing to better themselves,

Will you bless them with cold indifference,

The curse of negligence?

Or assistance, a blessing from on high?

Invest in us, your future, Britannia’s future,

Don’t let it pass you by,

Dont’ let this fragile shoot of talent die!