Universities charging top rate- so much for social mobility!

 

According to a BBC survey, http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-13004196 ,far more English university students than originally expected will be paying the maximum tuition fee of £9,000 a year. Half of the 54 universities which took part in a BBC survey said they would charge £9,000 for all courses, and about two thirds said they would charge the top rate for some or all courses.

Ministers say it is "early days" and they expect the average fee to be "significantly lower", however this seems to fly in the face of their hopes that the top fee to be charged only in "exceptional circumstances.” This is devastating news for those young people who wish to go to university to better themselves when all opportunity is being robbed from the youth of this nation. As Harriet Harman stated the other day, how dare Clegg pontificate about social mobility when this measure and his betrayal have done more damage.

Young people I urge you to send a message by the ballot box at local elections that this betrayal we will not forget, NOR FORGIVE!

 

Shifting the goalposts,

The toll for opportunity, they raise the price,

The gate barred, to the hallowed halls of learning the gate is barred,

Like lambs our aspiration is culled for the sacrifice.

They shift the goalposts,

The ladder we seek to climb cruelly kicked away,

This betrayal inscribed on our memory we shall not forget,

With ballot paper and pen in hand, we shall make them pay!

Requiem for a dream!

I think by now we all know the story, the ladder was kicked away amid massive protests, the figures speak for themselves- 

• passed 323 to 302,
• 28 Lib Dem MPs voted yes
• 21 Lib Dem MPs voted no
• 8 Lib Dem MPs either abstained or were absent
• 6 Conservative MPs voted no
• 2 Conservative MPs abstained

This is indeed a dark day for the youth of this country, when the burden of debt is placed solely on the shoulders of students, whilst the gov has the front to harp on about how its wrong to build a future on debt. I am so proud of all the labour MPS who all voted against it, esp David Lammy and Diane Abbot who boldly spoke out furiously at the debate earlier. To the lib-dems, know this, this blood will be on your hands for many years. Enjoy your reign while it lasts as WE WILL NEVER FORGET!

Requiem for a dream,

A dream of bettering oneself,

A dream of freeing oneself from the cycle of poverty,

Cruelly woken by Debt’s chains,

Heavier than before.

The ladder kicked away,

Cruelly, swiftly they kick it away!

Goodbye Judas,

Was the 30 pieces of silver worth your honour,

You rob the hope of a better tommorow with a wave of your hand,

Your betrayal ,your lies,

Your words and deeds are the rope on which you will hang!

Requiem for a dream, laid low in the cold.

Sinking ship!

The tuition fee vote is almost upon us and despite the cold weather, things are heating up. On another day of student protests, Nick Clegg was grilled on 5live regrading the fees, defiantly defending the indefensibility of his fee rise proposals using the old refrain “we’re in a coalition” amid angry phonecallers and the coalition felt a barrage from Ed Miliband, who after a duff week last week landed blows on Cameron such as “Only the PM could treble fees and call it a better deal for students.” Tommorow is D-Day, however, win or lose, the damage done to the Lib-dems is irrepairable, their ship will sink soon enough!

Sinking Ship

Defending the indefensible,
Uncomprimising,
Small cracks in the facade showing.
I ask how is it fair,
To shift the burden, to kick away the ladder,
To raise the price, how can it be fair?
Instead of freedom, with heavier chains you shackle us.
The division is growing,
Brave souls jump overboard,
Escaping a ship breaking up,
Sinking in the cold ocean.
Will skipper go down with the ship,
Is his ideology worth more than his life?

We shall keep fighting!

D-day is almost upon us! The day our protests against these unjust fees are victorious, or the lib-dems sign their death warrant and rob all aspiration from this great nation of ours. Cracks in the harmonious facade have started to appear with Liberal Democrat transport minister Norman Baker has hinted he could resign from the government in order to vote against plans for tuition fee rises, and even added that quitting his post to vote against the rises was one “option”, but said he had not yet made up his mind. This comes as former party leaders Sir Menzies Campbell and Charles Kennedy are among those thought likely to side with Labour against the coalition’s plans.

Add to the mix the explosive revelation that Tory Mp David Davis has also stated he will vote against the measures, and we have a powder keg ready to explode(much like Corrie’s explosive storyline!) . The cracks are showing in the coalition as Clegg arranges a last dicth attempt to get Lib Dem MP’s to either vote for or vote against, as the coalition looks to be in a state of disarray. Well done to David Davis to publically place his head above the parapet and may he be the first of many brave enough to rebel. Its all still to play for it seems and we shall continue to FIGHT!!!

FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT

Magician, he seeks to deceive with a sleight of hand,
Hoodwink, betray, inflict injustice on the land.
Some try to sit on the fence,
Now is the time to choose a side,
We await the turning of the tide!
My student brothers and sisters we shall fight,
Fight fight fight!
We shall fight them on the streets,
We shall fight them in cyberspace,
We shall fight them in the Palace,
WE SHALL NEVER SURRENDER!

We praise those who say no,

To the infliction of injustice,

To the robbing of aspiration from the young,

They say no.

All hail those who place head above the parapet,

Who stand up to be counted,

Those who join us,

Those ready to chip away the facde to expose the fruit to decay,

Those who hear the call to fight!

Hanukkah – let the light shine in the darkness!

An evil ruler oppresses a nation, a few choose to resist… I’m not talking about the student protests, I’m talking about Hanukkah and to my jewish friends, I wish you all a happy hannukah (or whatever the proper greeting is in hebrew!)

Yet the parallels cannot be ignored with contemporary cirumstances. Echoes of Antiochus forcing a new mythology upon the Jewish people were on display today with David Cameron’s flippant remark “I’d rather be a son of Thatcher than a son of Brown” in response to Ed Miliband’s comment that the government were the children of Thatcher. Thus, call me Dave would have us believe that Brown, who saved us from a possible bank crash akin to Wall Street, is worse than a woman whose policies divided a nation and placed many into poverty and dismembered society. This is akin to Antiochus attempting to place a statue of Zeus into the temple of Jerusalem- trying to force their ideology on to us all!

My friend Jo, stated on her blog that Labour must capitlaise on this slip of the slick Tory rebranding http://jo2308.typepad.com/political_frames/2010/12/dont-waste-the-gift-of-thatchers-children-ed.html , and I commented saying that “it just shows how out of touch the Tories are with the normal of people of Britain, and is a sign they may want to repeat her handiwork”. We, like the Maccabees of 161 BC, must resist and oppose this attempted ideological whitewash. We must fight them on the tuition fee rise, like the students in the sit ins, we must oppose them on the public sector cuts. We must resist their myth of the necessity of deficit reduction at all costs and the continual scapegoating of the previous government. We must be the light in this darkness that miraculously keeps burning. Our ideals and beliefs are at stake!

Happy hanukkah comrades!

An evil ruler oppresses a nation,

Con artist, his weapon is mis-information,

He tries to rewrite history,

Forcefeed us with his false ideology,

He seeks to put his idol in our sanctuary.

We must resist,

For the sake of all we hold dear,

For the sake of all that is just, all what we believe,

We must resist,

We must be the Maccabees,

Never ceasing in our fight,

In this darkess, let there be light,

Let the light burn,

Miraculously let our candle keep on burning!

 

Vincent Vincent, how far you fall!

After Vince Cable’s utter sacrifice of credibilty after saying he may abstain on voting for the tuition fee rise, wgich he also states he believes in, I believe now it is the time Cable received a poetry salvo! Enjoy your reign while it lasts Vince!

 

Vincent Vincent, how far you fall,

Once lauded as a saint who filled us with awe,

Now a sinner, a liar, an honourless whore.

Was it worth it,

Exalted position, the riches, the power,

Worth your honour?

Forked tongue, you believe one thing, yet say another?

You delude yourself, we immune from your spell,

You sacrifice our future, you condemn us to hell!

Hope you like it while it lasts,

You drink from a poisoned chalice,

Drink heartily my friend, you may forget,

Yet this betrayal cuts deep, WE WILL NEVER FORGET!

You drink from a poisoned chalice- Drink heartily!

 

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

Demo 10- the minority spoil it once again!

I coudn’t go to the protest, so I like many wtahced the news. I must say, I feel pride for the majority who protested peacefully in the morning outside the Houses of parliament, however I am dismayed by the shameful acts of arson at the siege of Millbank by a MINORITY which unfortunately and not surprisingly, have attracted all of the news coverage.

Aaron Porter the NUS president condemned the violence as “despicable”, adding that “this action was by others who have come out and used this opportunity to hijack a peaceful protest.”

http://video.uk.msn.com/watch/video/nus-condemns-millbank-riot/2ggkcv4f?from=sharepermalink

I completely agree with him, that I am incensed that a minority resorted to violent means in our name, IN MY NAME! Violence undermines the peaceful way the protest was achieved by the majority, it undermines our message and our right to protest peacefully. Violence is wrong, no matter the rightful feeling of anger at these measures. I deplore all of those who call for Aaron to resign as his condemnation of this action of a minority out of 52000 cannot be clearer. I just hope we can act again in protest , this time by ONLY non violent means!

I look on, I stare,

The fires, the damage, the fighting leaves me in despair,

Where did it go wrong,

We started with honour, peaceful, our words were our weapons,

Only for the few to be led astray,

Battle became them, battle corrupted them.

What happened to the power of Satyagraha?

Why did our salt march turn to a battlefield?

We should march in peace not war,

We should expose their injustice with reason,

An eye for an eye only leads the world blind!

#Demo10- Cartoon by my good twitter friend @jeevanrai

March my brothers! Demo10

Tomorrow the streets of London will be full of banners, slogans as students protest about the injustice of higher education funding cuts and the unjust tuition fee rises.  NUS and UCU are jointly organising a national demonstration – ‘Fund Our Future: Stop Education Cuts’. Whilst I can’t be there in person, I will be there in spirit and I wish all of them, all of you the best of luck for bringing the fight to them! Here is my poetic tribute to you all, MAKE THEM SEE THE ERROR OF THEIR WAYS!

The Students Rise

Tomorrow the students rise,

With this injustice there will be no compromise,

We shall rise, we shall march,

We shall fight this battle and never give in!

Through the narrow streets we shall march,

Flags and placards in the air,

We throw off debts yoke what we refuse to wear,

We march to confront their betrayal, their lies,

Tomorrow we make a stand, we shall ARISE!

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!”