The London protests by angry students have flooded Parliament Square with police and protesters. Image from Wikimedia Commons.
In London, protests over rising tuition fees at universities have flooded the streets with angry students. The British government is contemplating raising student tuition fees up to threefold. Many students consider it a knife in the back.
London protests bring police out in droves
Police in London are an high alert, as the London student protests have drawn thousands out to show their extreme displeasure with the government, according to CNN. Students have been angered at austerity measures aimed at universities, and police in riot gear have entered the streets of London to keep protests from becoming full scale riots. Some minor incidents have broken out as students have been trying to enter Parliament Square to voice their resentment to representatives, but police have been holding them back. Several weeks ago, a similar group of protests resulted in the arrest of 153 protesters in Trafalgar Square. Police were able to contain the protests, and little damage was sustained.
Tuition increases part of austerity measures
Almost the entire European Union, and many core industrial countries such as Great Britain and the United States, are having to pass barely palatable austerity measures. The British tuition increases aren’t mandated tuition increases but an increase in the maximum universities are allowed to charge. Currently, state run universities are allowed to charge no more than 3,000 pounds, or about $4,700 per year in tuition. The ceiling is set to be raised to 9,000 pounds, or about $14,000 per year.
Nick Clegg blasted as traitor
Leader of the Liberal Democrat Party in Britain, Nick Clegg, has been singled out by many students as being a traitor to the cause. Clegg was key in forming a coalition government with current Prime Minister David Cameron and the Conservative Party. Clegg, according to Yahoo News, and the Liberal Democrats had pledged before the election to oppose any tuition increases. There is a fear of an exodus of university students leaving England for cheaper tuition in Scotland.
