Wednesday 10 November 2010

These boots were made for marching

Today's the day of the big National Union of Students and Universities and Colleges Union demonstration against this government's short-sighted and reactionary attack on higher education.

I'm not there. This is heartbreaking. It's a cause dear to me, and I love a good demonstration. The repetitive chants, the splinter groups plugging tired old dogma, the newspaper sellers, the thrills that rush through the crowd as someone does something naughty, the witty placards, the thwack of banner on helmet, the sinister clicking of hooves on concrete and the smug pretence that turning up is somehow rebellious (or useful). Feeling superior to the office workers staring at us through plate glass, the tiny, tiny possibility of serious violence.

Happy days…

Seriously though, I think the presence of thousands of people vocally objecting to a dumb policy is important, though it won't make any policy difference. These bastards need to know that there is opposition, that they don't have a mandate for all this. Certainly any Liberal Democrats with a university constituency should be shivering with fear. After publicly signing solemn promises to end student fees, they should know that they're guaranteed to lose their seats in 2015.

Follow the march here.

Here's Stewart Lee on the subject:

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I wish I was as articulate as Mr. Lee.

The Plashing Vole said...

So do I, Anonymous, so do I.