Reading the hard copy of the Independent this morning is an article entitled: Lords Sound Alarm over University "Privatisation"-but fee plan survives
I'm not sure if this article is online, but you can check for this at: www.independent.co.uk.
"Plans to raise student tuition fees to up to £9,000 a year cleared Parliament last night after a heated House of Lords debate in which ministers were accused of destroying universities with swingeing cuts. Attempts to delay or water down the increases were comfortably defeated-but only after protests from academics that the near-trebling of fees from £3,290 could deter teenagers from poorer backgrounds from taking degrees..." and "last night a Labour attempt to block an increase in the basic level of fees to £6,000 was defeated by 283 votes to 215, a majority of 68. Peers then voted by 273 to 200, a majority of 73, to support raising the fee cap to £9,000 from 2012.
The Government insisted the increases were an essential element in the moves to tackle Britain's huge debts..."
The Independent, page 8, Wednesday 15 December 2010.
Yes, and why does Britain have these huge debts?
Because Britain is nothing more than a corporation in major debt to the International money lenders, just like every one else in Europe. It's just business! So, while they justify this the move towards the complete privatisation of university education is now underway and if you don't like it then tough because Sir Paul Stephenson is also considering banning protests. How nice of them...NOT! _________________ "The likelihood of one individual being right increases in direct proportion to the intensity to which others are trying to prove him[her] wrong."
- - Harry Segall
"The best way to control the opposition is to lead it ourselves." Lenin 1917
When Bliar broke his manifesto pledge and introduced tuition fees, was there rioting in the streets ? _________________ The Medium is the Massage - Marshall McLuhan.
Hundreds of protesters clashed with riot police across central Athens on Wednesday, smashing cars and hurling gasoline bombs during a nationwide labour protest against the government's latest austerity measures. The former Development Minister Costis Hatzidakis was attacked by protesters outside a luxury hotel. He was escorted, bleeding from the scene as his attackers yelled "thieves"
at him. _________________ 'Come and see the violence inherent in the system.
Help, help, I'm being repressed!'
“The more you tighten your grip, the more Star Systems will slip through your fingers.”
Because instead of creating its own money interest free the government allows private banksters to create money from thin air then lend it to the government AT INTEREST. The interest can never be paid as it does not exist so builds up until we get to the present fiasco. Which is why it is happening in so many countries simultaneously without any external factors such as a flood or earthquake or crop failure or war. Watch "The Money Masters" to get an idea of this monumental scam.
[quote="Disco_Destroyer"]Action video of Greece riots as fire bombs, stones fly in Athens
Quote:
Hundreds of protesters clashed with riot police across central Athens on Wednesday, smashing cars and hurling gasoline bombs during a nationwide labour protest against the government's latest austerity measures. The former Development Minister Costis Hatzidakis was attacked by protesters outside a luxury hotel. He was escorted, bleeding from the scene as his attackers yelled "thieves"
Yes, it's like a scene (minus the snow) from the 1905 Moscow Soviet armed uprising versus the Tsarists. How long will it be before the Greek version of the Cossacks come out shooting? Is this history repeating itself?
Because instead of creating its own money interest free the government allows private banksters to create money from thin air then lend it to the government AT INTEREST. The interest can never be paid as it does not exist so builds up until we get to the present fiasco. Which is why it is happening in so many countries simultaneously without any external factors such as a flood or earthquake or crop failure or war. Watch "The Money Masters" to get an idea of this monumental scam.
Agreed! _________________ "The likelihood of one individual being right increases in direct proportion to the intensity to which others are trying to prove him[her] wrong."
- - Harry Segall
"The best way to control the opposition is to lead it ourselves." Lenin 1917
How likely is it then that the recent student protests in London were infiltrated by Police' 'agents provocateur'?
HIGHLY! _________________ "The likelihood of one individual being right increases in direct proportion to the intensity to which others are trying to prove him[her] wrong."
- - Harry Segall
"The best way to control the opposition is to lead it ourselves." Lenin 1917
Joined: 25 Jul 2005 Posts: 18335 Location: St. Pauls, Bristol, England
Posted: Fri Jan 14, 2011 2:04 am Post subject:
Yes, a friend of mine knew the chauffer of the Deputy Chief Constable of the Met.
He used to go round the far right pubs in the East End with cash the week before a big peace demo or civil liberties one was planned to recruit troublemakers.
.....And this lot.
Press TV of Iran believe that their camera crew was attacked by masked provacateurs (definitely NOT genuine protesters) last Thursday. See footage here:-
We are Al Qaeda on our demonstrations
We are Al Qaeda when we choose to protest...
Quote:
Student protests: Police ask colleges for demonstration details
As students gear up for new wave of protests and occupations, Scotland Yard asks London universities to pass on information
* Matthew Taylor and Jeevan Vasagar
* The Guardian, Monday 17 January 2011
An officer from Scotland Yard's counter-terrorism command has contacted universities in London with a request to pass on intelligence as students prepare to step up their campaign against increases in tuition fees and education cuts in the coming weeks.
A fresh wave of occupations and demonstrations is expected to take place and student leaders say that town halls and civic buildings will be occupied in direct action protests.
In an email, an officer from Counter Terrorism Command working on the Prevent programme, which aims to tackle extremism, said the Met anticipated a "renewed vigour" at protests that could target finance departments to highlight concern over funding cuts. It advises drafting contingency plans against student occupations.
The officer adds: "I would be grateful if in your capacity at your various colleges that should you pick up any relevant information that would be helpful to all of us to anticipate possible demonstrations or occupations, please forward it onto me."
The email was circulated last week to staff at more than 20 London universities, colleges and postgraduate schools including King's and Imperial College.
The Met said in a statement: "On the 13th of January this year one of the Met's Prevent engagement officers sent an email to his university contacts regarding future possible disorder at colleges in London. His email advises contacts to consider contingency planning to minimise disruption to colleges, and for information that could help anticipate and address possible occupations.
"Although the officer is part of the MPS Counter Terrorism Command, like many Prevent engagement officers, he works with a number of different communities and groups, including university staff and students, covering a range of policing and crime issues and keeps his contacts informed regarding such matters on a regular basis."
Tens of thousands of young people took to the streets in a series of protests last year against the coalition's education finance policies.
Student leaders say the campaign is now being stepped up with two major demonstrations at the end of the month. There will also be a demonstration tomorrow and a lobby of parliament on Wednesday as the Commons debates the scrapping of the education maintenance allowance, a grant paid to students from less well-off households.
"The atmosphere among students on campus is really positive and people are determined to keep the pressure on the government," said Michael Chessum, 21, co-founder of the National Campaign Against Fees and Cuts which helped organise last year's demonstrations.
"We had worried that after the government vote to increase tuition fees people may have felt the fight was over but it really feels like the opposite is the case."
Last year, more than 50 university campuses were occupied by students as part of the protests and Chessum said discussions were going on about a new wave of direct action that could include town halls and other civic buildings.
"There is a feeling that we have been quite successful in hitting the bigger ideological arguments about why these cuts are wrong and now we want to broaden the movement and reach out to other groups."
Chessum said demonstrations planned for the end of the month in Manchester and London had received the backing of several large trade unions – including Unite and the GMB – adding that as the event was on a Saturday students hoped it would attract support from parents, teachers and community activists. "We are again hoping for tens of thousands of people and we are getting good support from unions, parents and community organisations."
The simultaneous demonstrations in London and Manchester will take place on 29 Saturday January. Three days earlier there will be a protest in London against the decision to scrap the education maintenance allowance, for which organisers are calling for school, college and university students to take part in an "education strike".
Kieran Sutton, an A level student at Westminster Kingsway College in London, said: "We want people either to walk out or not to turn up for the day. A lot of people depend on the EMA to even get to college or have something to eat. At 16 people should have a choice about whether to stay in college or get a job and the EMA is crucial for that."
The demonstration on 26 January is expected to see protesters meet in Trafalgar Square before breaking into smaller protests. There are also plans to stage teach-outs at several London train stations, where campaigners will discuss a wide range of issues from the rise in train fares to the hike in VAT as well as the scrapping of the EMA.
"We are going to see a huge number of non-violent direct actions by young people who are using social media for political ends," said Bernard Goyder, an activist with the London student assembly.
A survey published today suggests the abolition of the EMA will have a significant impact on students' ability to travel to college. The survey of 160 colleges that are members of the Association of Colleges found that 94% believed their students would struggle to attend class without it.
_________________ The Medium is the Massage - Marshall McLuhan.
Joined: 30 Nov 2006 Posts: 575 Location: the eyevolution
Posted: Mon Mar 14, 2011 9:05 pm Post subject: Scotland Yard officers in 'false arrest' investigation
They think they are above the law as usual....
Quote:
Scotland Yard officers in 'false arrest' investigation
Three Metropolitan Police officers are under investigation after they were alleged to have inadvertently recorded themselves arranging to falsely arrest a protester during the student fees demonstrations.
Joined: 25 Jul 2005 Posts: 18335 Location: St. Pauls, Bristol, England
Posted: Fri Mar 18, 2011 8:09 pm Post subject:
The officers are then alleged to have discussed how to arrest the man and are believed to have concocted a story in which they claimed the man had threatened to cause criminal damage to a nearby building.
However one of the officers was wearing sound recording equipment which recorded the chase and arrest of the man and the subsequent conversation between the officers.
The officers, said to be constables who were drafted in from their day jobs to help cover the demonstrations, are now subject of an inquiry by the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC).
amazing
hadn't heard about this at all
should be much bigger
Joined: 13 Sep 2006 Posts: 2568 Location: One breath from Glory
Posted: Tue Jul 05, 2011 12:31 pm Post subject: School kids take Police to Court Over kettling
What are kettles used for? Bringing water to boiling point. Obviously a tactic that could be used to raise frustrations spilling over into disorder thus giving the police a reason to crack a few heads and give the demonstrators a bad name.
Any way school kids taking Police to court over it
Quote:
This week, I will take the police to court for kettling me and my friends. On 24 November 2010, we joined thousands of other schoolchildren, walking out of our classrooms and going to central London to demonstrate against education cuts. We protested peacefully but we were imprisoned in Whitehall by the police for up to 10 hours, on one of the coldest days of the year, with no food and very little water. Because I was afraid of being kettled again, I didn't go to the next two demos and many children, including my fellow claimant Sam Eaton, have not gone on another protest since.
I found it inspiring to see so many young people attending the demonstration, prepared to stand up for what they believe in. But it saddens me that the police can crush this young movement's motivation and scare children off attending future demonstrations.
As under 18-year-olds, we are unable to vote. One of the few opportunities we have to make our views heard on decisions that directly affect our lives is through protest. Some people say that children should not go on protests, but that is ridiculous. We should not be denied the right to march and let our opinions be known. We are not politically apathetic; we fully understood the government's proposals of nearly trebling university tuition fees and abolishing Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA). Nobody voted for these changes, and now they are being challenged as illegal in the high court by two sixth-form students.
I am part of a young generation fully engaged in those issues – we care about our future. We all want to live in a society where everyone's views and concerns are taken into account. It is a success for democracy when children are involving themselves in politics. We cannot let the police quell children's right to freedom of expression.
What's more, the law is on our side. The United Nations convention on the rights of a child recognises the importance of children being heard. That convention, with the European convention on human rights and the Children Act 2004, place obligations on the police to facilitate children's right to protest and to promote and safeguard their welfare. Today, in the high court at a judicial review, I, with Sam Eaton and my younger sister Rosie Castle, will argue that the police failed to meet these obligations when they decided to imprison shivering schoolchildren.
The recent declaration that the G20 kettling was illegal showed that kettling must only happen in truly extreme and exceptional circumstances, there must be good reason to believe that there will be a breach of the peace and the kettling must be proportionate to this breach of the peace. A few windows being broken, after the kettle had been put in place, does not justify locking anyone up, especially children.
This has to be seen as part of a wider picture, which includes the mass arrest of peaceful UK Uncut protesters in Fortnum & Mason and the arrests on the day of the royal wedding. This is the criminalisation of dissent, and in a healthy democracy it cannot be allowed to go unchecked. Everyone has a right to freedom of expression and the right to protest. For children, this is especially important. We cannot sit back and let the police ignore these rights.
Joined: 25 Jul 2005 Posts: 18335 Location: St. Pauls, Bristol, England
Posted: Thu Dec 05, 2013 1:47 pm Post subject: NUS student protest ULU university universities repression
How things have changed - demonstration of 60 students - Met arrive without a warrant - mob handed - and evict them - illegally - just like their Masonic city mates
Sussex
University management have singled out five students for their involvement in the anti-privatisation campaign, and a recent occupation in support of striking staff. The students have been suspended from their courses and excluded from campus. The reason given includes an alleged "threat to the safety and well-being of students". Sussex managers have repeatedly called in riot police to attack student protests on the campus. Under the University of Sussex regulations, the Vice Chancellor is granted arbitrary powers of suspension. Regulation 7(3)(e) states:
The Vice-Chancellor may refuse to admit any person as a student of the University without assigning any reason, and may suspend any person from any class or classes, and may exclude any person from any part of the University or its precincts.
The same power was used in 2010 to suspend the 'Sussex Six', who were reinstated following a week-long occupation in defiance of a High Court injunction. The University of Sussex Students Union and the anti-privatisation campaign were quick to condemn the suspensions. The campaign statement stressed:
The suspended students are being scapegoated as the “ringleaders” of the campaign against privatisation. This assertion is factually flawed in that the anti-privatisation movement is, and has always been, horizontally organised and involved no leadership. As such, there are no positions or hierarchies within the anti-privatisation campaign.
A petition to reinstate the five had exceeded 2,000 signatures within 12 hours.There will be a mass demonstration at 1pm Thursday in Library Squareagainst the suspensions, and in solidarity with the occupations elsewhere which have come under attack.
University of London
Meanwhile in London, an occupation of Senate House, University of London, was broken up by the Metropolitan Police's Territorial Support Group after only a few hours. No injunction or eviction order was granted and no warning was given. Witnesses say police simply stormed into the building, alongside university security, attacking occupiers and bystanders alike.
There were at least three arrests made in the confusion.
The police violence has been reported in the Guardian. The Senate House occupiers had issued ten demands, incorporating the three of the 3 Cosas Campaign, which has just won major concessions after a strong two-day strikeby the IWGB union. The University of London Union, ULU, which is being shut down by university management, issued a statement on the police raid:
We are still investigating what happened inside, but initial reports indicate that protesters were assaulted by both police and security: thrown to the ground, kicked and punched, and dragged to the ground by their hair.
The raid is expected to swell the 'Cops off Campus' demonstration which had already been organised for 3pm Thursday in response to previous police aggression during the 3 cosas campaign.
Police officer punches student in face at University of London occupation
Three student protesters were arrested on Tuesday after a group occupied a university building in protest at how their university is being run. Police said one was held on suspicion of assaulting an officer, but the demonstrators also accused police of assaulting them.
The protesters said they occupied part of the University of London Senate House headquarters. After being removed by police, they claimed they would continue their protest at a central London police station, where they believed their fellow protester was being held.
Video footage seen by the Guardian appeared to show a police officer punching one hooded protester in the face. In the footage, the demonstrator – who said his name was Tee Jay – fell to the ground and the crowd was pushed back.
Jay, 24, from Hackney, north London, said: "Nothing was said, the police were trying to clear the crowd of people. I turned my back to [the police officer] to kind of walk away, he pushed, I kind of turned round to see who it was – why are you pushing me?
"The punch came and I went straight to the floor, then I got up and left." When asked whether he would take action he added: "What can I do? Look how many of them there are. If I go up to that one officer they'd all just grab me again."
The University of West London mediaproduction student said he was part of the group that occupied part of Senate House.
One protester claimed she was pushed over by officers, who were "punching people indiscriminately". Philosophy student Helen Singh said: "We were walking away from the protest. I was pushed to the ground and my glasses smashed into three pieces."
The University of London Union (ULU), released a statement, which read: "We are still investigating what happened inside, but initial reports indicate that protesters were assaulted by both police and security: thrown to the ground, kicked and punched, and dragged to the ground by their hair."
And ULU President Michael Chessum wrote on Twitter: "Today's eviction … was one of the nastiest, most brutal I've seen on a campus in a long time. Spitting with anger."
In a statement, the students wrote: "Around 60 students staged a peaceful sit-in, issuing 10 demands. Their demands included a halt to privatisation, fair pay for workers and that a controversial plan to close the student union is cancelled."
In a statement released earlier in the day, the students claimed to have "taken over the main management corridor and the vice-chancellor's office in opposition to the way our university is being run and the way thehigher education sector as a whole is controlled".
The statement read further: "University of London management is behaving in a disgraceful and unaccountable manner, and we have no choice but to take direct action."
The Metropolitan police said that one person was arrested and held in custody on suspicion of assaulting a police officer. A spokesman said that two others were arrested to prevent a suspected breach of the peace and were later released. The spokesman said that an "approproate number of officers" were sent to reposnd with the demonstration, which began at "around 14.45".
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