Reflections on the anti-fees demo

Paul Parker shares his thoughts after going on the anti-fees demo in London on 9 November 2011.

“no ifs, no buts, no 4-syllabic cuts” ... an ever popular chant on demos and so easily adapted for the situation. If you are on teachers, PCS and Unison demo then it is “public sector cuts”, if it is a student demo then “education” fits the bill nicely. But not on Wednesday 9th November. The chants were a little bit more confused, at any one time I’d be chanting “education” and the person next to me would be hollering “public sector”. It was great fun. And also a small picture of a much wider shift. The Education Activist and NUS demo wasn’t the only action taking place that day. The Black Cabbies were up to something, and the Sparks, in their sustained campaign to oppose vicious pay cuts blockaded a street then marched to try and join us.

This march was about more than the white paper that included plans to consider private companies running universities. This march was an expression of the wider opposition to the coalition government’s regime of cuts and privatisation. The support it received from non-students was testament to that, as well as the support it offered.
This march also differed in terms of route. Rather than parading past parliament as is customary the march took a leaf out of OccupyLSX’s book and headed to The City and the financial district. Just as the show of solidarity with workers and occupiers was entirely fitting, so too was this variation.

It felt as if we were getting to the heart of the matter. The joined up movements had joined together to demonstrate against the cause. Briefly, surrounded by (well-behaved) police officers (at times in three deep rows) there was a voice calling out to those who initiated the problems Mr. Cameron’s government is facing and who also held it in their power to change it.

Given I’ve mentioned them I ought to say something about the policing. The number of officers out felt excessive at times and it was frustrating that there was an extensive barricade (vans, boarding, horses, dogs and a pretty steady stream of reinforcements) stopping the Sparks from meeting up. That would have been a powerful image and embodied the solidarity that was present. But all in all the demo was peaceful and the police quite gracious, the two groups I spoke to were courteous and helpful.

The cuts don’t just affect students and public sector workers, they affect the unemployed, the disabled, the mentally ill and all those on benefits. Those least to blame and least able to solve the problem are carrying the biggest weight, surely that is not what the Kingdom of Heaven is about. The march was co-operative and gracious. Perhaps that is a bit closer? I certainly left excited about the possibilities for co-ordinated resistance on 30th November, and feeling very hopefully. That is certainly what the Kingdom of Heaven is about.

Paul is a student at Bangor University