Fees hike leads to UK student riot

More than a hundred students crowded into a small basement room in an old Oxford College one Monday evening. A few were experienced in political protests, but most seemed to be wide-eyed beginners. All were elated because, just a few days before, their protest march in the centre of Oxford had attracted more than 1,000 participants and successfully scared away Business Secretary Vince Cable (Liberal Democrats), who cancelled his visit to the university city at less than a day’s notice after warnings from the local police. Like students elsewhere in the country, those protesting in Oxford were incensed by the coalition government’s plan to cut state funding for university teaching in England by 40 per cent, shifting the financial burden onto the shoulders of the students, who will chalk up tuition fees of up to £9,000 per year (currently the maximum for England is £3,250; Scotland has abolished tuition fees altogether). The government plans essentially follow the recommendations of the Browne report with the addition of “progressive” elements promising that only the higher-earning graduates will have to pay back the full rate. Still, the proposed change means that all will leave university with a debt of £18,000 to £27,000, on top of any student loan they may have to take out to cover their subsistence. Even though the News focus