Seems like they’re getting all French and smashing/burning stuff in the that London’s streets

Chapeau

Smash burn destroy!

Excellent. More of that please; speshly the tory party HQ.

Undemocratic? Yes, the Tories are!

I work a stone’s throw (no pun intended) from Trafalgar Square and it’s quiet out there right now.

As for students smashing stuff up like the French do, I’m all for it. The French have been known to lynch their politicians if they stray out of line, something we should learn from IMHO.

I don’t think i’ve met a student who wasn’t revolting.

I don’t mean that…I was a student once, although out kitchen in the first year was revolting. I found a mouse in a cupboard once.

smashing stuff? Dickheads.

They’ll be going on strike next – that’ll bring the country to its knees

Dickydutch, have you any idea what their protest is about?

Thousands of students and lecturers are demonstrating in central London against plans to almost treble tuition fees and cut university funding in England.

A pretty bloody good reason to riot, imo. Good on ’em. The damage isn’t to public property; it’s to Tory Party HQ. Whilst I don’t fully agree with wanton destruction, I do agree with the sentiment.

There will be an escalation in public unrest, until the Tories are defeated once more. This will be as a direct consequence of Tory policy. So, they’ve only got themselves to blame. The Tories want to dismantle education, leaving it something accessible only by the wealthy. They have to be stopped using whatever means necessary. If that ultimately leads to civil unrest and violence, then so be it. Bring it on.

This will be as a direct consequence of Tory policy

errrm, actually it was a labour party policy that introduced the fees – the Tories have just increased them.

Fair play to the students- we’ve had too many years of apathy to government policy – in my lifetime the only three things that have really got people on the streets in significant numbers is;

1) the miners strike
2) poll tax
3) Iraq war

the gorvernment of the day won 2 out of 3 so maybe this time it could become 2 all.

Whay aren’t they busy studying? If they want a degree and good career options they won’t get there by causing criminal damage. Stupid feckers who obviously have too much time on their hands.

I reckon the whole university fees argument has been blown out of proportion by a news hungry media and a few self important students union members. Universities run the risk of pricing themselves out of the market if they set their fee levels too high and only the very specialist ones will be able to charge higher prices. When it comes to the nonsense degrees like media studies and tourism there will be a fair bit of competition on prices which means students will be able to shop around and the rubbish universities will gradually be weeded out. My own relatively recent experience of higher education has shown me that universities need to up their game in terms of providing quality courses, teaching and facilities. Students are already going overseas because US and European universities are able to offer better resources and higher levels of professionalism.

I’m sure the really gifted students will be offered support if they come from poor backgrounds as the universities will need to show that they are producing good quality graduates to justify their fees.

There is a worrying belief in this country that you can only succeed in the job market by having a degree. A lot of the businesses I deal with on a day to day basis are owned, run and staffed by people who have gotten to where they are by sheer hard work and ingenuity. Very few of them have many qualifications past O Level/ GCSE standard.

There is a worrying belief in this country that you can only succeed in the job market by having a degree. A lot of the businesses I deal with on a day to day basis are owned, run and staffed by people who have gotten to where they are by sheer hard work and ingenuity. Very few of them have many qualifications past O Level/ GCSE standard.

I think that is changing though, an almost religious belief education has been becoming more important than actual intelligence.
It’s time student numbers were cut, and more money was put into lifelong and job based education.

@Big Dave – ‘Whay aren’t they busy studying? If they want a degree and good career options they won’t get there by causing criminal damage. Stupid feckers who obviously have too much time on their hands.’

Because its Wednesday afternoon, and there is a tradition at Universities to use this time for sports etc… so they are hardly skiving off and obviously baiting policemen and fat tories is this afternoon’s sport of choice.

They’re on the roof!

baiting policemen and fat tories is this afternoon’s sport of choice.

🙂

You tell ’em Big Dave!! In my day they’d have all been darn’t pit. Not poncing around in their skinny jeans drinking latte’s.

Can we not nuke the lot of ’em?!! Bloody layabouts!!!

Students? Bag o shite

You tell ’em Big Dave!! In my day they’d have all been darn’t pit. Not poncing around in their skinny jeans drinking latte’s.

Can we not nuke the lot of ’em?!! Bloody layabouts!!!

Even when I was at university myself I hated students. Going back as a ‘mature’ student to do my masters five years after my first degree was sheer hell. And before anybody asks; no I didn’t get a grant. I had to get the money together myself but just accepted that building up a bit of debt was all part of the process of growing up and taking responsibility for my own career. The grant system for my first degree was largely meaningless as it was so meagre so students have had to deal with debt for a while now. Really can’t see what the fuss is all about.

Incidently, the reason why I had to get a masters was because the job market was already flooded with out of work graduates ten years ago and employers wanted to see that people had put more effort into their education even then.

I’m fully aware what theyre rioting for Elfinsafety. But that doesn’t stop them being complete and utter dickheads for smashing up other peoples property. If I was David Cameron this would make me more determined to go through with it.
As I said, complete dickheads.

It’s amazing the amount of generalisation and misunderstanding that goes on in discussions like these.

No-one gets their point across by smashing things up.

Labour scrapped the free education for all idea, all you labour supporters can’t jump on the anti-Tory bandwagon now without looking rather stupid.

While leaning more to the right than the left, I agree with challenging this idea and letting them know it’s a bad idea. The whole idea of paying for education is at fault – it’s that that has caused a downward shift in intake standards in order to bolster numbers and therefore income, and reduce the value and content of many degrees, even some of the more traditional subjects, not just the “mickey mouse” subjects.

In my experience, (admittedly from 1949) the people who were doing Mickey Mouse degrees at Uni were the Tim-Nice-But-Dim posho’s and their female equivalents (lets call her Tabatha-Pretty-but-completely-vacuous)

They would swan up to Manchester from Surrey and the home counties with their cars, phones, computers and effortless (though inexplicable) air of superiority and entitlement. The last words of their parents ringing in their ears: “Go and get a ‘degree’ in anything. It doesn’t matter what. Then you can come back and we can parachute you into a senior position in the company without too many howls of protest from the proles”

How is raising tuition fees going to deter them exactly?

In my experience, (admittedly from 1949)

I knew you were a fusty old geezer binners, but 1949?

I’ve got visions of binners heading off to uni with a cardboard suitcase and wearing a demob suit.

I don’t agree with the raising of tuition fees. That wasn’t my point.
My problem lies with the moronic actions of students who are ‘protesting’ at what was previously, before their arrival, a legitimate protest (the likes of which I have no problem with and whole heartedly support). They deserve the kicking the police will hopefully give them.

Good on them – I absolutely support the students in their protest against this massive backwards step which is wrong for our country.

cars, phones, computers

1949

They would have needed lorries to carry their computers and phones in those days old bean!

I think dickydutch, that if you study the long history of student-ism, throwing petrol bombs at the police was de rigeur for time immemorial. A right of passage.

Its only in recent years students seem to be more interested in Hollyoaks than protesting. I think this is all rather healthy for democracy actually

I take it you agree the anti-Vietnam protestors outside the American embassy deserved shooting?

Okay…. its a fair cop…. it was 1993. Its unusual for me to exaggerate things. I normally pride myself on the factual accuracy of my posts

A pretty bloody good reason to riot, imo

Yeah, why not. Let’s riot – that’ll ensure we are listened to and our points gotten across.

I wonder how many of the rioting students are actually students…

Okay…. its a fair cop…. it was 1993

jeez you’re old.

Firstly if numbers of students were reduced then costs would be less – and yes it is good to go to university but do we really need 50% of people to do so? (I did, I do a job which cannot be done without doing so but went out of necessity). Is it worth three years at uni doing a poorly ranked course to end up in a job that does not need a degree potentially?

Secondly if the funding is due to central budget constraints how would those posting above feel if fees were scrapped and taxes hiked significantly in place of fees?

Just trying to gauge opinion before it starts

I hope university fees are liberalised completely, and government funding only comes from research grants for particular projects.

It would be a much more successful system.
I’m too lazy to spell out the whole argument, so thought I’d just offer up my opinion without any evidence. You’re welcome.

Pft. Call that a riot? The Union bar looked far worse than that when I was at uni. And on a Wednesday, let alone the weekend. And there’d be more police.

Just looks like a bit of push’n’shove really. Not really worth the blanket news coverage. I’ve seen much worse.

do we really need 50% of people to do so?

What we need is for our people to be educated to the standard they all deserve, equally and without economic barriers. Sod the cost; just cut ‘defence’.

S’only Tory HQ. Won’t cost the Taxpayer owt, so it’s ok for a bit of youthful exuberance, imo. Most of those kids will eventually have to buckle down and have their souls beaten out of them work for a living one day, so let them have a little bit of fun. Like I said; s’only Tory HQ. Ought to be compulsory to go and smash it up.

Tabatha-Pretty-but-completely-vacuous

I think I ‘knew’ her! 😀

I wonder how many of the rioting students are actually students…

+1

I wonder how many of the rioting students are actually students…

mainly left wing rent-a-mob I should think.

How did we get onto Vietnam?
I said I agree with them protesting. Thats fair enough. But you’re a prat if you think rioting is a good way to get things done.
De rigeur back in the day? Complete pish.

mainly left wing rent-a-mob I should think.

Or possibly agents provocateurs? Tis possible you know…

To quote Viz top tips

DAVID Cameron. Whilst in China enquire as to how best to deal with student protests.

😆

Or possibly agents provocateurs? Tis possible you know…

D’ya really reckon?

nonsense degrees like media studies

As soon as you use Media Studies as an example of a non-degree, you lose the argument.

Well, seeing as people are throwing all sorts of unfounded ignorant tosh about, I thought I’d join in! 😀

Nice one. Right old mess for the Tories to have to pay to have cleared up. Houns; that comes out of your Tory Party Membership fee, you know; no champagne for you for a while at your local party meetings. Diddums.