UK Students Protest Tuition Hikes
Over 50,000 protesters marched in London on Wednesday to speak out against the government’s plans to triple the cost of going to university from 3,000 to 9,000 pounds ($14,000) a year.
Things turned heated as protesters smashed windows and lit bonfires outside a high-rise building that houses the Conservative party’s headquarters. Some protesters even entered the lobby and destroying the furniture and CCTV cameras, while spraying graffiti. Authorities reported that 8 people (protesters and police officers) were taken to hospitals with minor injuries.
The violence and vandalism notwithstanding, The Metropolitan Police said, “A small minority of protesters have taken it upon themselves to cause damage to property, whilst the vast majority have peacefully made their point.”
Former Prime Minister Tony Blair first introduced fees for students when he was elected in 1997. Scotland abolished tuition fees in 2000, while the rest of Britain kept tuition locked at about 3,000 pounds ($4,800) a year.
Current Prime Minister David Cameron’s tuition hike is an effort to cut 81 billion pounds ($128 billion) from public expenditure over the next 4 years.
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