November 24, 2010 5.41 pm This story is over 160 months old

Lincoln students protest over fees

Fees hike: Students marched through Lincoln to fight plans that would see tuition fees rise to £9k.

Students from universities and colleges in Lincoln walked out of lectures and marched through the city to protest against rising tuition fees.

The peaceful protest began at Castle Square, gradually marching down the hill and through the city centre, until stopping outside the Engine Shed.

The march was part of a national walk out against the coalition Government’s plans to raise tuition fees to over £9,000 per year and scrap EMA.

Students from the University of Lincoln, Bishop Grosseteste and Lincoln College chanted, cheered and paraded homemade banners.

Jack Dobson is a student and the communications officer for Socialist Students Lincoln, who organised today’s event.

He said: “We’re here to have our voices heard. We’re here to tell Clegg and Cameron we will not tolerate this attack on students.

“What’s fair about students paying for the mistakes of the Government and bankers?

“We will not accept these unjust and unwanted hikes. Nor will we allow students of further education to lose their EMA.

“There are 30,000 students [marching] and we are part of that movement. Right now, students across Britain are acting in unison to stop these insane actions by the Government.

“Education is a right that we must now continue to fight for.”

Meanwhile, University lecturer Kyle Stevenson spoke on behalf of the University and College Union (UCU), who are backing the student marches.

“We believe that if this is going to be successful this campaign depends on building the maximum unity between those who are teaching in higher education, those who are students and those who intend to be students.

“[…] My daughter is 16 and she is marching today in Leicester. She wasn’t responsible for the banking crisis. She didn’t have any vote in the last election.

“But she has just been saddled with at least £25,000 worth of debt by people who want to pass on all the costs of education to her.

“It’s not the vision we have for the future. It’s essential now that we work together […] within education and all sorts of services facing cutbacks.

“We will win this campaign if we mobilise like we’ve never mobilised before. There is a Liberal Democrat party in Government that was elected on a complete false perspective.”

The University’s Student Union President, Chris Charnley, told crowds that the next march in Lincoln would be at City Hall on December 3.

“We, as a Lincolnshire community, need to ensure our MP Karl McCartney represents to our views. We need to take our demonstration to him.

“I’m calling everyone to take action and join us to march at Karl McCartney’s Advice Service.

“It will be an amazing opportunity to ensure Karl McCartney knows that this isn’t a small collective of students, it’s Lincoln united.”

The Lincoln march comes after the protests in London on November 10, where university students across the country gathered at 30 Millbank.

However, the London protest became violent, with students causing fires and destroying the Conservative headquarters after being refused entry.

— Check out pictures from the march on our Facebook Page.