Students March Against Tuition Fees

The latest large-scale student protest took place yesterday. Organised by the National Union of Students (NUS), thousands of students marched through the streets of London to protest about increased tuition fees.

The protest was largely peaceful and ‘good humoured' with only a brief stand-off between police and protestors at Westminster. NUS leader Liam Burns explained the reasons behind the demo:

"Education should open doors, but the government is slamming them shut...The damaging effects of recent changes to education have restricted access for future students and created new barriers for those currently studying."

However, the march didn't go completely to plan for the NUS, who were hoping for 10,000 marchers, rather than the 3,000-4,000 that actually turned up. Things got worse for Liam Burns when he was heckled and had eggs thrown at him whilst he was making his speech. Protestors from more extreme organisations were unhappy with how the NUS leaders had dealt with the increased fees, and invaded the stage before the speech could be finished.

The demonstration marked the second anniversary of the first tuition fees protest in November 2010- one that will go down in history. An amazing 50,000 students turned up to raise their voices against the proposed increase in tuition fees, and it ended with clashes with police and an attack on the Conservative Party offices in Millbank.

It remains to be seen whether this latest protest will be the first of many or simply a one-off, but what is clear is that there is still genuine anger over the increase in university tuition fees in the UK.

You can watch a video we took at a previous protest here.

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