Manchester: Today the much besieged NUS President Aaron Porter pulled out of a planned speech he was due to give at an NUS supported student protest in Manchester. After getting advice from police Porter decided not to deliver his speech after anti-Semitic chants where heard in the crowd such as ‘Tory Jew’. This, we understand, was counted by other demonstrators shouting ‘No to Racism’.

Sally Hunt, UCU, was there trying to get her two bits in but overall the attitude in Manchester was sour from the get go. There had been reports in advance of the protest that there was going to be a heavy police presence, which turned out to be right. Some protesters from Newcastle have claimed that the police had been heavy handed and they faced being ‘kettled’ in by Manchester police, they also have stated that 2 people from their bus had been arrested.

It seems sad that some protesters would resort to petty and ignorant name calling for the sake of a cheap shot. The greater irony is that NUS supporting the action in Manchester could have given all those who had made it their duty to attend this protest in the face of all the previous negativity that had come out of the London sub-movements “riots” was the very thing they have been waiting for. But rather than listen to what he had to say then question him a small minority ruined another golden opportunity.

It also has come to light that though Porter has been facing harsh calls, even from TNC, for him to resign the rejoining of Durham Student Union to NUS will no doubt give him and his supporters a much needed boost. Porter recently made this comment in the Guardian on the infight that has now sprung up in his leadership:

A handful of students’ unions – less than 1% of the more than 650 students’ unions in the UK – have passed votes of no-confidence in my leadership. I have listened to their criticisms and taken them on board but I strongly believe that those involved, pushed by outside forces on the hard-left of the political spectrum, are not representative of the student movement in general. Some believe the NUS has not been radical enough, that we are wrong to criticise those whose violence distracted from political betrayal and lost us public support when we needed it most – I stand firmly by my position. (more)

The London protest went off with little trouble and the police have said minus a few incidents involving small numbers of protesters it was much more peaceful than the other protesters the capital has seen. There is still a great disorganised feel to the 2011 protest with too much focus being diverted on other projects that has caused some confusion within the sub-movement, namely the “Free School” that opened up in Bloomsbury this week.

More news and videos of todays protest will follow.

Daniel Baird reviews the arguments for and against the cuts, his own time at university and the impact last year’s decisions will have upon this country’s future.

As with bankers’ bonuses, the rise in tuition fees has been met with public outcry due to the enormity of the figures. In the main, and to simplify the arguments, it is widely believed that students should not be paying these prices and bankers should not be paid those prices. Politicians will argue that the deficit, coupled with student numbers, make this fees hike unavoidable. Bankers, especially those that have not suffered the indignity of a bail out, are arguing that their financial rewards have been hard-earned in a nightmare period. And, if we don’t like it, they can take their business elsewhere. However, I don’t want to talk about bankers now. Or ever.

I’m not of the view that higher education should be free. As soon as entry levels experienced a large rise, a free degree became an unrealistic expectation. When I began my undergraduate in English Literature in 2005 I was amongst the last year group to pay tuition fees of £1,200 a year. I think that was, to use an overused and abused word, fair. I remember feeling uncomfortable that I had friends in the years below paying three times what I was for the same education. That, before the global economy was in recession, did not seem fair. Students will be paying nine times what I paid, after a decrease in entry numbers, and in that context it is a disgraceful policy.

North of the border, students don’t pay university fees and those from England, Wales and Northern Ireland studying in Scotland only pay around £1,900. Although that last statistic is likely to change in 2012 too. It should be said that the percentage of people in poverty is higher in Scotland. In January 2010, Save the Children revealed that 10% of children in Scotland were living in poverty.

What is undeniably true is that higher education is not, and never will be, open to all. There are young people living in homes and areas which, sadly, rule out the possibility of going to university. In a time such as this, I believe it is right, state support for people who have not had a good start in life is a priority, even to the detriment of our higher education institutions. Whether or not the next budget and this government will successfully provide the required protection for those in poverty is another question entirely.

There are some good things that will come from these changes. Students who channel their anger at the rise in fees and cut in subsidies can push themselves and their university and lecturers and ensure they succeed. Many waste their time at university, not dedicating enough time to their course or beneficial extracurricular endeavours. We are likely to see a climate of pressure develop on the students, the lecturers and the universities, a pressure to prove that value for money is being received. That would be a hugely positive change.

We are also likely to see people give a little more thought to what they want to do. More young people will turn to apprenticeships and specialist courses that produce skilled workers who are fully prepared to enter employment. Current youth unemployment figures prove that something is amiss, there are a lot of confused young people in Britain at present who do not know what they want to do.

With thanks to the NCL student occupation and Lauren Lucretia Elliot for giving us access to the images that are not being cycled by other media groups yet with the BBC only using a very grainy colour images on their website. Student Ewan Brown’s arrest seems to just be the start of a change on tact that Northumberland Police are going through after working so closely with the NCL Occupation last year.

After TNC spoke with some of the NCL Occupation group a phone call was made to a spokesperson for Chi Onwurah MP for Newcastle Central and revealed that David Cameron’s visit to Newcastle had been suppressed from even his colleagues, which is against parliamentary protocol.

All Images Copyright Lauren Lucretia Elliot 2011.

Edward Woollard, 18, from Hampshire, has been jailed for 2 years and 8 months after admitting dropping a fire extinguisher during the 1st student protest in November and was among protesters who broke into the Tory party headquarters and emerged on the roof.

He was jailed after admitting at an earlier hearing to committing violent disorder. The former sixth-form student was filmed throwing an empty metal fire extinguisher from the seventh-floor of 30 Millbank as hundreds of people gathered in a courtyard below.

This seems like a harsh but inevitable outcome for what was supposed to be a peaceful protest organised by NUS descended into mild disordered caos at the Tory HQ.  This is certainly a lesson to all future protesters!

Sat in the dock with his head bowed the fire extinguisher which landed no more than a meter from the police officers could have caused serious injury. Edward arrived at court with many members of his family had gone to the police almost as soon as the footage was released, this had been the first demonstration he had gone on. His defence stated this was a moment of madness