So why would a card-carrying Tory not only shell out two pounds to go and protest against his own party but put himself forward for the poster campaign? This is a question I have been asked many times in the past weeks since my gurning be-headphoned visage appeared on Facebook. The reason was simple; I agreed with the cause (though marching isn’t my thing) and I wanted to see what it was like on the inside of a march. The Media, ever reliable to report truth and facts, rather than what sells papers, would have you all think that there was a mass riot in Millbank, where dozens of frenzied, embittered students laid siege and laid waste to the Conservative Campaign Headquarters (CCHQ.)
What actually happened wouldn’t sell papers. What actually happened was more than 50,000 students marched to make the point that rising tuition fees is not acceptable. Students came from all over the Kingdom, even Scotland where free University is still the policy, such is the strength of disagreement over this misguided government policy.
A tiny minority (calculated at 0.36%), as is always the case, saw fit to smash up the general lobby of the building which houses CCHQ, assault police officers for doing their job, start fires and just generally cause trouble under the guise of making real change. The truth is even the leaders of this extremist movement agreed it wouldn’t make any difference. Activists within the anarchist movement such as last years’ VP Education, Chris Marks seemed to want to initiate a wider conflict by making inflammatory comments after the fact such as [sic]: “why not take the fight to them?”
To answer the question posed it is important to look at what we really want. If we want any form of compliance, concession or recognition from the Government then this is clearly a counter-intuitive strategy. To concede now would send out a signal that the Government is weak and open to negotiation with vandals. After hand-picking the new leader of the Labour Party against the wishes of the grass-roots Members, the Unions will no doubt sense fragility if the Government capitulated now. Sights of tube train drivers smashing up their own vehicles to get a pay rise wouldn’t come at all as a surprise.
The most effective way of doing this is by showing you have a good argument with rational debate and well applied political pressure. The Snowdrop campaign managed to get Tony Blair to ban handguns after a campaign which picked up immense political steam following the Dunblane Massacre. Hopefully now that they’ve had their lime-light the Anarchist movement will quieten down for a while, or maybe they will decide to adopt the tactics of Snowdrop. Sadly this writer doesn’t see this happening. I predict a riot.
Simon Schofield
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I fail to see how anyone who describes themselves as a “card carrying Tory” would protest against this change in higher education funding except if they denied the realities regarding our financial and economic record. Whilst you provide facts regarding the number of people involved in the violence, it is not justifiable and you seem only to view it as a “counter-intuitive strategy”, rather than as a crime which should be punished to the fullest extent of the law. A rational argument can only happen if we are all of the same mind; that the deficit must be reduced and some people (including, it seems, yourself) are denying the full extent of this statement.
Mr. Caithness, I joined the Conservative Party because I agreed with their policies, not the other way around. I do not deny the seriousness of our situation and I agree that cuts need to be made and the deficit has to be reduced. However, with credit being cheaper than it has been for more than 200 years and innovation and ingenuity being the best products Britain has to offer the World, I see this slashing as unnecessary.
That what the rioters did was a crime is a incontrovertible fact and all crimes should be punished to the fullest extent of the law. The point I was trying to make was that those involved in the violence justify it by saying one can break the law to fight an ‘oppressive government.’ My point is that even if you accept that logic you are not successfully fighting the Government.
Thank you for your comment as well by the way, I always love a good debate!
Really graet article but michief is mispelt-just a heads up as it’s on the front page too but you probably already noted it! Keep up the good work
haha i meant great!!!