Gordon Brown Protest

[lauraelizabeth]

Outside DRA reception, tomorrow, 12 noon. Against rising house prices.. and how terribly overpriced uni accommodation is.

[mhuzzell]

I thought it started at 11:30?

[Griggsy]

Rising house prices and overvalued accommodation and thats it? Jesus if there's gona be a protest against Gordon Brown you'd have to start at 6am to give yourselves time to reel off all the problems our beloved Chancellor has created.

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'I run wild in the shadowy jungle of erotic adventures.'

[Gealle]

Quoting lauraelizabeth from 21:17, 22nd Feb 2007
Outside DRA reception, tomorrow, 12 noon. Against rising house prices.. and how terribly overpriced uni accommodation is.

Yeh... Gordon Brown has WHAT responsibility for what the university or private landlords charge for your uni accommodation?

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Funky flunky munky...

[oddly familiar]

Well, he's in charge of the economy, but its rather a tenuous link. Demonstrating against the Trident replacement which he is in favour of, and will continue when he becomes prime minister might be a better use of demonstration time.

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saru mo ki kara ochiru

[exnihilo]

It does seem an odd use of the opportunity. But while you're at it, could you mention I have a problem with rats?

[Midget]

I'm all for protest, but you need to make sure you pick the right target and the right ammunition to fire at them. To me this sounds like it might be better not to protest as noone seems to be in agreement about the reasons.

Leave the big guy alone, he'll fucking have you (have you seen how big he is?) and it will all look rather embarassing.

(If this was Blair, Straw or Condi then I would not be saying this) (and if it was Cameron I would suggest someone offers him a joint -the press would love it)

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[Bizarre Atheist]

Could you also tell him that I have a cold?

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[[James]]

Quoting oddly familiar from 23:01, 22nd Feb 2007
Well, he's in charge of the economy, but its rather a tenuous link. Demonstrating against the Trident replacement which he is in favour of, and will continue when he becomes prime minister might be a better use of demonstration time.

It is, in fact, an anti-Trident protest; the logic being that a small fraction of the enormous sum of money dedicated to nuclear arms would do wonders for student fees/accommodation prices/etc. Given the tense state of affairs of nuclear proliferation in other parts of the world at the moment, Brown risks the appearance of being hypocritical should he proceed with renewing Trident.

[Lid]

Oh please.

There are many government policies I don't agree with, does this mean I can start protesting that they don't take that proportion of my income tax or something?

As much as I hate Brown, this whole thing really does smack of a "let's think of a reason to protest" bandwagon. It reminds me of what my old Government and Politics teacher (some incarnation of Trotsky) used to tell me of his university days - he once found himself on an anti-trade-union march, just because he loved protesting.

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We are not drunks, we are multi-millionaires

[Gealle]

Surely only the fucking NUS would be naive enough to believe that money saved from nuclear weaponry would be used to better the lot of students...

Quoting [James] from 01:28, 23rd Feb 2007

Quoting oddly familiar from 23:01, 22nd Feb 2007
Well, he's in charge of the economy, but its rather a tenuous link. Demonstrating against the Trident replacement which he is in favour of, and will continue when he becomes prime minister might be a better use of demonstration time.

It is, in fact, an anti-Trident protest; the logic being that a small fraction of the enormous sum of money dedicated to nuclear arms would do wonders for student fees/accommodation prices/etc. Given the tense state of affairs of nuclear proliferation in other parts of the world at the moment, Brown risks the appearance of being hypocritical should he proceed with renewing Trident.

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Funky flunky munky...

[BenEsq]

The chap responsible for the economy comes to town, so why not use it as an opportunity to question as to why student loans from the government have not significantly increased, when Scotland now has the highest student rents per week out of anywhere in the U.K.? This government has set a target of getting 50% of school leavers in the U.K. to enroll in Universities, but high prices, and significantly higher tuition fees are contradictory to this rhetoric of inclusiveness. If top up fees came north of the border, I couldn't come here. And if the Scottish Executive and Westminster Labour governments don't change their approach to funding for universities, then there may be some universities that can no longer be here either. That solution cannot be top-up fees, and if this Government is serious about social equality it would start doing some pretty serious hard research into another solution.

If you want to challenge Gordon Brown on anything when he comes then let surely it must be that this government’s policies are not good enough for the continued success and prosperity of this country’s Universities.

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Lions and tigers and bears...Oh my!

[box_of_delights]

Well he's been and gone. Nice to see the Accomodation Officer contribute to Estates' massive clean-up of the complex this week by throwing his cigarette on the floor outside DRA reception.

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[[James]]

Quoting Lid from 08:13, 23rd Feb 2007
There are many government policies I don't agree with, does this mean I can start protesting that they don't take that proportion of my income tax or something?

You have every right to protest your government if you don't believe their policies are in the national interest.

When the man in charge of the economy pulls up outside your front door, you have every right to protest the way in which he chooses to spend his budget, especially when you are paying over the odds for said front door.

He was here to officially open new student accommodation - surely he has a right to know if his budget choices are having a detrimental effect on the students living in the accommodation. This is especially salient at the least inclusive university in Scotland.

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[Frank]

Quoting [James] from 13:23, 23rd Feb 2007
When the man in charge of the economy pulls up outside your front door, you have every right to protest the way in which he chooses to spend his budget, especially when you are paying over the odds for said front door.

If we all adopt this approach, perhaps some activists would care to run a direct bus (or simply the X24 and the number 19 from Dunfermline) to Cowdenbeath, to Gordon Brown's Constituency office, and protest directly? I mean, by car at very least it's less than an hour away. In the grand scheme of protesting, an hour isn't that far to go for the Greater Good of the Nation, is it?

Of course, it'd be grand to stage a good old fashioned Student Protest (it's an interesting bandwagon...), but we're in a bad position if we can't agree on things to protest about. Then again, we could have a 'white light' protest in the sense of it being a protest over the range of everything protestable...but that'd have at least two adverse affects:
1- We'd be a disorganised rabble
2- Someone'd horribly misinterpret the 'white light' analogy

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[Dave the Explosive Newt]

Quoting benesq from 09:53, 23rd Feb 2007
If top up fees came north of the border, I couldn't come here.

Er, they have. My first year medics pay £2700 per year unless they were lucky enough to be born in Scotland. Your average student has to cough up £1700, but it works out at only a couple of grand's difference since courses in Scotland are a year longer than those in England.

And if the Scottish Executive and Westminster Labour governments don't change their approach to funding for universities, then there may be some universities that can no longer be here either. That solution cannot be top-up fees, and if this Government is serious about social equality it would start doing some pretty serious hard research into another solution.

I'll agree with that. We're actually very fortunate that the Scottish Executive decided that none of the extra cash from fees would be diverted to the universities (it pays for hardship funds and covers grants for Scots studying South of the border) as I think it's stopped universities being greedy about pushing students for more money. The Scottish Executive funds each student place to the tune of about £13,500 - I think the key will be trying to get them to expand or even completely re-think this. Hence the campaign I've been speaking to you about...

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[Lid]

Quoting [James] from 13:23, 23rd Feb 2007

When the man in charge of the economy pulls up outside your front door, you have every right to protest the way in which he chooses to spend his budget, especially when you are paying over the odds for said front door.

Is it me, or is the link there tentative at best? The University manages our hall prices, the government only subsidises my and your tuition fees. Unless you're planning some radical nationalisation of halls, or top-down price-fixing of halls, I fail to see what Brown has to do with it. Go protest to Lang instead.

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We are not drunks, we are multi-millionaires

[BenEsq]

Quoting Dave the Explosive Newt from 17:28, 23rd Feb 2007

Quoting benesq from 09:53, 23rd Feb 2007
If top up fees came north of the border, I couldn't come here.

Er, they have. My first year medics pay £2700 per year unless they were lucky enough to be born in Scotland. Your average student has to cough up £1700, but it works out at only a couple of grand's difference since courses in Scotland are a year longer than those in England.

Sorry, shouldn't have generalised.

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Lions and tigers and bears...Oh my!

[Marco Biagi]

Quoting Dave the Explosive Newt from 17:28, 23rd Feb 2007

My first year medics pay £2700 per year unless they were lucky enough to be born in Scotland.

To be fair to the Labour party (and there aren't words for how much it hurts to be fair to them), even they haven't gone as far as to base their fees on ethnicity. You don't pay based on where you are born but where you are resident, a very big difference.

[Dave the Explosive Newt]

Quoting Marco Biagi from 12:52, 25th Feb 2007

Quoting Dave the Explosive Newt from 17:28, 23rd Feb 2007

My first year medics pay £2700 per year unless they were lucky enough to be born in Scotland.

To be fair to the Labour party (and there aren't words for how much it hurts to be fair to them), even they haven't gone as far as to base their fees on ethnicity. You don't pay based on where you are born but where you are resident, a very big difference.

You're quite right, a very big difference. Although my argument, I think you'll agree, still stands. Unfortunately it's difficult for us to lobby on equalising the fee rate between Scots and rest of UK (rUK I believe is the current buzzword) students as it'll probably result in fees for Scots being raised - it would be an interesting debate though: which scares the Scottish Executive more? Pricing Scots out of higher education or squeezing them out of it by all the rUK students who could potentially flock across the border for cheaper degrees?

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