Leeds protest: stop the student loan sell-off

On budget day 25 students came to protest the privatisation of the Student Loan Company at Leeds University.

The protest, which started outside the student union, turned into an impromptu march around campus.

Socialist Students members from Leeds Metropolitan and Leeds University gave out leaflets and spoke to students and staff, attracting interest and solidarity from both. The chief executive of Leeds University Union even approached the protest to express his support for the action!

People agreed with Socialist Students that we have to link the sell-off to all the cuts within higher education (such as those being made to Leeds University’s School of Healthcare), as well as to the demands for free education and the cancelling of all student debt.

This was just the start of the campaign – many students don’t yet know about the privatisation or the implications that it could have.

But the number of people who attended at such short notice, and the positive response, are testament to the anger that exists and the potential for an effective campaign against the privatisation of student debt.

Plans were already being made while still on the protest for future action, and there was a good meeting later that day to discuss the way forward for the campaign.

A date has been set for the next protest and more organising meetings are planned, hopefully in coordination with other groups on campus and with the other universities in Leeds.

We look forward to seeing similar campaigns develop across the country!

Mary Finch
Leeds Socialist Students