Aris Prevost and Joe Fathallah, Cardiff Socialist Students and Socialist Party
Socialist Students was at freshers to meet and discuss with all those looking for an alternative to rising tuition fees, marketisation of higher education, slum housing, and universities investing in arms manufacturers responsible for death and destruction in the Middle East.
Keir Starmer’s Labour government is threatening to raise the tuition fees cap to £10,500 within five years, putting another nail in the coffin of accessible education for working-class students.
Last year, an encampment for Gaza was set up at the university, and succeeded in forcing management to conduct a review of investments into companies supplying arms to the Israeli military. Many of those students are back this year, and ready to fight again!
Socialist Students activists, with some help from Socialist Party members who booked time off work to assist, got an excellent response with our demands for ending of student fees, and fully publicly funded education, under the democratic control of staff, students, and the wider community.
We had two stalls at each end, and had great discussions on topics that people brought up. Students could see that we are a serious campaigning organisation.
People were against the potential rise in university fees, against the Labour government more, and against the war in Gaza and Lebanon. 18 people turned up to our first meeting – which was on ‘What is Socialism?’ – interested in building an active, campaigning Socialist Students society for the coming year.
Many also wanted to find out more about the Socialist Party. We now have weekly Socialist Students campaign stalls to keep the momentum up.
