Claire Laker-Mansfield, Socialist Students
For many young people, this month represents the start of a new phase in their lives – an exciting and fresh chapter. Universities will welcome tens of thousands of first-year students. But in the background, as the freshers’ parties get into swing, much of Britain’s political establishment will be forced to contemplate their own ‘new phase’ in life.
Whatever the outcome of Scotland’s referendum, this will be a dramatic period in politics. As many thousands of Scottish young people vote to strike a blow against the elite, the question of how we put a stop to the austerity that’s wreaking havoc will surely press itself in England and Wales too.
Nearly five years of cutbacks have caused devastation in the lives of millions. Education was among the first areas to face the hammer blows of the Con-Dem government. The average graduate now begins their working life with debts the size of a small mortgage. We face £9,000 fees alongside course cuts, wage freezes, privatisation and even the threat of university closures.
Politicians’ attempts to re-assure students that the debt is ‘worth it in the end’ ring increasingly hollow. The truth is a zero-hour contract job, paid minimum wage is what awaits many.
Get political
But we needn’t resign ourselves to accepting the lot we’ve been given. Securing a decent future is not simply a question of passing exams or our individual successes. If we’re to avoid the label ‘lost generation’ then young people need to get organised collectively – and we need to get political.
Over the last year we have been treated to a glimpse of what might come on the other side the next general election. While Lib-Dem fears about electoral wipe-out have encouraged Vince Cable to kick plans to privatise student loans into the long grass, the Tories’ former universities minister, David Willetts, has given us a flavour of what may be in store.
He would like to see universities take responsibility for student loans and debt directly – a move that would probably be linked to raising or lifting the current cap on fees. Elite institutions like Oxford are already lobbying for the ability to charge students £15,000 or more.
All the same
Unsurprisingly then, thousands of young people are rightly hoping to see the back of the Con-Dems. But Labour can’t be trusted with our education either. This is the party that itself introduced and then tripled tuition fees to £3,000. What’s more, they have signed up to the same austerity spending targets as the Tories – meaning yet more cuts even if they win in 2015.
As for Ukip, they’d like to see us turn back the clock to an era when universities were only accessible to a narrow elite. Their youth section patronisingly asserts that most of us ‘aren’t suited’ to degree level study.
None of the main parties offer a real alternative to the politics of austerity. That’s because, on the fundamentals, they are all in agreement. Whatever colour their rosettes, the basic logic which decides their policies is that of a capitalist system in crisis.
Enormous wealth
That’s why when bankers needed a bail-out, huge sums of public money were handed over in an instant. But when working class people point out that our NHS, schools or universities can’t run with ever-more stretched funds, we’re lectured on the dangers of profligacy and told to make do with less.
The truth is there’s enormous wealth in society. Sitting in the banks of the capitalist class – bankers, big business and the rich – is over £800 billion. Even a modest 50% tax on this accumulated capital would be enough to fund an end to tuition fees many times over. But the capitalist politicians won’t even contemplate that.
Students have played an important part in the fight back. We took to the streets to oppose tripled fees and defend the EMA grant. Students have stood alongside workers when they’ve gone on strike against the cuts coalition, and have supported the fight of university staff to win fair pay and conditions.
As we approach the general election, it’s particularly vital that we build and escalate our action. For every course and service that is threatened, we need to respond with protests, occupations and strikes. At a national level we need to fight any potential increase in fees, and to boldly re-assert the demand for free education.
A student demonstration demanding an end to austerity in education is planned for 19 November. It’s vital that we make sure this is fully mobilised for on every campus – to make it a show of strength and a springboard for further escalating action.
Workers’ action
We also need to link up with other groups fighting back. On 14 October, public sector workers are planning co-ordinated strike action to fight ever-declining wages. This is a strike all students should support actively – attending rallies and demonstrations and joining picket lines. Four days later, on 18 October, an enormous TUC march will snake through London. It’s vital that young people attend this too.
Workers have enormous potential economic power. Despite the myths, wealth is not produced by top executives, greedy bankers or high-flying entrepreneurs. It’s workers who produce goods, provide services and do the jobs that keep society running. So when they go on strike, it can force not just companies and managers, but whole governments to take notice – even to be brought down. It’s this power that will need to be employed if the fight against austerity, both in education and across society, is to be successful.
The capitalist class – bankers, big business and the super-rich – have four big parties all organised to represent their interests. But workers and young people need our own party – one with politics that benefit the 99%. The Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition has been standing in elections as a challenge to the big business parties. In the US, Socialist Alternative (co-thinkers of the Socialist Party in the US) member Kshama Sawant received nearly 100,000 votes and was elected to Seattle’s City council – successfully campaigning for a $15 an hour minimum wage in the city.
Socialist ideas
These developments give a glimpse of what will be possible in the future. But all developing movements will need to be armed with the ideas of socialism – of how we change the world. Socialists fight for a society in which the big monopolies, banks etc, are owned publicly and run under democratic control. Rather than production being organised to satisfy capitalist greed, the economy would be planned to meet the needs and desires of ordinary people, without destroying the planet.
On campuses Socialist Students will be organising meetings to discuss the politics of changing the world. We will be mobilising students to get involved in the struggle to end austerity and to secure a decent future for our generation. Join us and get involved.
- See www.socialiststudents.org.uk for reports from freshers fairs and to get involved