I recently wrote to my FE college students union to ask if they were putting on coaches for students to the 26 March demonstration in London. The NUS man claimed that my college’s union had no knowledge of any demonstration on this date.
I told him it was a TUC demo and the Unison union locally has at least six coaches going from Nottingham to London on that day. He said that after “student actions” on the November demo, which ended with students being kettled in freezing conditions without access to food, water or toilets, NUS would not provide coaches to any demo for its members.
They still, he said, support student “days of action” but claimed that 26 March was “aimed at those involved in the teaching profession, and not students” which is clearly not the case.
Students also want to defeat this millionaire government, protect education from private firms and stop working class youth being totally priced out of education.
NUS clearly called the 10 November demonstration (where 50,000 expressed their rage at the dire prospects students face) to let students vent some anger. They hoped we would then quieten down and take the slaughter of our education system without a fight. This will not be the case.
Come 26 March, I will be on the streets of London shoulder to shoulder with workers and thousands of students in my position will be too.
