UK academics offer support for new student protest

London, Nov 9, IRNA – Scores of lecturers from around Britain have expressed their full support for the latest student protests against huge fee increase and other education charges. “As academics we unreservedly support the education protest in London on Wednesday 9 November against the government's cuts and reforms to universities and other higher education institutions,” more than 80 lecturers said in a joint statement. “Their aim is to put commercial values at the heart of the system, not students. We believe education is a common good and should be publicly and collectively funded through the tax system,” the statement said. “No amount of cajolery can convince us that austerity measures should make the future of critical thinking, independence of mind, creativity scientific exploration, legal understanding and medical innovation subject to business principles,” it warned. The latest national demonstration in London has been called by the National Campaign Against Fees and Cuts (NCAFC), and is being supported by the National Students' Union and the Universities and Colleges Union for academics and staff. The march is also linking up with the London Occupy campaign against the global financial system with hundreds of activists encamped in the grounds of St Paul's Cathedral and elsewhere in London, around the UK and in cities all over the world. The lecturers said that their research and teaching promote social justice and equality and that “we will defend those principles in theory and in practice.” “On 9 November we will stand alongside students and other education workers, past, present and future, to fight for an education system accessible to everyone, not just the wealthy and privileged,” said the joint statement, published in a letter to the Guardian. “The plans for universities are part of the coalition's unprecedented attack on the welfare state in relation to the NHS legal aid social housing and benefits, which is why we also unreservedly support the public sector strikes on 30 November,” it said. Police have revealed that they are prepared to use plastic bullets against students taking part in the latest protest, marking a major departure in dealing with demonstrations. Baton gun rounds have never previously been fired by police on the British mainland, but have been used by security forces in Northern Ireland, where they have been linked with several deaths./end