Another anti cuts demonstration on the streets of Bristol...
While the numbers were significantly smaller than the turnout for the more widely announced demonstrations on the 24th and 30th of November, a group of 200-300 demonstrators, mainly higher education students attended a demonstration that went from the University of Bristol to the council house on College Green, where Lib Dem MP Stephen Williams was holding a (fully booked) surgery.

The Lib Dems, who six months ago at the general election made vociferous public proclamations that they would oppose and rise in higher education tuition fees have now decided that tripling them to £9000 per year is the order of the day. In the face of sustained public pressure through the series of protests and occupations which have occurred over the last month, along with polls suggesting that the Lib Dems have seen a dramatic collapse in support, with 104 defeated Lib Dem parliamentary candidates writing to MP's calling for them to not to break their public pledge by allowing the proposed fee increase to pass. Consequently Vince Cable, the minister responsible for the legislation has suggested that he would be willing to abstain at the vote. But this still wouldn't be enough, for the legislation to fall the Lib Dems need to honour their pledge and vote against the bill.

The demonstration sought then, to maintain the pressure on Lib Dem MP's to do what they said they would when they won people's votes in May and oppose the rise in university fees, along with the decision to scrap the EMA, a benefit which makes a huge difference to keeping teenagers from under-privileged backgrounds in education. By maintaining a hostile public presence beyond the big days of action Lib Dem MP's are reminded at every step that they can choose to honour their pre-election pledges and defeat the current ConDem plans to marketise higher education.