world

Students attack Prince Charles' car after fee hike

83 Comments

The requested article has expired, and is no longer available. Any related articles, and user comments are shown below.

© Copyright 2010 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

©2024 GPlusMedia Inc.

83 Comments
Login to comment

Glad you put "protesters" in quotes. Unlike the pro-Wikileaks attackers, these random violent troublemakers are scarcely worthy of the term.

But those ones don't represent everyone against the fee increase. Hard to believe anyone would be so daft as to increase the rate of anything so common three-fold! Why not just quadruple taxes and watch London get burnt to the ground?

0 ( +0 / -0 )

hottomales; You should look into the history(last 2 deacades) on England re Universities and how Blair made polys universities and tried to make something for the educationally elite into a fits all piece of junk. The fee may not be 9,000 in all places, you have to read teh whole bill and know the whole facts before maing blanket statements.

Wish these students would have rallied lately when many lost jobs and wree absent in the marches against the Iraq war.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

ST

keep putting people down, keep stealing from them with corporate tax cuts and bank bailouts then ask students to pay for them! Maybe if your generation hadn't bailed out the rich morons who didn't need the money the UK, and country worldwide wouldn't be heading for a downfall.

UK will suffer immeasurably from such actions. Wikileaks is the last cry of democracy in the world.

very little future with the Boomers still around.

However since there will inevitably be so few trained doctors and nurses in the future as a result of this, I can take solace that sweet revenge will be swift and obvious.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

"We are paying more for less" --> that is socialism and you can expect more bureaucratic tyranny to come with it. Not as bad as paying for global warming --> where you pay for a nothing (solution to a non-existent problem)

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Stealing? Please! Perhaps you could take ST's suggestion and read before speaking.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Wikileaks is the last cry of democracy in the world.

Why are Assange's fans so melodramatic?

0 ( +0 / -0 )

well look on the bright side, they can a least buy another car

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Might make these students who study subjects that are irrelevant take up subjects that realistic. Have you seen the list of silly subjects that are offered nowadays, some of them have no real purpose or use in the real world. Some of these students just go to university for something to do and continue to get degree after degree as they are not capable of ever getting a real job.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Just some students working on their extra credit for the "Football Hooliganism 101" course that everyone attending University in England is apparently required to take. You're graded based on how many arrests you accumulate.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

They must have spent some of their tuition on beer and just couldn't resist the natural British urge to riot.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

He's not the most popular Royal, and they really dislike his wife, who was always present during his marriage to Diana. But the police and his security detail really deserve to have their competence checked, driving straight into a protest.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

wanderlust.

You obviously never seen proper british riot control. Here is how it goes. Cops form a wall with riot-shields at a command the guy on the right steps behind the guy next to him. Mounted police starts the charge through the gaps, swinging large batons(bats) in a figure 8 pattern(left and right).

Riot is over very soon.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Let's see, $14,000 a year, $56,000 a year for people to tell you what books to read. Just so you get a piece of paper saying you read the books, and then you will be so well paid by the economic system that screwed you out of the $56,000 in the first place that you can pay it back. Right.

This is just a pretty transparent attempt to get people into debt and prop up the system. What all UK students should do is take the next school year off. Sit on a beach in Thailand, work at a fast food place, anything, just shut the system down. Watch Cameron and Clegg come begging and on their knees, as they try to save their empty universities. In the post-capitalist, post-production, fiat currency world we live in now, the "rich" get their money by putting other people in debt. No debt = no money = no rich people. Obviously Cameron and Clegg think that system is more important than the infrastructure and future of the country. Great couple of leaders you got there UK.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

They need a tea party movement in that country. Give the youth some hope.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

They need a tea party movement in that country.

We've got one. It's called the British National Party and they are truly a bunch of racist no-hopers.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Zenny11 - you missed the point - riot control tacts aside, why did his car drive into the protest area?

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Bad intelligence?

0 ( +0 / -0 )

It's called the British National Party and they are truly a bunch of racist no-hopers.

Hey that's funny.But the BNP nutters are mostly young hooligans, quite different from the Tea Party movement in the US that elected Hispanics, Blacks and East Indians in the last election. But seriously, these kids want representation in the decision-making process. The UK needs free speech. You lot need talk radio. You need a forum where talk and debate is possible and ppl don't feel the desperate need to resort to violence. You need to give these kids some hope.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

CHARLES: What did I do?!

0 ( +0 / -0 )

But seriously, these kids want representation in the decision-making process.

That is what they thought they had, and why they voted for the guy and party who said they would fight any fee increases. Not any different from what will happen to the Tea Party voters, once the pols get the votes they don't care. They count on voters having short memories, and that they will fall for the new bag of goodies next time.

This time they might have pushed the envelope too far though.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

From looking at the picture of Camilla's face, I would swear she now has a million dollar wipe.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

That is what they thought they had, and why they voted for the guy and party who said they would fight any fee increases.

If that's the case the British should have no faith in their elected politicians and just sign their country over to the home grown Islamists who will set up free education for everyone.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

TR

The UK needs free speech

why, does America have any? You can't be in favour of free speech and against Wikileaks. Pick one.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

You can't be in favour of free speech and against Wikileaks. Pick one." So why call the leaks?

0 ( +0 / -0 )

The royal free loaders and the British govt. got what it deserved. It is absolutely absurd for the British govt. to bail out banks and corporate England and then have the nerve to triple the cost of public university tuition. Mind boggling!!!!!!!!

0 ( +0 / -0 )

an epic let them eat cake moment and picture.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

does America have any? You can't be in favour of free speech and against Wikileaks. Pick one.

We have "freedom" to the degree that we have property rights and the rule of law, among other things. "Freedom" is a product of principles rational men institute.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

TR

Yes exactly. However your statement is at complete odds with your angst against Wikileaks, so I don't know what's up with that.

As for the British students then, and their quest for education, maybe they don't want to be milked dry while the rich bankers get bailed out and I'm sure to come, in effect paying for corporate tax breaks. It would seem their property rights are not being upheld at all, only taken advantage of. Milk poorer people more. That Clegg rolled on it just adds salt to the wallet wounds soon to come.

Perhaps the UK will go the way of Khan Academy, and protest by putting all their education online for free. That'll mess up the financing plan, and all those bankers association meetings will have to find another way to enslave their lessors

The Internet once again a thorn in the side of our overlords

0 ( +0 / -0 )

any chance of a Clegg revolt in the party? that might destabilize the coalition gov't.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

PS

ah nothing wrong with a Parliamentary system. It's cheaper to run, the PM can be anyone in the party that won the election, thus is platform based, and it only is really an issue of first past the post system. I'd like the Australian or Japan system in Canada myself, but would have about as much success.

No, they got their man in there, Clegg was elected on a proviso of education protection, and rolled! 3 people resigned over this, 2 LibDem and 1 Con. so it's early days yet to see if more angst will change anything more.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Might make these students who study subjects that are irrelevant take up subjects that realistic. Have you seen the list of silly subjects that are offered nowadays, some of them have no real purpose or use in the real world. Some of these students just go to university for something to do and continue to get degree after degree as they are not capable of ever getting a real job.

Great point! Whenever I meet someone who says that they're doing "media studies", 99% of the time they're idiots who just want to go to uni to be a "student".

They should bring back workhouses.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Where is Oliver Cromwell when we really need him?

0 ( +0 / -0 )

lol@charles

0 ( +0 / -0 )

The student 'Adnan Nazir' - Does not sound like a good old British name to me. Probably one of the 1000's Islamic immigrants that are invading the UK by stealth every month and slowly destroying the British peoples patience & resolve.

If I was in-charge, I would abolish issuing debt based currency, which would mean the government would soon have the money to spend on schooling and university for everyone. Then I'd lock to the immigration floodgates and start to kick out all of the trouble making Islamic immigrants. The UK is a joke at the moment, and it is being taking over right in front of everyone's eyes....

0 ( +0 / -0 )

As for the British students then, and their quest for education, maybe they don't want to be milked dry while the rich bankers get bailed out

I think it was the British students that were bleeding the government by accepting student loans and not paying them back. So now we have this situation. And the Royals had no say in the justified hike so they are really not exercising their education but merely their talent for hooliganism.

Now we have a coalition government that only one in four Brits bothered to turn out and vote for imposing its will on the country

So how can you blame everything on your government if 75% of your voting public are lazy sods by not bothering to vote? It was that 25% of people that were able to vote and chose to exercise that right to choose their representatives. It was not "imposed" on Britain. It was chosen. Too bad if 75% were too lazy to care who represented them then complain when those who do get chosen to represent them have to make necessary changes because of the laziness of the general public. Maybe if the public are too lazy to vote they are also too lazy to work and pay back their student loans. Seems like the government taking the fall for the general lack of interest by the public. What kind of country are you guys running over there anyways?

0 ( +0 / -0 )

The student 'Adnan Nazir'

It doesn't say student, it says podiatrist. Those trouble-making Islamic immigrant podiatrists eh, witnessing an event and then talking to reporters. What will they do next???

0 ( +0 / -0 )

I think it was the British students that were bleeding the government by accepting student loans and not paying them back.

The solution to loans not being repaid is to make people borrow even more money? Learn something new everyday on this site.

And could not-Brits on this site stop chanting "hooliganism" every time there is a UK related article. Take a look at your calender, it is not 1985 anymore. If people don't even know that much, then their opinions aren't going to be much worth reading.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Camilla: I say, Charlie-luv, was that a size 12 Doc Marten that just kicked my door?

Prince Charles: Quite, Camilla... Just cover up your jewelry you silly sausage, and we're off...

0 ( +0 / -0 )

And could not-Brits on this site stop chanting "hooliganism" every time there is a UK related article. Take a look at your calender, it is not 1985 anymore. If people don't even know that much, then their opinions aren't going to be much worth reading.

Yeah that's the way I feel about how every article ends up being the USA's fault. Even when they were never mentioned in the article. Time for the Brits to take some of their own medicine. Good luck with the tuition there in Jolly England.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

"We've got one. It's called the British National Party and they are truly a bunch of racist no-hopers."

Heh, excellent.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

"Where is Oliver Cromwell when we really need him?"

Nobody needs a religious nut. Cromwell's thankfully well dead and buried.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Sounds like the worst type of anarchist taking advantage of this demonstration. Motivated by hatred for the Police and 'the system', and fuelled by Christmas spirit, they must have had a good excuse for a fight last night.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

and the decisions reached by "the system" are not going to destroy a generation how?

0 ( +0 / -0 )

mikehuntez; 75% of the population is wrong. 25% of the population voted for the Con/dems the otehr 75% either voted for other parties or did not vote.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Does this matter much in the big pic? England is circling the drain anyways...

0 ( +0 / -0 )

England is circling the drain anyways...

It's actually been gurgling down the drain for awhile now.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Patrick Smash at 06:12 PM JST - 10th December

Are you trying to be funny?

What does democracy or the USA illusion that they are the only democracy have to do with these tuition riots?

As far as I know the USA has no policy on tuition fees or national Universities thus your comparison is a moot point.

When the USA has the kind of social services and affordable higher education then perhaps a comparison can be made but as it stands now the USA has some of the highest upper education cost in the world and one of the lowest number of university graduates as a percentage of the population compared to other developed nations.

I do not agree with these rioters but I can see where they do not want the UK to end up like the USA where only a few lucky lower income people who manage to get a scholarship or go into massive dept and the rich can actually get an upper education.

The facts are that the USA has a de facto 2 party system in which both parties are basically the same and represent the rich, the UK and others have a multi party system that at times due to no party having a majority give the smaller parties some say and therefore giving those who support them a say they would not have under the USA system.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

As for the podiatrist, doesn't sound like he was actually causing much trouble. He was following the protest which seems like he was a supporter of the cause but not an instigator of the violence.

I completely understand the students' frustration and anger. A hike that insane is only going to serve to make education an elitist institution. High fees will definitely make higher education unavailable to too many people and will only serve to sharpen social disparity; keep the richer richer and the poor poorer. "Paying more for less" is definitely not socialist at all.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Students need to stop their complaining. If the career they're pursuing through college is a marketable one they should have no problem paying back their student loans over the course of 10 to 15 years like people in the U.S do. If you're taking some stupid blow off classes just to keep you in college and out of the labor force than you deserve no sympathy. The old British system was unsustainable and tuition hikes were the only viable solution, though I guess you could try getting professors and administrator to work for free, shutting down the utilities to cut costs, or convincing the publishing companies to provide free textbooks to the students...ha.

It was apparent that the country needed some big time government cuts but I can never understand the reaction some people have when it actually effects them. When my taxes went up a while back I was a little miffed and I wrote a letter to my senator and representative, same thing when they banned my infrequent smokes in the bar, but I've never felt the overwhelming need to smash somebody’s car or break the windows of a government building. It's completely irrational, and not the fun kind either.

What I'm even more puzzled about is why they decided to wail on Charlie's car. He's got no say in this, the Royal family is nothing but a group of public figures. Smashing his car didn't do anything but scare his wife...and cost the taxpayers a few thousand dollars to fix the car. But that hardly matters the students don't pay taxes.

High fees will definitely make higher education unavailable to too many people and will only serve to sharpen social disparity; keep the richer richer and the poor poorer. "Paying more for less" is definitely not socialist at all.

Running an institution of higher learning is expensive, professors don't work for brandy, janitors don't work for Thank Yous (although being thanked would have been a nice change of pace while I worked as a janitor while I was attending college, all I got was the occasional pell grant student kicking over my mop bucket or telling me I smelled like cheap disinfectant), utilities still cost money, textbooks are still outrageously expensive, landscapers still need to pay the bills, administrators still have families to feed, and student living spaces still have to be maintained. All that costs money and at this point the British government just doesn't have the funds to sustain it, you go to college so you can get a good job. I always thought of it as an investment, one that has since paid off big time, and seeing these people complain about having to pay to attend the BS classes I've seen posted on some of these university websites is appalling. They can get a job and go to school, or they can stuff it as far as I'm concerned.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Good old British Bobbies.

Brazilian bloke going to work? EIGHT bullets through the head at point blank range, summary execution at point blank range, after permitting him to get on the train they erroneously believed he was aiming to blow up.

Heir to the Throne? Right this way sir, follow the chants.

I guarantee you that whichever dolt let this occur will face no more accountability for his actions than did the unnamed officer who executed De Menezes. Some poor student will probably be put in the frame for the paint and bust window, and have his life ruined whether or not he was responsible, but whoever put Prince Charles in danger will never even be named.

And where's the money coming from to fix the Roller and to bullet-proof all Royal vehicles in the light of this farce? From the pinched wallets of the taxpayer, making the cuts in the education budget that little bit more inevitable.

This shambles makes my blood boil.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

New toys of students - princes and limousines!

Well you, the student, new have found a toy? England! It is necessary to observe the rights and freedom of citizens! It is impossible to be hardly - hardly the pregnant woman. To trade in democracy to please to the Big brother it it is not unworthy monarchs.

At me all that, for what I killed. Асанджа. My crown, edge and the queen... And students!

The full text of article - newshe.msk.ru

0 ( +0 / -0 )

IvanCaughalot; I am sure Prince Charles aha car insurance. His vehicles are not paid from public funds. Many of the Royal family have asked for less police protection these days.

I doubt making someone a scapegoat for teh attack will occur. The anger in Briatin seems to eb with the police and their actions rather than the actual attack.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

PS

...and America is a hugely democratic nation by comparison

you've got to be kidding

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Almost all native English people have felt ignored for a generation now, and it is likely to spill into violence.

I think it's time for Regime Change in good ol England.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

TR the tea party movement is a freemason orchestrated sham, with no principles, only out to deceive the uneducated, overly religious masses so that they can grab power and promote their private agenda. taxes have a purpose, to serve the public interest. in that respect they have a lot in common with the hypcritical frauds of the so-called liberal democrats in uk.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

two structural features that support Western culture are meritocracy, and social mobility. access to education for individuals with aptitude is a social infrastructure that has been implemented in light of the value we place on providing individuals who have the aptitude with the opportunity to make the effort at acquiring a higher education. that is how we continually revitalize our dynamic societies. these cretins in the uk are out to create a hypostacized social order, where the financiers who have corrupted the political system get to keep their ill-gotten gain, and they get to disable core elements of the social infrastructure--especially education--so that the undue status their wealth provides them goes unquestioned.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

@TheQuestion apparently you are not aware of the statistics of ever increasing high rates of default on student loans in the usa, amigo. you expunge like you have a work ethic, but you seem to think that landscapers and janitors are entitled to, a little more, sir. moreover, the criminal uk governments move to cut 80% of the current government funding for public education is anything but rational, and that is why students are protesting.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

apparently you are not aware of the statistics of ever increasing high rates of default on student loans in the usa, amigo.

And they need to start acting like adults to, point stands that British students are just wailing for the sake of it.

you expunge like you have a work ethic, but you seem to think that landscapers and janitors are entitled to, a little more, sir.

Hmm...well sense I'm living without debt with a college education without having to bust up somebody’s car I'd say my work ethic is just fine thanks. The pay I got as a janitor didn't bug me, it was low level job but it paid the bills, it was the attitude of the people that got low income grants. Of all the people I dealt with they were the worst, they had no respect, treated teachers like crap, and treated the building staff even worse.

moreover, the criminal uk governments move to cut 80% of the current government funding for public education is anything but rational, and that is why students are protesting.

Well then they can look at it this way, now they have the opportunity to be self-made. That's one of my proudest accomplishments. I'm not exactly rolling in it but everything I have is mine and now the good British students can have that same satisfaction.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Students will not have to pay any fees up front. Parents will not be presented with a bill for tuition. After graduating, and only when earning over 21,000 pounds, will people start to repay the loan, at very low interest, and very slowly. As the taxpayer is no longer able to finance the higher education of such a high percentage of school leavers, this doesn't seem like such a bad alternative.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

I'm from a working class background and the first member of my family to go to university. I benefited enormously from student loans, so had some sympathy and concern about the impact of loans on students from poor backgrounds.

Having seen the photos of the riot, the pictures of an upper middle class, privately educated Cambridge student swinging from the Cenotaph, the near attack on Prince Charles, the urination on the statue of Winston Churchill, and the random violence I must say that I really have no sympathy for the students anymore.

Frankly, I think the police should have used plastic bullets on the most aggressive rioters, and should have beaten the hell out of them.

These so-called student protests now have no credibility. Let them pay their fees. If they treat society with such contempt, they really deserve no respect or support.

It's a shame. Many of the working class probably weren't even there; they'd be working part-time to support themselves or making the most of the opportunities presented by university. I guess it was so called anarchists and socialists, the middle class losers that you always meet at university that were doing the most damage.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

TheQuestion...I definitely do not condone the violence at all. I do understand where there frustration comes from. I was part of protests when I was in university when tuition was going to be raised. Did it peacefully, our voices were heard, etc. I do agree with you that busting up someone's car and carrying out violence is to be condemned...and in my opinion, the voices of those who are legitimately trying to carry out protests to the proposed insane hikes, are not being heard because of all those who are causing problems. There are constructive ways to protest.

TheQuestion...have to admit, am glad that I was never a university or college student in the U.S. Shudder at the thought of taking that long to pay off student loans. Don't forget, even with a loan, not everyone can afford university; loans don't usually cover everything, only a portion and even if they cover a large portion, that may not be enough for many people. Thus, instead of getting a good education then the higher paying job, those who cannot afford university get stuck in the lower paying jobs and don't get the opportunities that university educated people have access to.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Don't forget, even with a loan, not everyone can afford university

Then don't start at a university. People need to think through their educational program. I started at a much cheaper college for my first 3 years of college transferred most of my credits to a business college. I got my degree from one of the most respected business colleges in the country and was able to pay it all off in 5 years. But I had to work, jobs that weren't fun but needed to be done.

loans don't usually cover everything, only a portion and even if they cover a large portion, that may not be enough for many people.

I worked out a payment plan with my college, it was steep but it was within my means, I just had to watch my money. My point is that it's well within a persons ability to get a quality education without needing the government to pay for it, they just need to think about it and most students don't like that idea.

Thus, instead of getting a good education then the higher paying job, those who cannot afford university get stuck in the lower paying jobs and don't get the opportunities that university educated people have access to.

That is an excuse I've heard before and never accepted. My family is made up of refugees and we've all made our own way without the help of the government. You don't 'get' opportunities you 'make' them for yourself and if you're not willing to work you deserve nothing.

One of the most ridiculous arguments I've seen is that being a student is a full time job. I worked 49 hours a week and got permission from administration to take 24 credit hours a semester until I earned my degree. Education is an investment yet people treat it like a lifestyle.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

so-called student loans can be helpful, in moderation, but have basically been used as a tool benefiting the finance industry more than students, as well as promoting an education system in which students feel compelled to follow a course of study for economics other than what they are actually interested, out of fear. this is destroying the spirit that underpinned the academy since Ancient Greece, where questions of human interests lead to the development of the modern disciplines of history, philosophy, etc. this types of disciplines are aimed at sorting through vast amounts of information to develop concepts that help members of society contribute to keeping each other informed so that they can together make the right decisions in a democratic polity. the current system is the frankenstein of corrupt, inept politicians seduced by a criminal finance industry after deregulation, etc. for private gain, promising the politicians short term political gains at the expense of long-term social aims, and the institutions that have been established to support them.

thus, the education system is being held hostage by corrupt politicians in much of the so-called free world, and the current regime in the UK is rapidly showing itself to be the worse in a long time, since that woman from the 80s.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

How much do the professors make at those universities? Why cant the government cut their pay to match the hard times?

I totally understand them though, people in the UK pay almost all their money in taxes for all this free crap, except it aint free.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Students are demanding that someone else pay for their education.

Why should the taxpayers foot the bills for the students who, I assume, intend to make a living from that education?

If the students want a university education, then they should pay for a university education and leave the rest of the taxpayers out of it.

If there are students who need to go to work to afford their education, I assume that there are now openings in Charles's security detail for directing his car into a riot.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

But wait a minute...if taxes go toward education, that means the students not only will end up paying for their education but they will also pay for future students' education because, presumably, students become taxpayers themselves upon completion of their education...

0 ( +0 / -0 )

peachy871:"if taxes go toward education, that means the students not only will end up paying for their education but they will also pay for future students' education because, presumably, students become taxpayers themselves upon completion of their education..."

@Peachy, I wouldn't bother trying to point logical things out to the anti-everything deemed "socialist" crowd, you are wasting your breath!

The fact that not only would they become tax payer put statistically higher wage earners and thus higher tax payer is logic that completely escapes the "no government health care", "no government social assistance", "no government education" crowd and even less the elite that see their domain invaded by what they see as the lower class.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

You do have a good point. I do also think that TheQuestion makes some good points, but not everyone who wants a higher education can or wants to follow the exact same formula as he did. I think TheQuestion is definitely a great example of someone who is self-made and to be admired for success that comes of hard work and perseverance. However, not everyone can follow the same path he/she did, that is unrealistic...but it does not mean that folks who wish to get their education in the usual 4 years and think that tuition is expensive enough already, are not hard workers.

There is no doubt, tuition likely needs to be raised...all things go up in price over time and with the changing economy; that is inevitable. But to suddenly decide to triple it!?!! That is ridiculous. No one, not even those who think the students should just suck it up, would sit idly by and simply accept something that is important for the quality of your life, suddenly tripling in cost!

0 ( +0 / -0 )

No doubt that Charles and his "stolen wife" will soon be captives in their huge mansion as more and more people go homeless, and will not endure this buffoon to drive around in luxury on their dime! What arrogance! But protesters, next time do this right. Paint on the windshield which causes the car to stop! Then puncture tires. Then use crowbar to open doors and then put paint on the "royals." This is the way to do it. Let's not mess up an opportunity. Of course, this will not teach them a thing but it will keep them in their golden cages so you will not be burden by the sight of them!

0 ( +0 / -0 )

But wait a minute...if taxes go toward education, that means the students not only will end up paying for their education but they will also pay for future students' education because, presumably, students become taxpayers themselves upon completion of their education...

Bingo! I got a little, just a little $200 a month back in the late 70s and early 80s from social security to go to college until I was 22 as my father died. A kind of pay-back from his hard work, and this money went to help me to get a better job and then pay back that money in the form of social security revenue as I was making MORE money. Reagan, HATED, I mean HATED this idea. It was the FIRST thing he went after--the orphens. So, my sister got screwed over and ended with 30,000 dollars in loans for just her BA degree. I hate these monsters. It is the same thing generation after generation.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Most of the people commenting on this article seem to have forgotten that Prince Charles had nothing to do with the Government decision to increase fees. The protestors should be taking their anger out on the Government not on a member of the royal family who has done a great deal to support poorer people through charities, and has a particular interest in education.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

The more prices go up, the more uneducated the public will get. The U.K. is just trying to separate the rich and the poor. The students have a right to protest- actually half of their tax goes to keep the royals rich. Keep the PUBLIC stupid so you can better control them.

So, yes they have the right to protest giving money (tax) to the royals.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

That is true, the protests are not about taxes directly, they are about ridiculous hikes in tuition fees. Tax money keeps the tuition costs low (am I explaining that correctly?), hence the comments about students living off the taxpayers as though they were mere freeloaders...however those same students will presumably graduate to become taxpayers themselves whose tax money goes toward education costs (among other things).

0 ( +0 / -0 )

In the frenzy, some chanted “off with their heads!”

Will someone please teach these students some originality?!?!?

0 ( +0 / -0 )

with all of the e-books, streaming media, PDF lecture notes available; why does anyone need to go to university any more? you could teach yourself FOR FREE! at home, from the comfort of your own sofa ... ha ha ha. why is a university degree necessary anyway? if you can pass a licensing exam/test, get a license and show it to an employer, wouldn't that be enough?

0 ( +0 / -0 )

The protestors should be taking their anger out on the Government not on a member of the royal family who has done a great deal to support poorer people through charities, and has a particular interest in education.

Hey Harper, how about cutting ALL funding for ALL royals and use that for the people who flippin PAY the tax so that they can get better jobs to pay MORE tax. Hmm...nope! Sounds just too darn logical! Not in this hell that we are in.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

if you can pass a licensing exam/test, get a license and show it to an employer, wouldn't that be enough?

No--because those people are probably undersocialized and not balanced in their overall background of studies. A person with with no writing skills can maybe pass the test for some profession but if he can not write a report, then that is a major problem. Most tests do not, and can NOT test every skill, so the employers leave that to the universities.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Labor is to blame for most of the problems the spoiled kids are rioting about.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Almost all native English people have felt ignored for a generation now, and it is likely to spill into violence.

Paddy Smash is right. I am back home in the UK right now, and this is how people really are feeling. Frustration is boiling over amongst all groups of people, not just students. They are just hitting the headlines right now because of the tuition fees.

Have to share something with you all on the student riots though - when the riots were all over the news here they interviewed a student live on TV from lets just say a "top British university" and he said (quote): "If we have to pay, like, 9000 pounds a year, for 3 years, that's like, going to be like, 21,000 pounds we have to pay back at the end of it, like!"

Oh God!

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Labor is to blame for most of the problems the spoiled kids are rioting about.

Only insofar as tony blair is considered to represent 'labor' It was in general the same politicians in general in the uk as in the usa who thought that by colluding with the finance industry--by deregulation--they could score short term political gains. as to the outcome, the finiance industry looted the treasury, made labor look bad, the befuddled masses vote labor out, and in come the tories, the people who actually own the finance industry, so to speak. naturally, they cut social services to replenish the treasury... way to go voters!!!

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Labor is to blame for most of the problems the spoiled kids are rioting about.

You got to love it! If the party is what you are talking about, THAT is a joke because the party, as ubikwit points out, is / was owned by all of the financial elites. You know--the same ones that took down the Irish economy because they could make a buck out of land speculation. These people are never called what they are--terrorists! They have done more damage than Al Quaida could EVER dream of doing. If you are talking about labor as a social movement, well, it was not the irresponsibility of teachers and nurses that caused this current mess but of the financial looters--terrorists. And they will do it again, and again and again, and NONE-NOT ONE of these fools will EVER spend a day in jail. So, when you ask the nurse and teacher for a 20% cut in salary, and for him or her to lose job security on top of that, because of the irresponsibility of the financial "elites" (terrorists), then I can only say that you are in bed with the terrorists 6ncapitalist. Capitalism is going to end. There is no way we can keep on the boom--bust and then have the taxpayer pay for ALL of it cycle. It is madness.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

The picture of Pink Floyd guitarist David Gilmour's son swinging from the Union Jack flag that decorates the giant cenotaph honoring British soldiers killed in action is all I needed to see to understand these so-called protests.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Tripling the fees seems rather extreme. Why does it have to be such a big hike at once? A gradual increase would make more sense.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Login to leave a comment

Facebook users

Use your Facebook account to login or register with JapanToday. By doing so, you will also receive an email inviting you to receive our news alerts.

Facebook Connect

Login with your JapanToday account

User registration

Articles, Offers & Useful Resources

A mix of what's trending on our other sites