EVERYTHING HAS CONSEQUENCES NICK

It was surely only a few weeks ago that Nick Clegg was telling us that the policies of the government, were the policies of ALL the government. The Conservatives and the Liberals were at one. There are only government policies, not Liberal policies; not Tory policies.

Well that didn’t last long because his U-Turnness, the Deputy Prime Minister, on Tuesday tried to calm student anger (surely the last man who should have tried that malarkey), by saying that the students’ fees increase was not Liberal policy. But he tried to defend it nonetheless.

He urged students: "Listen and look before you march and shout. Our plans will mean that many of the lowest income graduates will repay less than they do under the current system." He explained that there were safeguards; that universities would have to take on poor students; that Oxford and Cambridge would be obliged to take on more people who hadn’t gone to Westminster or Eton....

Yeah, well it obviously didn’t work Nick, because all over England students were out today protesting or sitting in.

Because, you see Nick, when you hawk yourself and your party around all the university campuses in England telling them that if the Liberals get in there will be no increase in student fees... and then you, and your MPs sign a pledge to that effect, it sits badly when, as the Deputy Prime Minister you have to admit that that was actually a pledge made when there was as much of a chance of you getting into government as there was of Sarah Palin knowing the capital of...oh I dunno, Canada?

And frankly I don’t blame the students, and the lecturers and the parents and 6th formers, all of whom were marching and protesting today. As always there were some that went too far. A police van was wrecked and people were injured. Injuries to people from either side of the argument, is to be deplored. Peaceful protest isn’t about people getting hurt.

But, it’s not always the fault of the protesters, as recent events in London have shown. Police beating innocent bystanders, as a result of which they die of heart attacks, is also not what we pay them to do, especially when they have purposely hidden their badge numbers.

The London demonstration has resulted in 68 arrests so far and police continue to scour hours of video footage and thousands of photographs in a bid to identify those responsible for crimes. The police would get a lot more respect if they put that much effort into finding police officers guilty of beating protestors some of whom were only guilty of filming the events.


So Nick, this is what you get when you do 180 degree turns in policy. Your generation got your education courtesy of the taxpayer, you promised it to the next generation, and you lied.

I think there will be a lot of this kind of protest over this winter and well into next year. It isn’t ideal; it disrupts people’s lives, but the alternative is for us all to lie down and let the government run a steam roller over us, while the people who caused the problem debate whether or not to reduce their multi-million pound bonuses.

I’m right behind you lads!

Pics: Nick "the gentleman is for turning" Clegg, showing that he is in no way like Mrs Thatcher; Invitation to wear something red (what would you do if the only thinkg you had that was red was underwear?); someone doing a Michael Jackson impersonation.

There are points for suggesting what Mr Clegg might have been saying in the pic at the top, his hands so far apart... Answers on a post card.

What do points mean?

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