Grants Not Debt Protest Blocks Bridge: The earlier week a parliamentary committee had scrapped the means-tested upkeep grants for for college students and on Tuesday nineteenth January 2016 the Nationwide Marketing campaign In opposition to Charges and Cuts (NCAFC) organised a rally and protest to help that day’s Labour occasion debate in opposition to the motion and the federal government’s flagrant denial of democratic course of.
Pupil upkeep grants to cowl residing prices had been introduced in in 1962, properly in time for me to go to college the next yr. Earlier than that college students from poorer properties had been reliant on awards by their counties, some extra beneficiant than others. UK college students then paid no charges for his or her programs, and although New Labour abolished the grants in 1999 they introduced them again in 2006 after they introduced in larger course charges.
In his 2015 price range, Tory Chancellor George Osborne had introduced the intention to abolish grants and substitute them with elevated upkeep loans.
However the change was solely truly introduced in by a committee vote beneath the Training (Pupil Help) (Modification) Laws 2015. The Third Delegated Laws Committee accredited the adjustments for college students starting their programs within the 2016/17 tutorial yr on Thursday 14 January 2016 by ten votes to eight.
The amount of cash college students could be eligible to obtain wouldn’t be modified (it might truly improve by inflation) however it might very almost double the quantity of debt for college students from the poorest properties who had certified for the total grant who would now finish a 3 yr course owing round £35,000 further. In fact these quantities have vastly elevated since 2016.
College students residing in London – as a lot of these at this protest had been – would in 2025/6 be eligible for a upkeep mortgage of £13,762 of their first yr – and a complete nicely over £40,000 for his or her 3 yr course. With the price of tuition charges this may deliver their whole pupil mortgage as much as round £70,000.
The rally started in Parliament Sq. and there have been a variety of speeches together with from Labour Shadow Minister in Division of Power and Local weather Change Clive Lewis MP and Shelly Asquith the NUS Vice President (Welfare).
On the finish of her speech the scholars determined it was time to take some motion and started to march previous the Homes of Parliament onto Westminster Bridge. Some had introduced a banner ‘NO GRANTS = NO BRIDGE’.
On the bridge a lot of them sat down whereas others remained standing with their banners and site visitors was blocked. A police officer tried to influence Shelly Asquith to get the protesters to maneuver however she ignored him and the protest continued.
Ultimately the police managed to clear the north-bound carriage method however the protest continued to dam site visitors going south.
After an hour or so the protest gave the impression to be dying down, with some college students leaving and though the protest was nonetheless persevering with I made a decision to go too.
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Tags: block site visitors, adjustments, Clive Lewis, Clive Lewis MP, David Bowie, George Osborne, Grants Not Debt, Labour, London, upkeep grants, march, No Grants = No Bridge, NUS, NUS Vice President, peter Marshall, police, protest, Shadow Minister, Shelly Asquith, sit-down, pupil loans, Tory Chancellor, tuition charges, Westminster Bridge
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