Hundreds of students at University of East Anglia (UAE), Norwich held a mass protest against the visit of Universities Minister Willetts on Thursday.
UAE Student Union said: ‘David Willetts is the minister responsible for tripling tuition fees and the introduction of the White Paper which sets out the coalition government’s plans for the wholesale marketisation of higher education.’ It added: ‘We’ve already seen the first signs of the lasting damage that this government is doing to higher education in the loss of the UEA school of music, a move justified by management in response to government changes to student funding and allocation.
‘It is time to re-find the anger and passion that characterised the student revolt towards the end of 2010. NUS is organising a national student demonstration this autumn and has also pledged to support the TUC demo this October.
‘We take inspiration from students in Chile and Canada who have won major concessions from governments through continued campaigns of protest and direct action.
‘This autumn is set to see a fresh wave of strikes, protests and occupations and students will be at the forefront of this movement leading the campaign against austerity and against the coalition government.
‘The Union of UEA students and NUS have both democratically passed motions calling for Willetts to resign. He is an unpopular minister in an unpopular government. It is time for him to go and to take his fellow cabinet millionaires with him.’
