Students to descend on Manchester this Saturday

This Saturday the 29th January, 2011, students and supporters will be out in force in two UK cities to demonstrate against the cuts to Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA) and the trebling of student tuition fees.

Whilst many will be taking to the streets of London, a large mass mobilisation has been called for Manchester by a mix of radical and mainstream groups including the National Campaign against Fees and Cuts, the NUS and TUC and the Coalition of Resistance.

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Students have been on the forefront of direct resistance against the cuts since late last year when a series of "Day X" demonstrations took place in the capital, leading to the Tory HQ at Millbank to be occupied, the Treasury to be stormed and universities across the country to be occupied amongst many other actions. Students have gained widespread support from other campaigns and were recently involved in the Network X gathering which also took place in Manchester. This event drew activists from across the spectrum together to plan a coordinated resistance against planned austerity measures by the ConDem government.

Reports have been made that the police in Manchester have made a series of preemptive arrests ahead of tomorrows demonstrations, targeting those they believe to be 'troublemakers'. They have planned a policing operation that will cost in excess of £100,000., but this has done little to dampen the enthusiasm of those planning to attend the demonstration.

The Education Activist Network was quoted as saying:

"The Coalition may have forced the vote through, but they are also very weak. That is why they have resorted to such heavy handed policing. Now is the time for us to unite for education. The protests that have taken place in the wake of the 10th November have shown the capacity of our movement to turn out in our thousands simultaneously across major cities."

Meanwhile, on a police forum the Greater Manchester police have been found gloating (WARNING: link to police forum) over their handling of the last large scale student demonstrations in Manchester which took place in November last year and at which 5 people were arrested. Showing that the need for independent media coverage is as great as ever, a user of the police forum commented:

"I feel the lack of news articles speaks volumes regarding the flawless execution of the policing contingent"

This is in direct contrast to reports from those attending the demonstration who reported violence at the hands of the police and filmed video evidence of a charge by police horses (WARNING: YouTube Link) (a claim denied by the Greater Manchester Police).

This weekends demonstrations are the first this year, and are part of a series of events that will be taking place across the North of England and beyond in the run up to the TUC March in London on 26th March 2011, at which activists, trade unionists, students, health workers, public sector employees, welfare claimants and a host of other groups opposed to the cuts will converge on the capital for a massed demonstration.

Plans are also already being made for some of the largest May Day demonstrations in living memory as the raft of measures being made by this government begin to be implemented and affect peoples lives directly. As one commentator on the f***book page for this event put it (referring to the escalation of protests):

"If you guys stop protesting when ConDems get replaced by another political mask for the bankers, you'll be fucking yourselves. This is bigger than tuition fees!! "

Contact email: imc-northern@lists.indymedia.org