Students clash with police as MPs vote on fees

Angry students clashed with police in a rally outside parliament on Thursday as the coalition faced its biggest test yet in a vote on proposals that could triple university tuition fees. Skip related content

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Students at English universities would have to pay fees of up to 9,000 pounds under the …More Enlarge photo

• Students at English universities would have to pay fees of up to 9,000 pounds under the …More Enlarge photo
• More than 10,000 students are expected to join the demonstration Enlarge photo
• Nick Clegg has dismissed opponents of the policy as "dreamers" Enlarge photo
• Students, lecturers and school pupils were expected to join the mass protest in London Enlarge photo
• The proposal to raise fees comes amid huge cuts to higher education funding in Britain Enlarge photo

Demonstrators surged into the square in front of the Houses of Parliament, as MPs prepared to vote on moves to allow universities in England to charge annual fees of up to 9,000 pounds (14,200 dollars, 10,700 euros).

In ugly scenes in the heart of London, protesters repeatedly tried to break through a cordon of riot police and at one point attempted to smash down a metal fence around the parliament and hurl sections of it at officers.
Flares, sticks and glass bottles were thrown at police and their horses as they struggled to hold the lines.
The proposal to raise fees has exposed deep tensions within the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition and provoked previous demonstrations which descended into violence.
Despite a series of last-minute concessions by the government, at least half of the 57 Lib Dem MPs were tipped to rebel against the proposals which amount to a reversal of one of the party's most cherished policies.
Although the size of the government's majority in the House of Commons means the measure is expected to be passed, the issue has put huge strain on the coalition.
The Lib Dems, led by Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg, made a pledge to phase out tuition fees altogether as a central plank of their election manifesto.
But in forming a coalition with the Conservatives the Lib Dems performed a U-turn on the issue, to the horror of students and many within the party itself.
One protester in Parliament Square, Andrea Baptiste, 18, from London, said Clegg was "a liar and a snake".
"This government should serve the people but to raise fees to 9,000 pounds a year just creates serious social divisions," she said.
"I hope as many Lib Dems as possible split with Clegg and vote against the increase."
A defiant Clegg, who has appeared visibly uncomfortable over the issue, dismissed opponents of the policy as "dreamers".
"I would feel ashamed if I didn't deal with the way that the world is, not simply dream of the way the world I would like it to be," he said.
"In the circumstances in which we face, where there isn't very much money around, where many millions of other people are being asked to make sacrifices, where many young people in the future want to go to university -- we have to find the solution for all of that."
As the debate got under way, five protesters were removed from the House of Commons public gallery after they stood up and shouted, but a reinforced glass screen prevented MPs from hearing them.
In a sign of the divisions within his party, one Lib Dem MP who has vowed to vote against the measure, Greg Mulholland, said it would discourage lower-income students from going to university.
"It is not in anyone's interests to do this at this stage," he told The Guardian newspaper.
The proposal to raise the ceiling on fees from the current level of 3,290 pounds a year comes against a backdrop of huge cuts to higher education funding in Britain, part of major budget reductions to tackle a record deficit.
The rise in fees is also supported by the majority of universities.
Aaron Porter, president of the National Union of Students, urged MPs to "do the honourable thing and vote down these damaging proposals".
Students were protesting "to ensure that promises to voters are kept and they are not sold down the river," he told BBC television.
Protests also took place in other cities, including Newcastle, Leeds and Bristol.
Business Secretary Vince Cable announced concessions to the proposals on the eve of the vote in a bid to win over doubters, including changes to the threshold at which students would start to repay loans.