U.K. Students Protest Rise In University Fees
Tens of thousands of students have marched through the streets of London in Britain's largest protest so far against the government's new austerity program. The march was specifically organized to protest the tripling of university tuition fees, with many students saying the increase would mark the end of opportunity for children from poorer families. Although largely peaceful, some of the protesters tussled with police and broke windows in the headquarters of the Conservative Party, the senior partner in Britain's coalition government.
MELISSA BLOCK, Host:
NPR's Philip Reeves reports.
(SOUNDBITE OF POLITICAL DEMONSTRATION)
PHILIP REEVES: The main organizer of the march was the National Union of Students, led by its president Aaron Porter.
AARON PORTER: I absolutely condemn the small minority of students and others that have gone off for this splinter demonstration. This was not part of the plan.
REEVES: Opponents to those cuts are now mobilizing. The students are protesting plans to raise university tuition fees by up to three times, to more than $14,000 a year. The government's also cutting teaching budgets by 40 percent.
PORTER: Philip Reeves, NPR News, London.
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