Student protests: Manchester sit-in demands to see university accounts

Group from London demonstrations take action demanding University of Manchester reveal how cuts will affect their studies

• Matthew Taylor
• guardian.co.uk, Thursday 11 November 2010 16.45 GMT
• Article history

 

Protesting students staged a sit-in at the University of Manchester. Photograph: Don Mcphee for the Guardian

Students have occupied a building at the University of Manchester and are demanding access to the institution's accounts to find out how cuts are likely affect their studies.

About 40 students entered the John Owens building around 1.45pm. They say they are negotiating with the university authorities.

Jeremy Buck, 22, a student communications officer who is with the students and is speaking on their behalf, said: "The group has decided they want to look at the financial forecasts of the university to see how the cuts will impact on students, staff and departments ... after yesterday's demonstration people felt strongly that we want the momentum to continue."
A student demonstration in London yesterday attracted more than 50,000 people – more than double the number expected by organisers or police. It ended with 50 arrests after about 200 students occupied the Conservative party's headquarters at Millbank in central London. At one stage a protester threw a fire extinguisher off the roof of the seven-storey building. A police leader has said the culprit should be charged with attempted murder.
Buck said the students involved in today's protests had not been involved in the violence at Millbank. They had decided to take action on the coach back from yesterday's demonstration.

"The National Union of Students had first predicted there would be 10,000, then 20,000, and we actually got more than 50,000 people," he said. "It was an amazing experience to see so many students and staff from around the country coming together to oppose what is planned for education and the students here just wanted to do something to continue the momentum."

The students held a meeting at 1pm and 45 minutes later between 40 and 50 people had occupied the corridors of the John Owens building.

"It has been entirely peaceful and no damage has been caused," said Buck. "The university has offered to meet three people to discuss our requests but the students feel that they are a group and want to meet as a group. We are in discussions about this now."
Other students have been prevented from joining the protest and Buck said it was unclear how long the sit-in would last.

Three police vehicles were called to the university at 3.30pm. Among the small group of protesters outside was second-year biology student Robyn Forsythe. He said: "There was a meeting and it was decided that we would occupy the finance office. It is a peaceful demonstration and they are demanding freedom of movement within the university."

The protesters inside could be seen through a stained glass arched window on the first floor.
Joanna Gilmore, a law lecturer and branch rep for the University and College Union, speaking in a personal capacity, said the demonstration was vital to defend education. There had been cuts at the university with staff taking voluntary redundancy, she said.
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Student protests planned on a national scale on 24 November

Proposals drawn up for national day of direct action as head of lecturers' union at Goldsmiths, London praises students' actions

• Jeevan Vasagar, education editor, and Matthew Taylor
• guardian.co.uk, Thursday 11 November 2010 19.55 GMT
• Article history

 

Students, one dressed as Edward Scissorhands, demonstate against higher tuition fees and cuts in university funding in Westminster on Wednesday. Photograph: Tony Kyriacou / Rex Features

 

Emboldened by the numbers who took to the streets of London to campaign against the proposal to charge up to £9,000 a year in fees, students are planning a wave of direct-action protests across the country.

Protesters occupied a building at the University of Manchester today, demanding access to accounts to see how government spending cuts may affect students and staff.
Grassroots groups were drawing up plans for a national day of action in two weeks' time. Michael Chessum, the co-founder of the National Campaign Against the Cuts, predicted there would be widespread disruption as students staged sit-ins, occupations or walkouts at universities and colleges on 24 November.

"We went off script: the script that said a few thousand people would turn up, complain a bit, and go home; and the cuts would go through pretty much as planned," said Chessum, 21, a sabbatical officer at University College London. "That has changed. Now students really feel they can stop this."

A statement published by student leaders praised the storming of the building housing Conservative party headquarters by a fringe group of protesters on Wednesday. "We reject any attempt to characterise the Millbank protest as small, 'extremist' or unrepresentative of our movement. We celebrate the fact that thousands of students were willing to send a message to the Tories that we will fight to win. Occupations are a long established tradition in the student movement that should be defended."

The statement was signed by Clare Solomon, president of the University of London Union, Cameron Tait, president of Sussex University's student union and Lee Hall, author of Billy Elliot, among others. It puts local student representatives at odds with the NUS national leadership, which condemned Wednesday's violence.

The Millbank protesters were also praised by the president of the lecturers' union at Goldsmiths, London, who said their actions had brought attention to the cause. John Wadsworth said: "Yesterday was a really good natured but equally angry demonstration against the damage that the coalition is doing to higher education.

"The real violence in this situation relates not to a smashed window but to the destructive impact of the cuts and privatisation that will follow if tuition fees are increased and if massive reductions in HE funding are implemented."

The NUS plans to campaign locally against Lib Dem MPs, reminding them of their pre-election pledge to vote against a rise in tuition fees that will apply in English universities. NUS president Aaron Porter said: "Its an issue of principle. Clegg talked about no more broken promises – they made a promise, and we will hold them to it." The union plans to raise petitions in constituencies with high numbers of student voters, warning MPs that they face losing their seat if they break their word on fees.

A number of Lib Dem MPs plan to vote against the proposal, due to be presented to parliament before Christmas. The 20 Lib Dem ministers, including Nick Clegg, the deputy prime minister, and the business secretary, Vince Cable, are expected to vote in favour. The resolution must be passed by both houses but cannot be amended. Clegg today admitted he should not have signed the NUS pledge on fees, blaming the state of public finances for the party's U-turn.

"I should have been more careful perhaps in signing that pledge," he said. "At the time I really thought we could do it. I just didn't know, of course, before we came into government, quite what the state of the finances were."

Writing in the Guardian today, Lib Dem MP Tim Farron describes fees as "the poll tax of our generation". He writes: "It is not for me to tell colleagues how to vote, but I believe that we need to move away from burdening young people with debt, towards a fairer system. Education should be available to all – not just those who can stomach the debt."
Lib Dem MP Lorely Burt said the party was "stuck between a rock and a hard place". She added: "This is not our policy. We are not comfortable with it. In the coalition agreement we didn't manage to get our own policy but we have modified the Browne report [on higher education funding] to inject a considerable amount of fairness and progressiveness into the programme."

Lib Dem opponents of a rise have not coalesced around an alternative policy. Martin Horwood, who plans either to abstain or vote against, said: "The long-term alternative is really to pay for student finance through income tax and probably an inevitable reduction in student numbers, neither popular options with our Conservative partners. So short term, I fear the alternative would be cuts in other areas like science or FE, which is why I'm hesitating to vote against."

Student protests today included a three-hour sit-in by 60 students at Manchester, demanding access to the university's accounts. "This is just what a few students who had the energy left after the London demo managed to achieve," said Jeremy Buck, 22.
In Cambridge, students protested at the university's annual science, engineering and technology careers fair against "the marketisation of education".
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卡麥隆：G20要加把勁 解決貿易失衡問題

結束中國訪問行程後，英國首相卡麥隆11日抵達南韓首爾，出席20國集團(G20)高峰會，他在接受訪問時表示，20國集團會員國必須「多加把勁」，以達成解決全球經濟失衡的協議。

不過，卡麥隆強調化解「東方資金滿滿，西方債務充斥」之間鴻溝的必要性；同時也呼籲，要努力「遏止保護主義的抬頭」。

G20已開發國家及開發中國家會員國出席的這場高峰會，重心將放在貿易失衡及貨幣匯率的問題上。
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卡梅倫訪華意在借中國經濟東風

11月9日至10日，英國首相戴維.卡梅倫開始了就任首相後的首次訪華行程。訪問期間，中國國家主席胡錦濤和國務院總理溫家寶分別與其會談。卡梅倫還與中國領導人一起了出席中英工商峰會。

關於這次訪問的宗旨，可以從卡梅倫的訪華團隊陣容中看出來。這是一支被媒體稱為“英國歷史上規模最大”的訪華團隊，成員包括財政、能源、教育和商業的4位內閣大臣和約50位工商界資深領袖。中英雙方將舉行財經對話、經貿聯委會、教育部長峰會和能源工作組會議等諸如經貿議題的會議。顯而易見，卡梅倫此次中國行是一次地地道道的經貿之旅。

這樣的訪華使命，是由英國目前的國內形勢決定的。就在11月2日，卡梅倫在倫敦與到訪的法國總統薩科齊簽署了兩國軍事合作協議。根據這個協議，英法兩國將組成“聯合遠征軍”，主要內容是共用航母、共同研發核技術、分享核機密等。雖然英法兩國關係不錯，但上述協議還是讓人感到愕然，因為關係親密的國家很多，但“共用軍隊”的還極為罕見。之所以做出這種很沒面子的安排，實在是經濟窘境使然。法國自不必說——近來因為養老金入不敷出，大罷工一浪接一浪，鬧得雞犬不寧，英國的情況是半斤八兩。由於經濟疲弱和主權債務過大，英國財政大臣奧斯本10月20日宣布，政府將施行二戰後最大規模的削減公共開支計劃，到2015年將削減大約830億英鎊的公共開支，包括王室花消在內的財撥款都將大幅削減，在未來五年將有近50萬個工作崗位被裁減。連王室那點花消都要算計，英國政府的經濟窘境可想而知。

面對如此局面，英國政府除了採取“節流”措施外，當然還要“開源”，也就是要增加賺錢門路。在此情況下，卡梅倫政府把目光轉向金融危機中仍保持經濟快速增長、且已躍居全球第二大經濟體的中國，實在是順理成章。就在卡梅倫訪華前夕，中國國家主席胡錦濤對法國進行了一次國事訪問，訪問期間，中法簽署了約200 億美元的經貿合作協議。這樣的業績，不可能不讓英國人眼熱。11月4日，英國駐華大使吳思田在京對媒體表示，希望卡梅倫的此次中國之行能和中國簽訂一些商業大單。可以肯定的是，卡梅倫帶來的是一支商業團隊，帶走的將是一筆筆商業大單。

其實，中英確實也有強化經貿合作的政治基礎和潛力。近年來，雖然中德關係、中法關係一度出現挫折，並因此導致中歐關係短暫停滯——2008年的中歐峰會還因此被延期，但中英關係卻保持了平穩發展的勢頭。這或許與英國外交一向謹慎持重，對外政策很少出現大起大落的起伏有關。當然，這並不是中英之間就沒有一點過節。去年10月，中國依法處死了英籍毒犯阿克毛，當時的布郎政府就對此一再說三道四，引起了中方的相當不滿；哥本哈根氣候峰會結束後，布郎政府又把峰會未取得實質進展的責任，歸結到中國頭上。中英關係也因為上述事件，受到了一定影響。

不過，自今年5月卡梅倫首相上台後，中英關係呈現出良好的發展勢頭。中方對此也予以了充分肯定。11月2日，外交部發言人洪磊在新聞發布會上表示，“英國新政府上台執政以來，中英高層接觸頻繁，各領域合作進展順利，兩國關係有了一個良好開局。”

當然，卡梅倫此次訪華除了經貿合作這個重頭戲外，也就全球性問題同中方交換了看法。中英外交官也都通過不同的方式證實了這一點。10月19日，中國駐英大使劉曉明在倫敦皇家學會發表演講時表示，“今天的中英關係，早已超出了雙邊範疇，具有全球性和戰略性……雙方應當在國際事務中攜手合作，同舟共濟，共同致力於促進世界和平、穩定和繁榮。”　

英國駐華大使吳思田也表示，卡梅倫此行不僅要推動雙邊貿易合作，還希望和中國在全球治理、防止核擴散、可持續發展等多個領域進行對話和合作。中方還特別強調卡梅倫訪華“正值G20峰會前夕”，也暗示雙方將就這一議題進行會談。

今年以來，中英關係的發展勢頭良好，高層互動頻繁。今年1月，楊潔篪外長在倫敦與英國外交大臣米利班德舉行了會談，雙方強調要確保兩國關係沿著正確的軌道發展；3月，英國外交大臣米利班德訪華，溫家寶總理會見，雙方同意提升中英戰略對話級別。中英關係的一大優勢在於，雙方沒有明顯的戰略和利益衝突。卡梅倫首相的這次訪華使中英關係“百尺竿頭，更進一步”。
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貨幣戰系列之三：在首爾協商停戰？

G20峰會召開前，貨幣戰陰雲籠罩，不少人擔心首爾這兩天將變成中美就匯率交鋒的場所，以及新興經濟體對美國和中國的貨幣政策表達不滿的場所。

新興國家和一些有貿易順差的發達國家已經對弱勢美元的衝擊發起「抵抗」。

峰會召開前，巴西和泰國已經利用稅務措施控制遊資湧入的規模；日本、韓國和其他一些國家直接購入美元拋出本幣以遏制本幣升值。

有觀點認為既然這些國家經濟表現比西方好，那麼它們就得設法接受現實。

停戰談判？

那麼，首爾的會議桌是否會成為貨幣戰的停戰談判桌？

英國杜倫大學金融學教授張志超認為，G20會議桌會成為談判桌，但不會是停戰談判桌。世界經濟再平衡是個漫長的過程，而且現在諸多跡象都表明各方都認為協商解決爭端比貨幣對抗好。

美國財長蓋特納不久前提出，應該給經常賬戶設定指標以平衡盈餘和赤字，但遭到中國、德國、日本的反對。

英國央行行長在峰會前夕也表示反對以量化指標和政策手段來管理經常賬戶，理由是這樣做會導致越來越多的國家通過政策手段管理貿易盈虧，而這對所有人都有害無利。

世界經濟失衡正是貨幣戰的深層次根源。

經濟「再平衡」

一個普遍認同的觀點是，中國的崛起對世界一些國家和行業造成「間接傷害」是事實，即使沒有匯率問題，這個矛盾也難以消除。

中國崛起有兩大特點造成了它成為貿易戰、貨幣戰或領導權爭奪戰的中心：崛起速度快和國內地區差異大、層次多。

第一個特點意味著中國競爭對手調整產業結構的時間較短，第二個特點意味著中國從沿海向內陸逐級以推，在國際價值鏈上都能找到大致對應的競爭對手。

而將注意力從外匯管理轉向經常賬戶管理是解決問題的一個新趨勢

中信證券首席宏觀經濟師胡一帆預計，G20會議將不會產生任何具體措施，但各國領導人會對一些重要問題在戰略層面上達成共識，諸如「貨幣戰爭無贏家」、「全球合作以防止經濟二次探底「等等。

重新平衡國際平衡是G20峰會最為重要的議題。儘管在減少不平衡問題的必要性上達成共識，不同國家都會從自己利益的角度出發，考量解決不平衡問題的迫切性。

管理經常賬戶就是一個新的思路。

經常賬戶

張志超認為，中國在多邊會談中應該不會迴避順差問題，但可能會有條件，比如要求這種談判在世界經濟再平衡的討論框架內進行，並以此交換美國在人民幣匯率問題上不再施壓。

他認為近期而言中國能同意的是使中美貿易不再擴大；長期而言，如果要對中美貿易順差設定數量指標，那麼談判的焦點將可能是時間限度。

國際經濟失衡反映在順差國儲蓄高、赤字國儲蓄低，以及不同國家政府舉債程度的不同。

在赤字國，金融危機後政府債務增加，部分衝抵私人儲蓄下降造成的空缺。

如果中國和其他順差國能增加進口，對赤字國減少逆差將大有幫助。

張志超認為，貨幣戰的威脅真正解除，一個重要標誌是國際貨幣基金組織內部的權力架構調整，新興經濟體的發言權比現在更接近經濟現實，在貨幣、匯率和貿易等規則的制方面能扮演更大的角色。
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