[timwilky]

I am the product of a society and time were an educated workforce was wanted and valued. I received a full grant, sponsorship, proper vacation employment and use of my employers labs/ computers that were light years ahead of the universities.

I am also the father of a kid that has done a LLB and LLM in law and cannot get a decent job.

I am therefore disgusted that students will be expected to pay £6-9,000/year for a degree that will leave them with a lifetime debt that many will never get to pay off. This is socially divisive. Only the children of the rich will be able to afford higher education. I paid for my daughters university, I did not want her stuck with debt at a time she may be thinking about marriage/children etc. I could afford that, but it hurt. Middle class parents are again being targeted as they will be the ones who end up paying. Thank god only one of my three kids went.

So strangely enough, I support the students protesting. I think the Brown report got it wrong. Unfortunately government has been getting it wrong for decades. We encourage school leavers into further/higher education and issue dumbed down qualification in meaningless subjects as a way of delaying the inevitable when the poor student joins the dole queue. Thus devaluing the attainment of a proper degree earned through hard work, study and application. So government wants huge number of kids in higher education, but admits they cannot afford it. They want people to work longer slowing down the rate of vacancies on the lower rungs of corporate ladders etc. that the graduates are trying to climb onto.

So students protest loud and be heard. But the stupid antics of wrecking the conservative party offices etc are way out of line and do you no favours.