Questions Raised About the Browne Report

The Browne Report, the framework responsible for the new tuition legislation being rushed through Parliament, has been brought into question.

Read it in full.

The main claim is that most of the research money was spent on one opinion poll. The comments on the article seem to describe the situation brilliantly.

Of course, not all of the Browne Report is being implemented. Universities can charge up to triple the current rate rather than unlimited (oh thank you, kind Government!). However, it is pretty obvious this has not been thought through, both by those involved in the creation of the report and by the MPs who decided to vote ‘yes’.

Abstain

You can read the full debate online. The results from the first House of Commons Vote on these proposals are as follows:

Yes: 323 No: 302

The results show that 6 Conservative MPs and 21 Liberal Democrat MPs rebelled, whilst 2 Conservatives and 8 Lib Dems abstained. This resulted in a cut of the government’s majority to 21, although it is hardly going to stay at that level.

Given the situation – how unpopular this, how biased the report is, the cries for more evidence – the option to abstain is not a get-out-of-jail card for any MP who tries to pull that trick. When you’re not sure of something, don’t walk out of the vote, vote no. It really is that clear. I suspect the whips were encouraging the indecisive to abstain rather than vote no (as is the LibDem’s prerogative in this particular vote).

More Protests

All this whilst outside there was widespread anger. The protests had spilled onto Parliament Square (although you couldn’t hear anything from inside Parliament), there were outbreaks of violence and the Camilla got poked with a stick. Read Laurie Penny’s account of her time in the Parliament Square kettle, if you can.

Of course, the media turned this into widespread OMGZ, forgetting some of the earlier names they had called Camilla. This further detracted from what was again a largely peaceful, nationwide protest. Although once again I believe the real anger that is on show at the heart of these protests is something the media will not be able to percolate. Having the complete definition of privilege drive through the middle of a protest against ideological cuts manifested that anger in a way that will hit home for many people.

Later that night, the police decided to employ their good old kettling technique again. This time on Westminster Bridge. Look at that picture. Clearly this is not an appropriate amount of space to squeeze that many people into, yet for the police this is fine. This caused a senior doctor to come out and say this could have caused some serious damage on a Hillsborough scale. If somebody had fallen off that bridge…

End Result

The end result is the same old. We were promised this and that by this party and that party. New new new, get rid of the old. Change not indecision. Blah blah blah. Broken promises and everything stays the same. Of course the government weren’t going to be defeated on this one, but a widespread, nationwide campaign of disruption helped cut the government’s majority and stirred up memories of large-scale demonstrations from the last time the Tories were in power.

The media tried to dismantle this, they have too much to lose going against the government now, and they couldn’t break the protestors. The police tried to dismantle this, and they couldn’t break the protestors – they kept coming back.

I’m a firm believer in gradients of change. These plans aren’t the end of the world, nor are they the worst possible situation. However they are the start of something horrible, and once that snowball has been pushed down the hill… well, let’s just say that’s how the apparent need for cuts myth percolated into everybody’s minds. These campaigns, which will no doubt be joined by teachers, doctors and nurses, and even police officers in months to come as cuts deepen, all form part of an anti-cut movement which is going to define a generation.

The BBC Fucked This One Up

Jody McIntyre

Jody McIntyre is a 20 year-old man who has cerebral palsy and has to use a wheelchair. He attended the most recent student protests with his brother, who was pushing his wheelchair. The Police, in any situation, are supposed to use force which is proportional in response. Take a look at how the police dealt with McIntyre, and see if you think the response is proportional:

(This is an edited version which has been lightened for clarity)

According to McIntyre, this was his second encounter with the police, with the office from the first encounter running over to join in with the events in the video above.
McIntyre was ‘interviewed’ on BBC News, which I’d advise you watch in full:

BBC Interview

McIntyre handled himself well with a hostile interviewer, he got his point across and made Ben Brown seem like a ranting fingers-in-ears type of guy.
Ben Brown’s ‘argument’ revolves around two main points:

• You said you were a revolutionary.
  
• You must have given the police some valid reason for them to hit you, pull you out your wheelchair and drag you across the street.

I’d like to quickly address both of those points individually.

Revolutionary

So McIntyre said he was a “revolutionary” on a website. This is irrelevant to the events. Sure, it might make him on some form of a wanted list, but the police have other ways to remove these people. Being a revolutionary does not necessarily correlate to violence at a demonstration.

It Must Have Been You

Brown tries to force some form of confession out of McIntyre, using some form of backward logic in which McIntyre must have been the one to blame. The video makes it unclear what happens, as the camera turns to see another officer run towards McIntyre. McIntyre responds with an interesting response – how can a wheelchair user with cerebral palsy pose a threat to a group of armed officers? Clearly the proportional response is to drag him out of his wheelchair and across a street.

Littlejohn Alert!

<I know Littlejohn doesn’t work for the BBC; thankfully>

I found this little gem from Twitter user @clubofonedotcom. Richard Littlejohn, a proven compulsive liar, decided to air his take on the matter. The image is too big to display here, so I have directly linked and will quote below.

“Jody McIntyre is like Andy from Little Britain.”

Why? Because he’s in a wheelchair and has cerebral palsy? Are we sinking that low now? Oh, I forgot, it’s Richard Littlejohn in the Daily Mail.

“But if he’s looking for sympathy, he’s come to the wrong place.”

He hasn’t went anywhere, Littlejohn decided to hitherto condone police brutality by saying he should have been kept out of sight. In a kettle, there’s nowhere to go. We all know that Littlejohn is a lying reactionary cloaca, however he is just a puppet in a larger media campaign to belittle the efforts of the student cause.

EDIT: Thanks to @uponnothing (of Angry Mob fame), I've found the cartoon the Daily Mail associated with this Littlejohn bile. We can now safely establish that the Daily Mail institutionally does not like disabled people. I would say shame on them, but they won't give a shit. Neither will the PCC, although be my guest if you'd like to join in with the complaints.

How To Properly Report This

The Guardian does a better job, showing a longer video. However they are careful to protect their backs by saying the video does not show the moment McIntyre leaves his wheelchair (technically right, you do see the police drag him to the ground and then across the street, however).

I’m not sure what the correct way to report this would actually be. I can definitely say the way the BBC and the Mail have reported this is out and out wrong. McIntyre is speaking to a lawyer regarding making a formal complaint, and apparently has the officer’s ID numbers, so hopefully when this is settled (and if the police don’t decide to just let their officers off as with happened with Ian Tomlinson) we’ll see some better reporting.

In Other News

Another protester, Alfie Meadows, underwent brain surgery after protesting. His family claim this is due to a truncheon attack, and the Guardian are reporting the Police tried to move Meadows to another hospital, despite him needing urgent brain surgery.

Conclusion

It is hard to form any form of conclusion at the time of writing. Investigations are pending, after all. However some aspects of the media are clearly interested in reducing the student shouts to whispers and trying to justify allegations of police brutality. This should be totally condemned.

Update 27/5/2011

It turns out that the complaint against the police made by Jody McIntyre was rejected, and that an officer dragging him out of his wheelchair was lawful based on a perceived risk. Make of that what you will.

Those Bloody Students!

For the third time this month, the students of the country took to the streets to protest the educational 'reforms' proposed by the Coalition Government. Students are largely upset at the prospect of paying up to £9,000 per year in tuition fees as a response to the The Browne Report. The typical ill-informed, knee-jerk response goes along the lines of:

"I pay my bloody taxes for these bloody students to sit on their arses doing nothing at second-class universities, only for them to end up scanning my shopping!"

There's more to it than that. A lot more. This post will only attempt to scratch the surface on the web of lies and spin which have resulted in the protests.

First, the Benefits

I should point out some of the positives that the report brings to the table, for there are two sides to every story, and most of the time both bring worthwhile additions:

• The lowest bracket of repayment is suggested to be raised from £15,000 to £21,000. 89.1% of graduates currently earn over £22,000, according to Prospects.
• Part-time students will get extra support. This is something long overdue, and is especially beneficial to working, single-mother students whom have it hard enough already.
• The tiered system can potentially go a long way into making sure people contribute what they are supposed to.
• No up-front payments have been suggested. If implemented this would massively decrease the number of poorer students who could afford to attend university (although I still remain confident the Government will say they cannot afford to loan the full amount in an attempt to reduce their long-term shortfall).

Criticisms of the Browne Report

In a letter to the Telegraph, senior academics from across the country criticised the Browne Report and proposed an alternate method which has been well received and suggested elsewhere: a Public Commission. They argue the Browne Report is rushed, will be likewise rushed into Parliament, and poorly-implemented at that. Concerns of the Higher Education Policy Institute, that the long-term costs of this are ignored (we'll be waiting for a return on each now-higher student loan for a longer period of time) are echoed. The idea that the market can dictate courses through a supply and demand model is challenged. The The Guardian has concerns this will hit universities hard. The Welsh Assembly is willing to absorb some of the price rises to tuition fees.

Fib Dems

The Liberal Democrats, despite their pre-election pledges, have seemingly abandoned their principles in the presence of power. They have faced a lot of criticism during the protests, especially Nick Clegg. So much in fact they are on a PR (read "damage limitation") campaign to say that they are considering making sure their pledges to oppose increases in tuition fees are met by abstaining from voting. That act is not congruent to the promise, and will not go down will amongst the public. Interestingly, if our Deputy PM and Business Secretary (whom is also the Secretary of State responsible for universities) abstain, what does that say about a government whose upper echelons can’t even agree? No confidence comes to mind.

The Kyriarchy

The idea that devastating austerity measures are justified by the belief that the private sector will pick up the debris from a systematic mass public sector redundancy program, in order to recover from a recession caused by risk-taking bankers (who knew the Government would carry the burden of their risks and bail them out, of course); whom themselves operate as if it’s business as usual – has been widely rejected.

At a time like this, where we should be investing to stimulate growth rather than disproportionately hitting the poorest with ideologically-driven cuts, we should also be investing in education. Education has the ability to break all boundaries. The Browne Report is a miscalculated step to reducing government spend in the short-term, whilst ignoring the cost to the funds in the long-term; representing a major shift on a gradient towards America’s education model, where the kyriarchy keeps itself afloat at a disregard to the rest of society.

Where can this money come from? The tax avoiders, of course! Reports are circulating that Sir Philip Green, the boss of Topshop, paid his wife in Monaco a dividend of over £1 billion in order to avoid a massive tax. Protesters have voiced concern about this by demonstrating outside the Oxford Street Topshop branch. UKUncut claim this tax avoidance alone could pay for 32,000 students at £9,000 per year. Vodafone, whose antics in the tax field were first exposed by Private Eye, have been the victims of a series of protests across the country. Vodafone’s response was to close their shops, deny they are not tax dodgers (their £6 billion bill was 'settled' by agreeing to pay 1/6^th of that). Channel 4 has suggested that Osborne, our chancellor, has questions to answer about his tax status.

That money could be used towards education. Or allow the kyriarchy to continue its privileged dominance over society. We're all in this together.

Show Your Support!

Support is coming in from all sides. Paul O’Grady and even Noam Chomsky have come out in support of the protests and occupations respectively.

Support the protesters! Support the occupations! Ignore the media lies about them being thugs, these are our future doctors and lawyers fighting for what matters for society. The Tories cheer cuts, the students hold lectures.

Coming Soon

How a supposedly democratic and free country responds to peaceful protests.