An object lesson in "How Not to Get What You Want"

I am currently sitting in my office contemplating whether it's even worth trying to make the journey back home after work. Central London has been besieged by students protesting at Government proposals to increase the cap on the tuition fees Universities can charge for their courses. This measure is, variously, either an attack on poor people, an attack on the country's future or an attack on our ability to innovate, depending on which section of the student contingent you listen to.

I sincerely hope that these people do not represent my country's future. The latest images, currently receiving blanket media coverage, show disaffected students smashing the windows of Tory HQ and starting a fire in the street. I'm no master of negotiation, but violently assaulting the very people you need to convince to give you more money is not a clever strategy. Cameron and Clegg have just been handed their out of jail free card.

I will leave aside the debate over whether the increase is right or just, although I do happen to believe the main beneficiaries of degrees should pay for them in full. Just look at America; they pay extortionate amounts for their degrees, and their research and innovation is world class. What has happened today counts as a major PR coup for those backing the fee increases. Why help a group of people intent on burning and smashing up the capital to get their voices heard? One million people marched against the Iraq war and nothing untoward happened; a few thousand students congregate and a riot breaks out. Today the 'anarchists' complained that the state won't pay for their education. Most students are big fans of irony, so this contradiction should not be lost on them. Some future for our country!


-- Posted from my iPhone

Location:London