29.01.2004

Ways to protest

Blair is obsessed with introducing tution fees, writes Phil Hamilton

Tony Blair has sunk to new lows in trying to get his fees legislation onto the statute books. According to the Daily Express (January 27), this included outright blackmail of some backbenchers. It alleges that the MPs he forced to fly back from a junket in Australia will have their £600 expenses denied if they fail to vote the right way. What a dilemma it must have been for them, caught between the rock of principle and the hard place of losing cash.

Nevertheless Blair scraped home by the skin of his teeth, with just five votes in it. So now it is pretty certain that future students will face even more debt upon graduation - that is, unless militant action forces the government to think twice. A lot depends on what the National Union of Students decides to do next. If its campaigning anti-fees website is anything to go by, it does look as if the NUS is not planning to roll over. However, the kinds of campaigning pushed on www.stopfeesnow.com are unlikely to set the world alight.

In terms of design, the website can be safely filed under 'no frills'. Split into three columns, and moving right to left, the first item features a photo of Westminster, with an arrow poised above it. MPs concerned that the 'NUS here' legend is a coded call for an occupation of parliament by angry students should not worry. It is merely the gateway for an NUS-sponsored, face-to-face lobby of our elected 'representatives'. Next is a call to 'Write to your MP'. This page includes hints and tips on how to construct a letter that would make the MP (or rather their assistant) take note. There are also a number of paragraphs that can be downloaded and spliced into the letter, a search device to track down your own MP, and a model letter if you are a bit pressed for time. The next box links to a kind of 'how you can help' page. Instead of giving out addresses, lobby dates and demo details, it is geared toward online activism. For instance, letter writing crops up yet again, along with mailing list details, the facility to forward items to friends and the NUS 'plan of action'. Finally, the column concludes with an 'Apathy quiz' - a nice, irreverent touch.

Moving to the central column, it leads with the number of emails sent to MPs via the site. Once again, there is the option to fire off a letter of protest. The next box links to the site's weblog. The most recent item posted is a short interview with a mature student who under the existing fee payment scheme owes £20,000 and he argues that the incoming funding plan has not even taken mature students into consideration. There are also a few older items running back to the beginning of the year, with even more exhortations to write to your MP. The next item links to Mandy Telford's reply to Blair's plans, hosted by the NUS site. The last link here is yet another call to send off a protest letter (ever get the feeling that they are trying to channel anti-fees activism in a certain direction?).

The final column is the site navigation bar. The first page listed, 'Issues', is split into three subheadings. 'What's at stake?' sketches the provisions the new legislation will introduce, including the increased commodification of higher education. 'What we want' outlines the chief NUS demands, such as the remission of fees for undergraduate and postgraduate students, restoration of the grant, freezing loan interest rates and restoring benefits. The final part offers 20 key facts around the fees issue. The rest of the navigation bar links to already explored areas of the site, with the exception of the animation. This short clip, by Dr Parsons of Tony and me by George Bush fame is entitled 'Night of the living debt'. It has to be said that Charles Clarke does make a pretty convincing zombie, but with one important difference - his cartoon likeness is far more dynamic!

As a campaigning site, it is functional as far as it goes. But, reading between the lines, it appears that the NUS would like to keep protests against fees within certain definite limits, that despite Telford's tough talking. Students looking for a militant reply to Blair's fee offensive might find the odd useful nugget, but will ultimately have to look elsewhere for a strategy that can bury them.