Alfred Stevens and Julian Langevin report on a cold yet inspiring protest in Manchester that demonstrated a growing radicalism and a thirst for politics.
Over 1500 students from schools, colleges and universities marched through Manchester as part of the second national day of action against the cuts in education and the rise in fees. The police presence was overwhelming with … read this post
Alfred Stevens has been sleeping in the Roscoe Building for three days.
Day 4 in the Roscoe Occupation. The occupants woke up around 10am, it was a Saturday so they deserved a lie in, to find that overnight they’d received messages of solidarity from not only the ‘Bard of Barking’ Billy Bragg but also from the Linguistic master general himself … read this post
The 30 or so students that held the building last night woke up bright and early to get propaganda out around the university, advertising the day school today and winning support for their protest. This included teams working in shifts flyering, getting posters up and a banner drop from the University of Manchester Precinct bridge.
The day school began with … read this post
Report by Alfred Stevens
Around 80 students occupied of a lecture theatre in the University of Manchester’s Roscoe building with around half staying overnight. The occupiers come from The University of Manchester, Manchester Metropolitan University, workers form UCU and even some students from local colleges The occupation is in protest against cuts and any rise in tuition fees and in … read this post
Curtis McLellan from Manchester Labour Students explains why students from schools, colleges and universities marched through the city against the cuts.
Over 3,000 people marched in Manchester to protest against the Governments reckless approach to higher education. Who were they? There were students from both the University of Manchester, Manchester Metropolitan University and the University of Salford, the latter institution … read this post
Mark Harrison (CS Exec and The Commune) writes his personal reflection on the protests in Manchester.
Fortunately today I slept in and missed my 11am lecture and decided to go to what I expected to be a piddly little demo. What a pleasant surprise awaited me! By 12:30 approximately 3000 people had gathered at the designated meeting point at the … read this post
Leaflet distributed in Manchester today during the national day of protest against tuition fees and education cuts.
By Cat Rylance.
Around 80 students met today at the University of Manchester Students’ Union to discuss where we should go next after Wednesday’s NUS demonstration. This number was a significant improvement on the 15 or so who have been attending the anti-cuts meetings this term. The prospect for occupation was quickly raised by three to four SWSS members who … read this post
The occupying students have released the statement below. Their blog is at http://www.manunioccupation.blogspot.com/
“Students at Manchester Univeristy have peacefully occupied the John Owens Building and are lobbying the finance board over the Coalition’s attacks on higher education.
“We are demanding that the University opens its books so that we know where the cuts will fall, how many voluntary redundancies have … read this post
Chris Strafford reports on an artistic and engaging campaign
Communist Students stood two candidates in last week’s elections to the University of Manchester student union: Cat Rylance for general secretary and Robi Folkard for academic affairs. Cat won 17% of the vote on a communist platform which stressed democracy – within the student movement, the university and wider society. We … read this post
Called by Manchester Hands Off the People of Iran
Hands Off the Students of Iran – 25 March Day of Action Manchester
1pm University of Manchester Students’ Union
Manchester HOPI along with our friends in Manchester’s Iranian community are calling a day of action on the 25 March at the University of Manchester Students’ Union (UMSU) starting at 1pm. We … read this post
Chris Strafford reports on a struggle that brought many new activists into the movement
On Friday March 6 the long-running student occupation at the University of Manchester ended. After 31 days of pro-Gaza solidarity in three different buildings students left after forcing the vice-chancellor into negotiations. The whole episode has re-energised the student movement – and not just in Manchester…. read this post
Transphobia is completely unacceptable, writes Robbie Folkard
A furore has erupted at Manchester University after one set of toilets in the student union building was made gender-neutral, the toilets formerly being ‘ladies’ and ‘gents’ now being merely ‘toilets’ and ‘toilets with urinals’.
The idea was to provide trans (gender-variant) students with toilet facilities where they would no longer be at … read this post
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