ABSTRACT

In November 2010 more than 50,000 people marched through central London in opposition to the Conservative–Liberal Democrat coalition government’s plans to raise the tuition fee cap while cutting state funding for education by £4.2bn. The proposed budget reduction, which followed a review into higher education funding in UK universities led by Lord Browne that proposed radical changes to the system of university funding—including removing the cap on the level of fees that universities can charge—was perceived by the students as excessive. Students criticized the cuts as an attack on education that would deter the majority of poorer students from applying, and a break of campaign promises, especially on the part of the Liberal Democrats (Williams & Vasagar 2010). Ministers, protesters and the media acknowledged that the demonstration, which was at that time the largest and most dramatic in response to a series of austerity measures planned by the British government, gained significant public support and was followed by even more intense mobilizations that lasted for months (Rusbridger 2010; for an overview see Ibrahim 2011).