Now this I can contribute to a bit more effectively than my Wikileaks discussion contribution :P

First thing I want to say is that I've always been happy to be a student and part of a collective group when 'students' are mentioned overall. But watching the scenes unfold over the past week or so in London and elsewhere made me feel ashamed and embarrassed to ever have been associated with the student community. There is nothing wrong with a strong but PEACEFUL protest but there is absolutely no reason for the mindless destruction that has gone on. It's been widely reported now that several people involved aren't actually students and are just joining in for the sake of rampaging through the streets. Credit where credit is due though, many students were there to protest peacefully and several students interviewed said they condemned the behaviour of the 'mob'.

On to the actual details; momentarily taking out of the equation the fact that Nick Clegg reneged on his manifesto 'promise', it's difficult to say if the government decision is the correct one. On one hand, universities all across the country are suffering budget cuts due to the financial situation and if funding declines, generally so do the standards. On the other hand, raising the max cap on fees will allow the universities to charge more and therefore get more money into their institution, somewhat bridging the financial gap that is going to appear, if it hasn't already. Personally, I don't think it's fair that the students have to foot the bill for this one (except the bill for repairing all the protest damage) but realistically for the situation that the country is in, the government decision could be the most logical at this time.

I don't know if I feel less passionate about this issue because I'm Scottish and therefore had my fees paid for me but I don't understand the hatred towards Nick Clegg at the level it has been. He's a politician, and a politician's job is to make fanciful claims during the election run-up and then not fulfil them when in power. I can understand some dislike/hatred directed at him but, to be honest, are you surprised by his decision?

The Scottish National Party were voted into power (albeit a minority) up here in 2007, partly due to large support from students based on several pledges they made. If I counted on my hands every manifesto pledge they've either ditched or reneged on, I'd run out of fingers pretty quickly, but despite that there has not been anywhere near the same level of raw anger directed towards them as there has to Clegg over this one decision. I'm not condoning his choice to backtrack on his promise though; I voted Lib Dem in May because I didn't want the Tories in, Gordon Brown didn't fill me with confidence (Ed Miliband does though) and Nick Clegg talked a good game and I have to admit I'm disappointed both by the Lib Dems agreeing a coalition and Clegg's recent actions, but hey, you have to live with your choices. Roll on 2014/15

My 2p, for what it's worth