The articulate, smart ones wouldn't make good news though, would they?

But, of course, short shields aren't as good at stopping stuff hitting you.

Very true. The news crews seem to actively seek out the ones that are borderline vegetable.

One of the reporters ended up questioning a foreign student.

That's kind of the drawback with the cuddly, Ladybird book view of policing.

Saw an interview with that Jody kid on youtube,

Good job they give a balanced report on what the police are doing, though

That's the BNP shining through

Of course, as a foreign student, he's not entirely relevant, as he pays full fees already.

His (or her) opinion is still relevant, though.
None of the students there will be paying these fees (unless they go twice, of course).

Best comment from so-called student when asked why he was protesting on BBC News

“Ve come to dis country to go uni yeah?”

“Ve can’t afford yeah?”

BBC reporter moves swiftly on………….

as per the custard on Mandelson that Mali got into trouble over with Stu

Heh.

You can rest easy knowing that you were entirely correct, of course.

I'll sleep when I'm dead.

It sickens me that as someone who has more free time than me you're not putting it to good use by sleeping. I want to sleep vicariously through you.

Hang on. No. That sounds a bit odd.

Depends if EU Foreign or Other Foreign. No idea of this specific Foreign, having not seen the footage in question.

I imagine £9000/year fees will deter a lot of EU Foreigns from studying as undergraduates at English universities, unless they seriously want to learn English: The Language 'natively'. I mean, speaking of people whose situation I am familiar with, if my g.f.'s sister goes all the way to get a PhD in Theology, her student debt would be less than if she spent a single year studying at an English university...

I imagine £9000/year fees will deter a lot of EU Foreigns from studying as undergraduates at English universities, unless they seriously want to learn English: The Language 'natively'.

What do EU students pay at present, then, the same as the nationals of the country in which the university is in?

Yes, at both undergraduate and postgraduate level.

Grim..., it's just over £3000/year now. So significantly higher. Plus there's the issue of whether their own country's student support system will cover the cost of English universities. That varies country-to-country though. Some are more generous than others (Germany's BAföG is capped at €10,000, as I've been reminded).

That does beg the question of whether UK taxpayers should be funding any costs of non UK nationals using our university system, particularly at time of fiscal tightening, deficit reduction, all in this together etc etc. I understand that there's reciprocity, but how does the balance sheet on that really work out? Given how parochial people in this country are, are there really that many UK students studying in, say, Stuttgart?

Take an educated guess.

That does beg the question of whether UK taxpayers should be funding any costs of non UK nationals using our university system, particularly at time of fiscal tightening, deficit reduction, all in this together etc etc. I understand that there's reciprocity, but how does the balance sheet on that really work out? Given how parochial people in this country are, are there really that many UK students studying in, say, Stuttgart?

It's more a question of wanting to know what it looks like in practice. I'm pretty certain many, many more EU students study in the UK than UK students study in the EU, mainly because we have much less students who are competent in a foreign language. So are we subsidising, when we likely can't afford to, or is it balanced against other things like trade subsidies and the like?

Do they still have armed police wandering around Scotland Yard? They did at the beginning of the year.

Scotland Yard is a proper dump inside. I was really disappointed.

I'm sure the cost of it balance out somehow, anyway, with our HE having more expensive user fees than European norm.

That would tend to do the opposite, no? If us paying for EU students is more expensive than EU countries paying for our students, then the balance would shift even further in the other direction.

I'm interested to see how it's all worked out.

Jesus telegraph has three articals on what a poor innocent little ba lamb this Jody lad is. 90% of the comments are pointing out that if you read his blog then it's obvious that he's not.

Still, does "not obeying instructions" now justify a beating? If it didn't happen to him it's certainly happened to others, by the sounds of it.

In the interview he said he was hit, idunno.

Still, does "not obeying instructions" now justify a beating?

"Drop the gun!"

He wasn't whacked with a baton, was he?

Just pulled out of his wheelchair (which he didn't need).

He didn't obey lawful instructions from a police officer, and so got made to obey. Simples.

"Drop the gun!"

"Drop the gun!"

Two incidents, apparently he was the first time round.

I'd still argue that he probably does need it. It's not that unusual for folk in wheelchairs to have some mobility.

True, but he could've just wheeled him over to the side of the road instead of decking him.

He made a good point as far as I'm concerned: what threat did he pose to police to merit being dragged about and whacked with a baton?

Yeah, but he talks on his blog about running around, and running up several flights of stairs at one point.

Not as much fun, though.

Are you saying the wheelchair is a prop, and he's faking it?

There's jogging up 18 flights of steps with ease, or there's painfully hopping up them supported on both sides by helpers or somewhere in between. It seems a bit disingenuous to suggest the former just because you don't happen to agree with his views.

just it is illustrating the sort of heavy handed, provocative tactics that are apparently being employed.

That was more to Decca really