My Week: What Recent Developments Tell Us About The Coalition

The sound and the fury this week has surrounded has surrounded student protests against tuition fees and Nick Clegg's struggle to justify the unjustifiable. Firstly I find it strange the way that the 'riots' have been covered and discussed. It seems that protestors can only either be peaceful marchers or violent anarchist thugs. No mention what-so-ever of the importance of direct action in protesting. The reason for this is we know that merely marching doesn't work. This was shown by the juxtaposition between the exchanges in the commons between Clegg and others and what was going on outside. Nick Clegg as all politicians do claimed privelige access to facts while respectfully disagreeing. However his disagreement with those outside is imposing fees of up to £45,000 on future students. By his own definition he won't think again if all people do is march and say 'I don't agree with Nick.' This isn't to condone lobbing fire extinguishers at coppers, but occupation, disruption and disobedience is vitalto showing government how angry we are and that people will not stand for Nick Clegg and David Cameron's constant disagreement with themselves

Documents obtained by the Guardian show that the Lib Dems were prepared to ditch their pledge in the only likely scenarios which would see them in government. This being the case, why sign a pledge saying that you will oppose ANY increase in fees, by ANY government. Not intelligent, unless you have a real disregard for the poor saps pushing this pledge and other swiftly ditched policies and opinions. Other developments this week make this painfully obvious.

These are the repealing of animal welfare standards and the putting of fast food companies in charge of aspects of health policy. Not huge issues compared to £80bn in cuts and massive changes to higher education, but this is the point. There can be no defence of these proposals as important for cutting the deficit, they are purely ideological policies of the most extreme type of Conservative thinking. So why are they happening? The government claims that it is moderate and the Lib Dems are its moderating influence. So why are extreme policies being introduced here? Because they can be. They show that the Conservatives are doing precisely what they want with Lib Dem collusion and I rather think we should see the coalition's larger policies in this same ideological context instead of buying the line that these are difficult decisions taken for our benefit. If a government thinks cutting chickens beaks off is 'In the national interest' then its claim to think that harsh benefit cuts and trebling tuition fees to be carries no wait what-so-ever. Time for direct action to stop a government from doing what the hell it wants against popular will.