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3.57pm: One final round up of other action taking place today – a "small but perfectly formed" picket at the Univesity of Northampton; and a march by Durham University students.

That's it for me today. Thanks for all the tweets and emails. I tried to use as many as I could but apologies if you didn't get a mention. There's still plenty going on but much of the action now is in preparation for tomorrow's big rallies in London and Edinbugh.

I'll be live blogging again tomorrow, so keep the emails and tweets coming. Without wishing to sound like your mother, wrap up warm – particularly in London there's a chance of some kettling.

3.53pm: I've had an email from Dr Caroline Herbert, from the School of Cultural Studies at Leeds Metropolitan University. She makes a good point:

Enjoying your blog, but just wanted to point out that it's not just students out on the streets. In Leeds there were a fair few lecturers from both Leeds Uni and Leeds Metropolitan Uni out in support and in protest against the radical transformation of higher education.

Separately, I've received emails from groups of academics at both Manchester University and UCL opposing cuts and higher tuition fees.

3.47pm: Ewan Gimson has very kindly emailed a photo of a protest today in Bristol, which I mainly include because I like the banner being held by once person. Sadly, the crop is too small for you to see, but it says: "Microbiologists: we know BS when we see it."

3.42pm: Various emails and tweets tell me that a protests have also been spotted in Reading, with another outside Nortumbria University in Newcastle.

3.38pm: There's some tweets about – not least from our own Adam Gabbatt – saying a group of student protesters have occupied an HSBC branch near Tottenham Court Road in central London.

3.12pm: I've upset someone with my admittedly cheap humour at the expense of Sarah Teather's stature (see 10.24am). Sorry, Katie Fowler. She tweets:

@peterwalker99 wish you'd not made comments about Teather's height, was enjoying the blog until then! (Yes I speak as a fellow short female)

3.04pm: Time for some video. Some Leeds University students have tweeted a video of their occupation of the branch of Santander bank on the campus. It seems to involve mainly some good-natured dancing and seemingly random chants of "dirty cash!" and "wankers!".

Note to the man slapping the acoustic guitar: your sense of rhythm is askew.

2.57pm: The Guardian's Patrick Butler has pointed out a new post on his Cuts Blog highlighting how younger people could bear the brunt of the spending squeeze, beyond just education. He writes:

Back in October, the day after the comprehensive spending review, I reported that teenagers and young adults would, as a group, be among the biggest losers from the public spending cuts. Together with my colleague Shiv Malik (who has written a book about intergenerational unfairness) we've now drawn up a list of nine areas, from jobs to housing to youth services, where youngsters appear to be disproprortionately affected by the funding squeeze. I would hazard a guess that for disadvantaged young people living in deprived areas the impacts will be even harsher.

2.47pm: Another Guardian beatblogger, John Baron in Leeds, has been joining local students, and sends a pic:

About 300 Leeds students took to the streets for a peaceful demonstration. The students met outside Leeds Met Uni union where they held a brief but noisy demonstration before marching around Leeds city centre, via the town hall and civic hall and making their way back to the University of Leeds. They have returned to the Michael Saler building, which about 100 students have been occupying for the past fotnight. There have been no reports of any arrests so far.

2.29pm: I've received a deluge of emails about student occupations and protests not thus far mentioned. Here's a list, in no particular order. I should stress that (for the most part) I only have the emailers' word that these are taking place. There's no reason to suppose any are made up, not least because that would be a very odd thing to do:

• Isabelle emails:

A group of students has just set of from Reading Uni to march down to assemble in front of the town hall and join groups from local schools and colleges. The march will then on to MP Rob Wilson's office to hand in a petition signed by hundreds of school pupils urging him to vote no tomorrow.

• Beth writes from Sheffield, also sending a photo:

Just back from a small but perfectly formed protest in Sheffield. Huge police presence, but completely peaceful. Lovely (but cold!) atmosphere, interesting speakers, proud to be part of the movement. Also, as a side point, heard a brilliant conversation between two bus drivers whilst en route there: "They should be strung up, the bloody lot of them, and get a (criminal) record." Nice one; dead and a criminal record.

• The council room at London's Birkbeck College is also occupied.

• London Metropolitan University students are on day six of an occupation.

• Students at Exeter say:

A group of 130 people, comprising Exeter College students, Exeter University staff and students as well as members of the public have occupied a lecture theatre in the Peter Chalk Centre on Exeter University campus. The occupation took place after a loud, visible and high-spirited march which saw university and college students rally in Bedford Square.

• And Glasgow:

In the last couple of hours students involved in Glasgow University Anti-Cuts Action Network and Glasgow Against Education Cuts have occupied the James Arnott Theatre in Glasgow Uni.

Wow. That'll do for now.

2.26pm: And a brief note from the Guardian's queen of all things Manchester, Helen Carter. She emails about today's protest in the city:

The Manchester protest has been well-behaved – from what I could see. Noisy, some funny banners. "A cup of tea not cuts," was my favourite one, illustrated by a tea cup.

2.21pm: This just in from Michael MacLeod, the Guardian's Edinburgh Beatblogger:

Hundreds of signed pledges never to vote Lib Dem have been taped to the outer walls of the Scottish Parliament.

Around 500 people marched from Bristo Square to Holyrood. Most of the chanting is aimed at Mike Crockart, a local Lib Dem MP who was impersonated on Radio 4 this

week by somebody claiming he would quit over the fees vote.

His colleague, Mike Pringle MSP, spoke outside the parliament just now and told me: "I

still think Mike Crockart will do the right thing tomorrow and vote against the rise."

The students are planning to return to the parliament tomorrow for a candle-lit vigil. It's been a lot more peaceful than last week's demo in Edinburgh, which saw snowballs

thrown at the Holyrood building - and a few policemen's faces.

2.14pm: Right, I'm back. The roaming Adam Gabbatt has sent this missive from north London:

Adam Gabbatt byline Photograph: Frank Baron



I'm at Camden School for Girls, where around 50 A-level pupils have occupied the sixth form hall. Teachers, perhaps slightly aggrieved at having not been informed about the protest, are unsurprisingly not allowing press into the school grounds.

In the face of this around 30 pupils walked out of the school to a nearby park to listen to speeches. Gathered around a sandpit shivering as they listened to plans for tomorrow the sight was enough to draw a film crew from Belgium. Pupils I spoke to say around half the sixth form (some 200 of 400 pupils) have entered the occupation this morning, while "nearly all" the pupils are expected to join in tomorrow's march.

1.42pm: It's probably the moment for a lunchtime summary:

• Various marches, sit-ins, occupations and other protests are taking place in dozens of places around the UK. Most are thus far – compared to earlier recent students protests – relatively small.

• Much of this is a build up to tomorrow's mass march towards parliament in London, with another march planned on the Scottish parliament.

• The government has announced some minor concessions on tuition fees, notably an annual increase of the minimum salary at which graduates will have to start repaying fees.

• Again, the Lib Dems have been a main target of protests, with a few constituency offices occupied. Nick Clegg received a hard time on a radio phone-in trying to defend his decision to abandon pre-election pledges on fee.

Speaking of lunch, there will now be a brief pause - keep tweeting and emailing, it's all most appreciated.

1.33pm: The Bradford occupiers have tweeted to correct my 12.50pm post:

@peterwalker99 just to clarify we are still in occupation at bradford only a group of us went to join the mass student demo at the town hall

1.23pm: Are you in central London today? Fancy a bit of learning? Soas have emailed to say that their latest "teach out" public lecture – taking place on a tube train, no less – will be veteran Green party activist Jenny Jones on "Why neoliberalism can never be green". Meet at Soas at 3pm, apparently.

1.15pm: Some more audio: Sophie, from the Camden School for Girls (see 11.40am) explains their day of action. Apparently today is also the open day for prospective year six students, so school authorities aren't best pleased. Apologies for the brief bit in the middle where the line breaks up and I start going, "Hello? Hello?".

1.03pm: Fraternal live blogging etiquette compels me to point you towards the Manchester Evening News' rolling update on today's protests. One missive reads:

Huge queue of traffic backing up behind the march on Oxford Road

No such credit to London's Evening Standard, who are busy predicting a riot tomorrow in a highly speculative piece glorying under the headline: "London on alert as anarchists threaten to hijack student fees protest".

12.50pm: OK, time for another mini-roundup of action reportedly taking place elsewhere, which I have yet to mention:

• An email reminds me that students at Newcastle University have been occupying their fine arts building for a fortnight.

• Royal College of Art students have sent an extremely well-mannered notice of their planned occupation:



On Wednesday 8th December 2010 at 5pm, all students, staff and employees are invited to make their way to the galleries of the Darwin building, where henceforth an occupation of the gallery space will commence indefinitely.



• There's still an occupation going on at Bristol University.

• Students in Bradford have been occupying a university building and, a tweet tells me, have now walked out to rally at the town hall.

12.44pm: I like this tweet I've just received, further to the occupation of Sarah Teather's constituency office (see 11.49am). Ambiguosity laments:

@peterwalker99 can you ask Sarah Teather's occupiers to answer my email on fees while they're there. May be the only way I get a reply...

12.39pm: A reader, Tim Hardy, emails to say he disagrees over Paddy Ashdown (12.22pm):

He sounds unctuous, like a dodgy loans salesman. The bit where he patronises the caller and claims that her education will be "free" (because she only has to pay later) says it all.

I see your point, Tim, But at least he sunded like he was up for the fight. When I listened to Clegg I was picturing was him watching the studio clock and counting the seconds till he got out.

12.28pm: David Cameron has been grilled over tuition fees during prime minister's questions, just ended. My esteemed colleague, Hélène Mulholland, has been blogging this live. The highlight for me is a question tying together the protests with another of my favourite news stories of this week, Johnny Marr and Morrissey "banning" Cameron from liking the Smiths. She recounts:

Cameron is asked what Smiths songs students will be singing if the tuition fees vote passes tomorrow. Miserable Lie? Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now?

The prime minister suggests they won't be singing This Charming Man at him, and if he arrives with the foreign secretary he might hear William, it was Really Nothing.

Much as I generally like the idea of Smiths songs being bandied about at PMQs, that's pretty lame stuff.

12.22pm: That's how it's done, Nick. The former Lib Dem leader Paddy (now Lord) Ashdown seems to have given a better account of himself on 5 Live earlier today, judging by this clip. You might not agree with him, but he makes the point clearly and concisely. He even – unlike Clegg – sounds like he really believes it.

12.07pm: It's perhaps worth noting that today's events are, to an extent, a build-up to the big marches in London and Edinburgh tomorrow. The intrepid, thermal vest-wearing Adam Gabbatt has been to a University of London Union press conference:

Adam Gabbatt byline Photograph: Frank Baron

Up to 40,000 protesters will take to the streets of London tomorrow, organisers say. Around 30,000 students of these will march on parliament while some 10,000 are expected at a rally near Westminster.

I've been at a press conference by ULU who, with the National Campaign Against Fees and Cuts, are organising the action. Students from around the country will gather at the University of London, by Russell Square, before marching to Holborn and down the Strand to Trafalgar Square.

From there the protesters, expected to include school pupils, will march down Whitehall to Parliament Square – the route which has seen protesters kettles and charged by police on horseback during the last march.

Organisers say they will then end up at the main NUS rally – expected to attract 10,000 protesters of its own – close to Victoria.

11.57am: Yet another email, this time from NUS Scotland. There's various actions taking place today in Edinburgh, Glasgow, Stirling, Aberdeen and Dundee, they say, with a rally at the Scottish parliament taking place tomorrow.

11.49am: Sarah Teather's day has got worse (see 1.24am). I've just had an email saying her north London constituency office has just been occupied. I can't confirm this – no one was answering the phone there. My emailing source asks not to be identified.

11.45am: Poor Nick Clegg. No, seriously. He sounds even more peevish that usual. To sign off, Victoria Derbyshire asks him whether Michael Gove consulted him on his cuts to school sports. From the waffle that follows it's clear he wasn't. That was just mean.

11.40am: As with the earlier protests, it's not just university-age students involved. Sixth formers at Camden School for Girls in north London are holding a 24-hour "teach in". They have a blog, Twitter feed and have issued a press release complete with a "notes to editors" addendum. Hats off. At their age I struggled merely to get out of bed.

11.34am: I'vebeen tweeted with yet another occupation I've not yet mentioned. More details here.

11.26am: Clegg is getting a predictably tough time from callers on 5 Live. His principal line of response is to sound reasonable but, ultimately, be so boring the interrogators eventually give up. Asked about breaking his pledge on tuition fees he uses the weasel words "the real world".

11.21am: A round-up of some of the other occupations I've been neglecting:

• The library at Goldsmiths in London has been occupied for the past three days.

• In York, they're on day seven of a sit-in of the university's exhibition centre. Apparently this involves physics students, not usually known as a hotbed of radicalism.

Any more I've missed? Tweet me @peterwalker99

11.15am: I've been distracted, and Nick Clegg is already on BBC Radio 5 Live, talking about tuition fees in a voice which, as ever, reminds me of Paul Merton if you entirely removed the sense of humour. Thus far he's just being grilled by host Victoria Derbyshire, but phone calls are to follow.

She asks: was it a mistake to make that pledge on tuition fees? Waffling furiously, he begins: "The pedge was made quite clearly on the assumption that we would deliver the pledge if we were in government on our own." I genuinely can't follow the rest of his argument.

11.08am: Unsurprisingly, the NUS isn't too impressed with Cable's concessions (see 10.32am). The student union's president, Aaron Porter, says:

It doesn't change the overall direction of travel here and, if anything, these are an admission from the government that what they are trying to pursue is something that politicians and the general public at large are not comfortable with.

11.01am: I've been chatting to Dr Laleh Khalili, senior lecturer in Middle Eastern politics at Soas. She's taken time out from her formal duties to enlighten the masses on the steps of the British Museum in London, part of the day's "teach out" (see 10.14am)

10.32am: Prick up your ears and listen carefully. That distant noise you can hear from Westminister is the sound of ministers scrabbling furiously to make sure the tuition fees bill gets through the Commons. Vince Cable has just announced some new (if failrly minor) concessions, clearly aimed at wavering MPs.



Education corresondent Jessica Shepherd has this:

Jessica Shepherd Photograph: Anna Gordon

The salary threshold at which graduates start paying back the cost of their degrees is to rise every year, the government said today.

At the moment, graduates begin to pay back the money loaned to them for their degrees when they start earning £15,000. The government plans to raise this to £21,000 as part of a package of changes that would see university fees go up to a maximum of £9,000 a year from the current £3,225.

Vince Cable said the new £21,000 threshold will rise annually, rather than every five years, as had been planned. The £15,000 earnings threshold that currently applies will go up every year in line with inflation from 2012, Cable added.

Part-time undergraduates will be eligible to qualify for full loan assistance to cover the cost of their tuition if they are studying for 25% of the time required for a full-time course, rather than the 33% that had previously been planned.

Cable said: "These reforms will introduce a significantly fairer and more progressive new system in which no eligible student has to pay upfront fees. There is a better deal for students while they are studying and a fairer system of repayments for those who have completed their studies and are realising the benefits of a university education. When we announced the reforms last month, we said we would welcome further discussion about the proposals. We have been listening to concerns from universities, students, parents and parliament; and in light of those discussions, I am today announcing further enhancements to the package."

10.24am: As I was saying: not a good time to be a Lib Dem MP. Sky News has some fascinating footage of one of their TV crews pursuing Sarah Teather, the junior education minister. Why, they ask, are you supporting the high tuition fees when you used your maiden speech in the Commons to oppose such charges? Her response: "Go away."

Two things occur to me watching it. Firstly, it doesn't seem long ago that the Liberal Democrats complained they never got their share of media attention. Secondly – and I apologise in advance – for the Commons' shortest MP she can't half walk quickly when the mood takes her.

10.14am: The Guardian's regular protest live-blogger, Adam Gabbatt, has just turned up in the office dressed snugly for a day out on the streets. He's wearing a thermal vest and long johns - what a sensible boy.

Anyhow, he came in clutching a SOAS leaflet about today's "teach out", a series of public lectures around London. The biggest is planned for Euston station at 5pm.

10.07am: The next few days are going to be exceedingly tricky if you're a Lib Dem MP. Among yet more protests planned today are marches on the constituency offices of party deputy leader Simon Hughes (in Bermondesy, south London) and Lynne Featherstone (Hornsey & Wood Green, north London).

Meanwhile, Twitter is ablaze with the news that their boss, Nick Clegg, will be braving a BBC Radio 5 Live phone in from 11am. You can only presume it will be broadcast with a delay. Otherwise, Monday's Hunt-gate incident will surely seem tame by comparison.

9.57am: Below the line, as the unsightly phrase goes, Hamewella has pointed out that today's protests spread beyond England:

There's a big demonstration in Edinburgh, marching down to the parliament, at midday today. We've got coaches coming through from Glasgow (if they can get here...)

9.50am: The Guardian's indefatigable Steven Morris emails in with an update on yet another occupation:

Steven Morris byline picture Photograph: Guardian

It's becoming hard to avoid student sit-ins. At Bath University campus on other business this morning I followed a trail of home-made notices calling on Lib Dem local MP Dan Foster to stand by his pre-election pledge to scrap tuition fees.

The trail ended outside the vice chancellor's office where a hardy group of students spent the night. They are planning to stay there until tomorrow's vote. Being sustained by cups of coffee and tins of chocolates. A member of staff asks them to remove notices stuck to the "expensive" office doors with sticky tape. They say they'll pay if the notice does damage the doors.

This a polite kind of demonstration.

9.40am: An email reminds me that Manchester University has also seen a week-and-a-half long occupation of a lecture theatre. Sorry for forgetting you. Action planned today includes a visit to a lecture given by an academic arrested at last week's march, to give him a supportive cheer. There's also suggestions of a carol singing visit to some local Lib Dems. "Obviously, the carols may not have their traditional lyrics," I'm told.

Later note: the Manchester students have tweeted to say the occupation is actually 15 days long now.

9.28am: Perhaps unhelpfully, London's Metropolitan Police have already raised the prospect of violence during this weeks protests in the capital. Some people were, warned Commander Bob Broadhurst, turning up jiust for a bit of trouble:

We have seen groups of youths descending on the last few student protests as the day progresses, purely with the aim of using the event as a venue for violence and to attack police. It has been obvious that these particular elements are not genuine protesters. They have no intention of protesting about cuts to tuition fees or any other issue. They have turned up purely to take part in violence and disorder.

Jenny Jones, a Green member of the London Assembly who has previously expressed worries about Met police tactics, is not impressed:

9.25am: A few more details about what's being planned today, according to the NUS – as well as the usual marches and protests, students in Bournemouth are planning a "mass Christmas card and letter writing session". I'm guessing a few Lib Dem MPs might be the recipients. Meanwhile, those at London's Kings College are holding an intriguing-sounding "animal fancy dress tube petition gathering". I'm guessing it's students dressed as animals rather than this sort of thing.

It's also worth recalling that a few long-running occupations are still taking place. Noam Chomsky's favourite London students, those at UCL, are still fighting off the court injunctions to remain in place. A group at Leeds University are still occupying a lecture theatre, although univesity bosses gave them a deadline of 8am to get out.

9.10am: If the government – and particularly its Liberal Democrats members – hoped the wave of student protests over higher tuition fees and wider education cuts would fizzle out the moment the weather turned a bit parky they've had a rude surprise. Today sees the fourth day of national student protests – marches, walk-outs, sit-ins, even hopefully a bunch of people dressed up in animal costumes.

It's also the first of two planned days of action ahead of tomorrow's eagerly-anticipated House of Commons vote on proposals to charge up to £9,000 a year for tuition fees. Then, the focus will be in London, with a planned rally from 1pm to 3pm.

But today it's nationwide, or rather England-wide. The National Union of Students, which admittedly has been somewhat behind the curve in planning previous protests, is predicting action in (deep breath): Birmingham, Bournemouth, Bristol, Cheltenham, Coventry, Exeter, London, Plymouth, Sheffield, Staffordshire, Wolverhampton, Worcester and Warwick.

This is, of course, far too much for one live blogger to keep up with, especially as there's bound to me more going on. So if you're out there and protesting, a/ wrap up warm and b/ let me know what's going on. My email and Twitter details are at the top of the page.

If you've got pictures, tweet them to @gspix and our lovely picture desk will hopefully (I've not asked them yet) compile a gallery later in the day.