As my first post on here I would like to first say hello to all the fellow activists out there in Europe and America. Well done you have successfully implemented pressure on the government and leaders of your universities and begun the mobilisation of students in the name of free education, for this I congratulate you.

I am a member of a small group called the U.A.F. (Unite Against Fees) based in University of East Anglia, England but with contacts across the east of England. As you may well know the movement in the UK has been slow and underwhelming at times and non existent at others, we seek to change this and start the student movement in the UK.

The first problem however is how to fight the global rise in education fees and education cuts, we cannot hurt the universities. Yes we can occupy and make a point however they have been more then willing to ignore that point. We cannot withhold fees since the money we pay universities is not ours to begin with, niether can we destroy university property as that would alienate the general student population to our cause and discredit it widely. Therefore we must ask the question, where does the student power lie? Certainly not at the ballot box and not enough can be achieved by conventional means of protest ergo, unconventional means must be employed.

I suggest a world wide student boycott of spending in university towns and cities. This would mean a 4 day period in which nothing is bought from clubs, pubs, shops and supermarkets which have become dependant on the student population for business. The effects on the economy, even for this short period of time would be catastrophic and would illustrate how good for the economy the student population is.

We have the chance here to strike a blow at the heart of the government here and use the system against them to our own advantage. The only way we will be heard is if we all shout together!

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www.U-A-F.co.uk