Representing the Creative Arts: Student Placards

By Dane Cobain

With students of the creative arts finding their degrees under threat, the creativity and wit shown in placards at protests across the country is unsurprising. Here, we’ve compiled a list of the top twenty.

1 - Everything Is OK

A masked protester on Downing Street holds a cheerful banner as policemen stand on duty in the background. The simple sign draws most of its strength from the protester’s attire and the location of the photograph – top marks for irony. This has got to be their Facebook default.

2 - Clegg Sold Out Faster Than Muse

What can we say about this guy? He’s knocking on an invisible door and magically suspending a piece of cardboard on his head. Everybody loves a topical placard, and this might just be the king of them.

3 - First Dobby Dies, Now This?

One of two charting banners with a Harry Potter reference, the credit for this either goes to two different people or one giant with frighteningly long arms. It’s been a bad winter for elf-loving, cut-hating students of a muggle persuasion. Coming soon: a SPEW (Society for the Promotion of Elfish Welfare) march in a town near you.

4 - Smash the Cuts, Not the Windows

In reaction to the first of the student marches where protesters smashed windows of the Millbank building, a student uses her placard to preach peace and love. It’s nice to see something other than anger and violence catching the photographers’ attention.

5 - What Else Have You Lied About?

Protesters outside the Millbank building wield a crude stick-figure sex scene accusing Nick Clegg and David Cameron of… well, you know. Easily deserves its place in the list for the hand-drawn illustrations and clever use of collage.

6 - Fuck This, I'm Moving to Scotland

It may just be a piece of cardboard without a handle, but this simple little sign expresses the feeling of half of the wannabe students in the country. Bonus points for the photobomber in the bottom right corner with his ‘legalise weed’ placard.

7 - Hi Mum, I'm Still Broke

This banner takes an undeserved background spot over the heads of other protesters. Impressively for a banner that has no specific reference to the cuts or the key players in the debate, it says it all. Hopefully their mum doesn’t disown them for ruining her best bed sheet.

8 - Need Money For Beer, Pot Noodles & Fees

Jedward’s older brother makes an appearance with a dodgy quiff and a beautifully honest placard. Notice the black nail varnish? Expect to see this sign all over the underground in the hands of stubbly, alcoholic young students. You have to suffer for your arts.

9 - How The F**k Am I Meant to Afford Hogwarts Now?

The second of our two Potter placards, a cheerful mudblood that cast a sign-making spell – Placardio Creatum. But our budding young wizard loses points for failing to swear, self-censorship is frowned upon at these events – do it properly or not at all.

10 - I Ain't Gonna Work On Maggie's Farm No More

Echoing the miners’ strike of the 1980s, a young student uses Bob Dylan’s lyrics to make his statement. Particularly impressive is the hand-drawn portrait of the Iron Lady herself, plus this is one of the only home-made banners that has a handle and isn’t just a piece of cardboard with writing on it.

11 - My Back Hurts Where Nick Clegg Stabbed Me

The sentiment of thousands of students who voted Lib Dem because Nick Clegg promised to oppose a rise in tuition fees. The sad face tugs at the heartstrings, and the photograph catches a similar sign behind them – ‘Found: Lib Dem Knife in my Back’.

12 - I Only Popped Out for a Pint of Milk

A low-quality photograph of a high-quality sign – almost a cliché for a protest placard, but it never gets old. Also, if we’re not mistaken, the purple banner on the left says ‘Roehampton Staff & Students Against H.E. Cuts’. The only fault is the lack of illustrations – come on mate, a pint of milk can’t be that hard to draw.

13 - University or Drug Dealing - Your Choice

It’s Chesney from Coronation Street, standing out from the crowd with the side of a cardboard box. Another hand-drawn sign makes it in to the top twenty, even if it’s for all of the wrong reasons.

14 - We Don't Need No Edumacation... Obviously...

Pink Floyd references never need an explanation, and if you add that to the Homer Simpson-style spelling of ‘education’ and the bitter sarcasm, you can start to see the subtle genius in the simple banner. Maybe somebody should ask Roger Waters and David Gilmour what they think about the education cuts. The ‘Tory Scum’ placard gets an honourable mention – those words are echoing out across London for the first time since Thatcher was in power.

15 - I Could Have Made a Better Sign if I Had enough Money to go to University

These people know how to protest – sitting down with a cup of coffee. Somebody give this guy a fiver and send him off to Hobbycraft!

16 - Angry Sign

Nothing says ‘I’m extremely displeased with the proposed cuts’ like this. The placard takes an undeserved background to the vandalism caught in the photograph, but it loses none of its power because of it. For all we know, it could be the same placard that their parents took on the miners’ strike in the eighties.

17 - OMG, They Killed Higher Education!

The bastards! Another relevant pop culture reference, this time referring to the ever-topical South Park. What would Matt Stone and Trey Parker make of the marches? Maybe we’ll find out in the next series of South Park, which is due to air in April 2011.

18 - Do I Look Like I Am Made Out of Money!?

Impressive costume and witty slogan, which holds up until you stop and wonder whether anybody said: ‘Yes, yes you do.’ He’s almost saved by his effort and dedication, but then the dodgy punctuation distracts you. Nobody should ever be forced to read syntax like that.

19 - Clegg Pulled Our Leg

Simple but clever, complete with a diagram in case you couldn’t afford to go to university and don’t know what a leg is.

20 - This is What Happens When You Break Promises

It’s hard to be sure whether they’re threatening to leave a dead raven on Nick Clegg’s doorstep or referring to the huge crowd of protesters in the background of the photograph – either way, this sign perfectly captures the moment and should frighten politicians across the planet.

Student Protests: The Aftermath

By Dane Cobain.

With the government refusing to back down over the proposed education shake-up, many are wondering where this will end. The Demo-lition protest march on November 10^th attracted 50,000 people who lined the streets of London to chant witty slogans and carry pickets that showed the creative arts in action. Later that day, a fringe group of protestors camped outside the Tories’ Millbank building, where anarchist groups took charge of the action and the peaceful protest turned violent. We ask a cross-section of the population to have their say on both the education cuts and the protests that the cuts have inspired.

Donna Woodings, a 47-year old nurse, is the mother of a third year university student. About the increases, she says ‘I think it’s terrible. It seems to me that only children from more privileged backgrounds will be able to afford to go [to university].’

Nick Reffin: 'Ultimately the cuts are not going to benefit the country as people will receive a lower quality of education.'

Her concern is shared by parents and children from the working class, creating the kind of class divide that we haven’t seen since the days of Thatcher. The student protests and the subsequent violence have already prompted comparisons with the coal strikes of the eighties, with the Guardian remarking that ‘the ancient cry of “Tory Scum” once again echoed out.’ Donna’s views seem to reinforce this feeling of a divide – ‘I’m so glad that my son had chance to go now,’ she says. ‘In a few years’ time, we would not have been able to afford the costs.’

Alex Connor, a student at Sheffield Hallam, agrees. ‘I have to pay my own tuition fees,’ he tells us. ‘Which is a real struggle, but is just about possible at the moment.’ When pressed about the proposed cuts, he says. ‘I think this is a blow to many young people. This will mean a lot of university places and courses being lost. Equipment and good quality teaching will also be lost, with universities struggling to keep their services at a state-of-the-art level.’

And it’s not just the youngsters that will be affected – Natalia Harrison, a Classical Civilisation student, is ‘originally from a working class family in Sheffield.’ She says she’s ‘only the second person in [her] family to be able to go to university, the first being [her] mum who graduated only two years ago.’

Nick Reffin, a Music Technology student at Staffordshire University, says ‘ultimately the cuts are not going to benefit the country as people will receive a lower quality of education.’ His view is shared by countless others, who worry that even if they can afford to go to university, the funding cuts and sharp decline in numbers could lead to a lower standard of teaching. Not that the prospect of a fee increase has escaped his mind – ‘I find myself questioning whether or not I’ll be able to afford my final year,’ he admits.

Jo Brown is studying for a Masters in law at Northumbria University. She works weekends to pay for her degree and says that ‘other than that, my time is generally spent working for my seminars.’ She believes that the government ‘[doesn’t] realise the consequences of what they’re doing’. According to Jo, ‘a cut in education funding means poorer education, which means no-one to do the jobs of the future.’ She says, ‘I feel these cuts could come from better places – sell off public bus services, reign in expense claims and budget for civil servants and MPs.’

Most agree that increased fees would put them off higher education. Ms. Brown said, ‘if I’d known about the plans to increase fees before I’d gone to university, I would’ve seriously reconsidered going.’ Alex Connor agrees – ‘increased fees would end my aspirations of gaining a degree as I have to pay my own fees. I feel young people finishing college may be put off attending university. This is a real step back for this country, effectively making further education available only to the bourgeoisie.’

It affects the parents, too. Donna says that the education cuts would put her and her son off higher education. ‘Although my son has a loan,’ she says. ‘I still need to help with his accommodation and food costs, and I certainly would not be able to pay out more.’ She goes on to reflect the worry of many members of the current generation – ‘It’s really worrying that all these young people with masses of potential will not be able to realise their dream,’ she said.

Natalia says ‘the funding cuts will not be in operation until 2012 at the earliest, so they shouldn’t affect me.’ However, her 17-year-old sister is in trouble – ‘she will probably no longer be able to go to university unless student loans rise to match the hike in fees.’ For Natalia, even if the loans did rise, she would ‘probably decide to forego university and be debt-free.’ The cost of the education cuts is so great that ‘whether the loans rise or not, [she] would seriously consider going straight in to work and trying to climb the ladder that way, rather than graduating with a huge amount of debt.’

Alex Connor: 'This is a real step back for this country, effectively making further education available only to the bourgeoisie.'

With this in mind, we asked the same group of people for their opinion on the Demo-lition protest march, which took place on the streets of London on November 10^th. The march started peacefully until a fringe group of protestors staged a vigil outside the Millbank building, chanting anti-Tory slogans and burning pickets to stave off the winter cold.

Things turned ugly when, led by anarchist groups, some protesters stormed the building and began to wreak havoc, smashing windows and spraying graffiti on the walls of the ground-floor lobby. Many tabloid newspapers were quick to condemn all students as mindless hooligans, with only the broadsheets reporting the facts. In Michael White’s story for the Guardian, he said ‘few took part, but many cheered. “Some twats have just decided to spoil it for the rest of us,” cried Dan Hamilton, a mature student from Leicester. Only when the vanguard had reached the roof and started throwing things (“that’s a fire extinguisher, completely out of order”) did the Met’s tactical support group appear in sufficient numbers to get a grip.’

The throwing of the fire extinguisher, almost as symbolic as the breaking of the Millbank windows, has been hailed as proof that students are wild and dangerous. Yet Dan Hamilton’s comments represent the feeling of most – the Guardian’s website features a video of the falling fire extinguisher which captures the reaction of the protesters. First they scream in horror, then they boo, then they begin to chant – ‘Stop throwing shit, stop throwing shit.’

So how did our interviewees react to the marches? Donna says that she ‘definitely supported the march but [is] totally against the violence by the small minority.’ She adds that it’s unfortunate that ‘this hit the news rather than the thousands of students who took to the streets of London to protest peacefully.’ Alex agrees – ‘I feel the march had some worth,’ he says. ‘The proposed 300 per cent rise in fees is excessive and will affect the majority of young people. The riot was something I did not agree with, the government is going to spend thousands on repairs and pass on the cost to the public. A community will lose a new playground, for example.’

Jo Brown and Nick Reffin were more relaxed about both the march and the violence. Jo didn’t attend the march, but she wanted to – ‘I support the ideas from the comfort of my university bedroom,’ she tells us. Nick says he was ‘very much in support of the protest as students need to act if anything is to change. However, the riot hasn’t helped anything.’

Natalia Harrison: 'Nobody in government can ignore 50,000 people taking to the streets at one time.'

Natalia was present at the Demo-lition march and the subsequent riot. She believes that the protest caused enough disruption to force people to take notice – ’50,000 people turned up,’ she says. ‘Which was much more than anticipated. Nobody in government can ignore 50,000 people taking to the streets at one time and therefore I hope we managed to get ourselves noticed.’

Perhaps we can expect to see our interviewees on the streets again in the near future – various student groups are organising new campaigns to keep the pressure on the government. With the rich array of flags, banners and placards on the last marches, we asked our interviewees how they’d express themselves.

‘Tough question,’ says Natalia. She goes with ‘Cutting education funding is cutting Britain’s future’. Alex chooses ‘whopper fees, would you like fries with that?’ and Nick experiments with cynicism – ‘Democracy: Suffering you can vote for’. Jo’s message is the simplest and most aggressive – ‘fuck you’. She says that ‘those who were educated for such a small amount of money in comparison to today’s fees should realise the importance and value of education.

London Student Walkout and Protest: 24/11/10

Anticuts.org are promoting a student walkout and protest on Wednesday 24th November.

According to their site, walkouts will begin at 10:30 AM, with the ‘Carnival of Resistance’ procession from Malet St., Ulu to Trafalgar Square.

At noon, students from across London will assemble at Trafalgar Square, marching at 1 PM from Horse Guards Avenue to Parliament.

There will also be a mass protest at Downing Street at 5:30 PM to link student action with general trade union protests.

View the flyer here.

‘Defend The Right to Protest’ Petition Call

The nice people over at teneleventen have started a petition and are appealing for signatories.

The petition, which you can view here, defends the Millbank protesters and accuses the mainstream media of orchestrating a ‘witch-hunt’.

At the time of publication, over 150 people had contributed their signature.

The movement will also host a public meeting on Tuesday 23rd November at 7:30 PM, at the Friends Meeting House near Euston. Speakers include John McDonnell (Labour MP) and some of the arrested student protesters.

Click here to see a flyer for the event.

NoIfsNoButs’ Greg Nash in The Guardian

Gregory Normannash, contributor to NoIfsNoButs, was quoted in The Guardian.

In Francis Beckett’s story on Wednesday 10th November, Greg said ‘We will be the people who are going to start businesses, the people the economy will come to depend on.’

Always controversial, he also told the reporter that ‘Politicians will say anything to get power.’

You can read the full story here.

Protesters Boo Falling Fire Extinguisher

A police leader said that the protester who threw a fire extinguisher from the roof of the Millbank building should be charged with attempted murder.

But at least The Guardian was kind enough to mention the chants of ‘stop throwing shit’ and the angry booing that followed. It’s nice of them not to copy the mainstream media and portray us all as violent, mindless thugs.

You can read the full story here.

Millbank

By Dane Cobain

Tory glass

bricked in to right-wing dust,

glittered symbol of broken dreams,

no future.

It’s like Thatcher’s bad botox

respawned as Etonian spaz –

shoudda made iron windows.

Ashen-faced riot cops

smashing glass back towards us,

ducked red death from above.

Stop throwing shit

before someone gets killed –

smell anger in the air from all ‘round,

and fire that won’t go out

‘til Cameron cuts costs

and gets the fuck out of office.

Why so surprised, David?

You cause a protest,

you cause a riot –

history teaches,

that’s why you ran to China

and left Clegg to clean the graffiti.

Now Millbank is dead,

we’re all losers –

it’s like they say,

never trust a Tory.

Politicians think they’re wolves,

but these lambs are well-armed

and in a bad fucking mood.