“We are destroying the building just like they are destroying our chances of affording higher education,” said a demonstrating student at London’s City University.

Almost one month ago, demonstrators damaged the foyer of the British Conservative Party’s headquarters during a protest against plans to raise the cost of studying at a university to 9,000 pounds (approx. $14,000) a year — three times the current rate of 3,000 pounds.  On December 9, 2010, British lawmakers approved the plan amidst larger and more violent protests.  The tuition vote is the result of an effort to reduce Britain’s budget deficit.  The British government agreed to modify its plan by raising the income level at which university graduates must start repaying student loans and by increasing the number of part-time students eligible for loans.  But students say the concessions are minimal in that higher education is now unattainable for many and those who do obtain loans will now be plagued by debt as graduates.  In comparison, the Welsh government pledged to subsidize higher fees for any student from Wales enrolled at an English university. In Scotland, student fees are 1,820 pounds per year and Northern Ireland’s fees are capped at 3,290 pounds a year.

credit: AP Photo/Sang Tan; London, Wednesday Nov. 10, 2010

:: AP press reports by AP writers GILLIAN SMITH and JILL LAWLESS reporting from London on Nov. 10, 2010 and Dec. 9, 2010.