International Socialism 129 Winter 2010 A New Movement - The Student Revolt and the Crisis

Summary

We enter 2011 in a situation marked by both continuity and—in Britain, at least—dramatic discontinuity. The element of continuity is represented, of course, by the global economic and financial crisis. Change comes in the form of the sudden emergence of the first real social movement in Britain for many years, the protests by university and school students against the near-trebling of tuition fees. The night a House of Commons surrounded by students fighting riot police voted for the increase, a visibly shaken Nick Robinson, BBC Political Editor, said: “The government may have won a vote, but they may have lost the argument, and lost control of the streets.” Continuity first: the crisis is now well into its fourth year, but shows no signs of ending. This is not because there is no economic growth. The November survey of purchasing managers suggests manufacturing output is rising in Germany, France, Britain, China, and India. But in its latest World Economic Outlook, published in October 2010, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) was gloomy: