On Wednesday 10 February the RCG participated in a speak-out called by Students Not Consumers (SNC). The event had a strong anti-capitalist and anti-imperialist message, and speakers made clear that free and equal access to education is a human right. Speakers rejected the cost of the capitalist crisis being forced onto the working class, expressed within Britain in part through the rising costs and deteriorating standards of education and housing that have intensified under successive Labour and Tory governments. A continual thread throughout speeches was that education in Britain must not be subsidised by imperialist looting and plundering of so-called underdeveloped countries around the world.
Comparisons to socialist Cuba were made, with speakers pointing out that despite centuries of imperialist exploitation and being kept purposefully underdeveloped; despite suffering under the crippling US blockade for over 60 years, causing average losses of $12 million every single day; despite being a materially poor island in the Caribbean Cuba provides free education for its citizens, as well as for thousands of people from disadvantaged communities all over the world through its Latin American School of Medicine. Cuba was highlighted as standing to show that if there is the political will, as there is under socialism, then resources will be allocated to provide for the population’s needs.
After speeches, the group led chants on a megaphone while marching through Lower Marsh, Waterloo, to Leake Street where SNC had painted a mural outlining their demands: ‘Scrap the fees! Scrap the rent! Scrap the debt! Fight for the future!’. Students Not Consumers are clear that these demands can only be met through the destruction of the capitalist system, which will require an organised street-based movement. SNC stands in solidarity with current student rent strikes and campaigns.
SNC also unveiled a new banner outside Parliament, followed by immediate harassment from the police.
Students Not Consumers is open not just to university students, but to those in other forms of education and to the entire working class. The demands matter to all of us because they are not just asking for tuition and rent refunds or other concessions, but for vital rights, like education and housing, for us all. The group meets every Tuesday at 7pm – find further details on getting involved on their social media: @StudentsNotConsumers
