UK students with something to say...

While furious protesters hurled concrete blocks at riot police outside the walls of Westminster, this Thursday the tuition fees row finally moved from British streets, university campuses and television screens into the Houses of Parliament. It’s hard to remember an issue that has caused so much controversy and internal conflict since Tony Blair divided the nation over the Iraq war in 2003, sparking a nationwide anti-government tirade that Blair never fully recovered from.

The results of the vote this time round were sadly predictable. Despite the admirable fight put up by thousands across the country, and several senior figures among the Liberal Democrats opting to abstain, the motion scraped through – meaning that students of the future will face a crippling £6,000 to £9,000 bill for their university education.

Whether you believe the increases are an inevitable legacy of the previous government or a shocking step towards an elitist education system, one thing is clear: this issue tapped into something – it brought people off the sofa and onto the streets. In a nation where historically more people have voted in the X Factor final than the general election, it’s good to see that the traditional cloak of apathy and British politeness is starting to slip. It’s as if, over the past few months, the public has woken from a long slumber and started to shout back.

I think we’ve all had our ‘bah humbug’ moments over the last few weeks about all this rioting and protesting causing gridlock and chaos across London in particular. The grumpy old woman in me peered at press shots of students trashing police cars and muttered things about how they should get a job or put some more clothes on. Don’t they know that people can see their knickers when they jump around on top of that van? If they don’t stop soon I’m going to have to get out my fountain pen and write a strongly worded letter to the Daily Mail.

But once the old lady inside me has hobbled off to write said letter, the rest of me remains quietly proud of the British public for getting out there, refusing to stand in line, and actually showing that they care about something.

Of course, some of the demonstrators have let the side down over the last month. That massive idiot that threw a fire extinguisher out of the 20-somethingth floor of Millbank Tower because he was just so damn anti-establishment springs to mind. As do the ones who graffiti-ed things like ‘Fuck You Cameron’ on a deserted police van. But for every thug with an ASBO who saw it as an opportunity to start a fire and be on TV, there are thousands of others who are genuinely furious about a government that has broken promises, cut corners and taken away from those who don’t have much to give. And they don’t seem ready to take the results of the vote lying down.

Over the last few days, the internet has been awash with criticism, debate and questions over what this will mean for the future of the country, and indeed the government. Questions were raised on Mumsnet about the possible effects on working women – with such a huge debt to pay back, would the changes have a knock-on effect on the number of women working full time, or the number taking maternity leave? John Rentoul at the Independent pinpointed Nick Clegg’s original election promise to vote against tuition fee rises as a crucial error, and one which may have cost him his political future.

Clegg: a political future in question?

While some of the public backlash has been directed at the Prime Minister, it is Clegg who is likely to feel the aftermath of this furore most acutely. In performing what can only be described as a complete u-turn, he has all but eradicated the public trust and sense of hope that he and Cameron worked so hard to build at the dawn of the coalition. But more than this, he has lost the support and unity of his own party. In the end, 21 members of the Liberal Democrats abstained from voting, including Clegg’s deputy, Simon Hughes who publicly expressed his ‘regret’ at the party’s stance on the fees row.

The Liberal Democrats now face a tough road ahead to first present a united front to both voters and fellow MPs, and then to rebuild the damaged bond with a newly vocal public. In a carefully worded article in London’s Evening Standard, Hughes admitted that ‘the big lesson of the last few weeks for the Liberal Democrats is that the public is ready to engage and participate in our government and we must listen.’

In many ways, this is the one certainty to emerge from the chaos. We can only guess how these changes to the education system will affect future generations, and the extent to which graduates will struggle to pay back a rising mountain of debt. But what we know for sure is that the public is ready to let their feelings be known, using whatever means necessary. This may not have been quite what Cameron envisaged when he spoke of the new ‘Big Society’, but this is what he’s getting – a nation ready to stand up and be counted.

Students clash with police in demonstrations in Central London