The March in Glasgow
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FOit.A · ·BALANCED University of Edinburgh,-Old College South Bridge, Edinburgh 'EHB 9YL vmw Tal: 031-6671011 ext4308 18 November-16 December GET .ALBERT IRVIN Paintings 1959-1989 ~*;£~-- Tues-Sat 10 am-5 pm Admission Free Subsidised by the Scottish Arts Council DAILY G~as~ow Herald _ of the Year y 30rd november 1 RUGBY BACK TO THE. 1st XV FUTUREII s:enttpacking problems of iii Peffenrtill time~ travel~ ·>... page8 .page 1 • I • arc STUDENTS from all over Park just after 2 pm, and con tinued to do so for nearly an hour, the United Kingdom assem with the rally properly beginning bled in Qlasgow on Tuesday around 2.15 pm. to take part in what was prob Three common themes were ably the biggest ever student addressed by the ten public demonstration on the British figures at the rally in the Park: mainland. these were the discriminatory nature of student loans; the com The march organised by the mitment by all to student grants, National Union of Students and the solidarity of support given against the Government's prop by them to students. osed introduction of top-up loans, The first four speakers addres was deemed by Strathclyde Police ·sed the rally from the semi-circu to have attracted around 20,00 lar, covered platform as students people. still marched in through the gates. Certainly, spirits were high All four- Mike Watson , Labour despite the cold and damp dismal MP for Glasgow Central ; Archy weather. It is likely this was a fac Kirkwood, Liberal Demcorat tor in preventing a larger turn MP; Diana Warwick, . General out. Secretary of A UT and Mike Rus-" Strathclyde police told Student sell of the SNP Executive- simi that they had made provision for larly displayed thei~ co.mmitment controlling such a large number, by urging students to "keep up the but that procedure meant they . fight". could not release figures of the Maeve Sherlock, President of exact poiice presence, nor the cost NUS (UK), echoed this last point, involved in the operation. adding that students must show However, specualtion "banks that they should look after abounded at the ·31fz-hour long student interests", by largely demonstration that in fact all withdrawing from the loans police leave in Strathclyde had scheme. been cancelled. Campbell Christie, General The marchers all assembled Secretary of the Scottish Trades next to Glasgow Green from . Photo by Toby Scott Union Congress (STUC), illus 11.30 am onwards, being allo trated the particular Scottish cated a position in the line-up gruntled students that it was a by tunity to host one for themselves. dimension of the Government's according to regions. Students police law on demonstrations that Glasgow was·, as reported in last l . Ewen Ferguson "attack" on higher and further from universities, colleges and had to be obeyed. But, soon after, and week's Student, also relevent education. He said it was "an issue because the new -Student Loans polytechnics - from Exeter to another steward explained that Conal Urqhart for the whole of the nation," with Inverness to Ulster - all waited Strathclyde Regional Council had Scheme would be administered student loans ultimately dis patiently on several red-gravel requested this in advance, for the police by lack of numbers. from there. criminating against Britain's football pitches until the march sake of the passage of emergency Discontent over the use of All along the route the protes- effort to compete "internationally began at around 12.20 pm. vehicles. Glasgow for the UK demonstra- tors received _ the attention of with the French, the Germans and Those invited speakers from As a result of the confusion, tion, and the route itself, was rife. Strathclyde Police's new toy- a others." political parties and trade unions an_d, it must be said, police hidr Maeve Sherlock, the president of helicopter which swooped on On the point of the loans office headed the procession behind a ance, the march was largely rag NUS told Student that Glasgow marchers when~ver disruption being situated in Glasgow, and local pipe band; they were to ged and strung.out: The police, was "not ideal and, admittedly, occurred. The, police refused to providing 240 jobs, Mr Christie address the rally individually although quickly allowing the that the Metropolitan Police had comment on whether film declared: '.'Stuff the loans office When all the students had march to continue as one long categorically vetoed the use of - cameras-has been in use. -we don't need it. " gathered at nearby Queens Park. snake, stopped parts of it regu London for such a man:h. The Royal Bank of Scotland, in Other pertiment speeches came, With the first few thosuand larly . · The route, which avoided the Victoria Road, closed early on the -from Brian Downie and Jim Mar coming out of the Green, the Trouble was only narrowly centre of Glasgow, was the only day of the march, probably tin, heads of lecturers and P?l!ce surprisingly attempted to averted as a group of London stu- one the police would accept after because it was the focus of abuse, teachers' unions repsectively. dtvtde the march into blocks of -dents attempted to head for the four weeks of negotiation. By this being one of the banks agreeing to Sarah Adams, NUS Welfare Sab 2000. This was frustrated though city centre. Students chanting time the march was impossible to adminsiter student loans. lts rival, batical, ended the rally addresses by angry marchers who refused to "Cross the road, join the fight , cancel. Maeve Sherlock ·also · the Bank of Scotland, remained by concentrating on the point that continue until the latter groups education is right", and "there's added "that for years Scottish stu- open; it so far refraining from students can only win if they are has caught up. more of us than them," was only dents had travelled to London for joining the scheme. united. "Next time," she said, "we Atfirst, NUS stewards told dis- prevented from confronting the demos", and deserved the oppos- Students poured into Queens need more students. " student 2 thursday, november 30, 1989 news • AGM flops tiredly as several motions are ignored ~UDGET been imprisoned "for conspiracy this move as an attack on a woman's basic civil right to con The first motion on EUSA's 1 to cause an explosion". Speaking agenda on Monday- night was the of the hypocrisy of. those who sup trol her own body and a woman's Budget for 1989/90: but when the ported Mandela, he put forward "fundamental right to choose". meeting began it was inquorate Terr~ Waite as a "m?re worthy" Opposition speakers, criticising and it was proposed that the c~?dida_te, on the b~s~~ he was not the 1967 Abortion Act, concen Budget shQuld not be discussed .. a convicted terr?~Ist . trated on arguing that babies born Some dissenters in the audience Further oppositiOn was raised at 24 weeks did have a child's pointed out that nobody knew by a Com~ittee of Manage~ent rights - "they are viable at that what they were voting for anyway., representative who asked: Has age", said one speaker. while others made the particular the fa~t th~t Ne_lson_ Man~la ever The debate could have con point that both· the Annual been m pnson mspired anyone to tinued for some time, as it has Report and the Budget had been go to prison?" done in the past, with some stu available for three weeks. The shouts of "Yes" that dents declaring from the audience The Budget was eventually pas- 1 drowned out this speake~'s orat- for it to be the most critical of the . sed because there was no direct ory only served to confirm the evening. However, it was ruled by negative, or opposition, to its m~jo~ity ?f assembled students' AGM chairman Jimmy Quinn that pressure of time necessitated complexity. However, concerned I faith m this pro~osal. students did point out that there t,Io~ever, with a two-thirds a vote: 231 voted for, 39 against, was no clarity in any part of the maJ?nty needed to carry the and 29 abstentions. The motion, Budget concerning the proposed ~otwn, and a vote of 300 to make the seventh of the night, was pas financial cost of free bus. travel for It quorate, only 262 voted for, 16 sed ·inquorately. women students next term. • against and 35 abstained. As a result the motion was passed inquorate, to be brought before STUDENT LOANS CONSTITUTIONAL forthcoming General Meetings by This motion, numbered 3 in the. AMENDMENT the SRC until it succeeds as pol- evening's agenda, was subject to Green one, was intended to com The second motion to the AGM icy· an amendment by members of the The motion, numbered 12 on was on the rather technical sub- • Socialist Workers, requesting a mit EUSA to support any cam the agenda paper, was passed paign aimed at the abolition of ject f constitutional amendments. more hardline policy on demonst inquorately. warrant sales and to organise a Indeed, the wording was so ver- VEGETARIANNEGAN rations and occupations of Uni bose that an SRC member was MOTION versity buildings. However, those campaign of poll tax non-payment within the University. It was car LESBIAN/GAY MOTION called to th~ stage to explain The fourth to be debated, it who argued it would lose friends Earlier on Jirnmy Quinn had ried inquorately; again another exactly ~hat It meant. received no direct negative, but at the University won the day and ran through the remammg .