Students take discontent over tuition fee rises to Archbishops

Students have presented a petition to the Archbishops of Canterbury and York asking them to use their position in the House of Lords and as Church leaders to oppose increases to university tuition fees and cuts to higher education funding.

The action was organised by members of the Student Christian Movement (SCM) during a visit by the Archbishops to the university on Tuesday.

The students sang songs and held placards reading ‘Blessed are the poor?’ and ‘Be in debt to no one (Romans 13:8)’.

Aileen Few, Chaplaincy Assistant at St Peter’s House, said cuts to higher education funding would discourage poorer people from going to university.

"This is a social justice issue and we want to show the Archbishops that young Christians care about it and want them to speak out against these cuts," she said.

The Archbishop of Canterbury spent some time talking to the students and listening to their concerns, although neither he nor the Archbishop of York responded directly to the call of the petition.

SCM said it was awaiting a response to their concerns from the Archbishops’ offices.

The Government's decision to allow universities to charge students up to £9,000 a year triggered mass protests and sit-ins across the country last year. Imperial College London and Exeter University have both confirmed they are to charge the top rate, with Cambridge and Oxford expected to follow suit.

William Hesson, a student at Manchester University, said: “The Archbishops sit in the House of Lords. They have a chance to make their voices heard on a very public stage. Like the prophets of the Old Testament, is it not right that our spiritual leaders should speak out?”

The lobby was supported by the national Student Christian Movement, who have been outspoken in their opposition to the rise in tuition fees and cuts to the educational maintenance allowance.