To John Pilger.
I am a huge fan of yours and a great supporter of what the students are fighting for (I am an OU student myself). But one has to be very honest, I don't get the impression that everyone is behind the students, in fact, a significent number of people actually aren't.

If the British judiciary adopted Singapore sentencing the student riots would end very soon.
Why should British tax payers pay for this unruly mob to be educated?

Why should the British Tax Payer have shored up the banks?

I'm not sure the students are fighting for the overthrow of the capitalist system. They're angry at companies like Vodafone dodging tax, at being forced to pay for their education by a generation who were happy to have their own education paid for by others, and being betrayed by a party that took oath not to do what they are now doing, and angry at the poor having to pay the debts of the rich.

It might be the start of a new political movement, but it might not. I think I'll let the students decide what they are for themselves rather than invest them with a politics they might not want.

VIVA the REaL revolution

Sod the old fashioned left. there is communes to be made. Old fuddy duddies the lot of them

FIGHT ON YOU STUDENTS OF THE FRONTLINE, VANGUARD OF LIBERTY A CHANGE IS COMEING AS LIKE HAS NOT BEEN SEEN IN A CENTURY, LONG LIVE THE REVOLUTION LONG LIVE FREEDOM DEATH TO CAPITALIST SOCIETY AND ITS CORRUPTING SOUL.

This is only the beginning.

Let us assure you of that.

Great message to the courageous UK students from outstanding expatriate Australian journalist John Pilger.

The UK students have hit upon a winning strategy to topple the Murdochracy farce in the UK and elsewhere, notably Apartheid Aiustralia and neocon-dominated America. Progressive change is most likely to come from Labour in the UK, Labor in Apartheid Australia and the Demcocrats in America. Presently it matters little which major party governs in these neocon Lobbyocracies.

The only hope is for progressive people to withhold support from the
neocon, "perverted left" major party until it adopts requisite action for peace, social equity and climate change action. If that means neocon Coalition Governments in the UK and Apartheid Australia or more of the awful Republicans in the US then so be it - the current neocon major party alternatives are almost as bad.

In the UK decent people who want peace, social equity and requisite serious action on climate change should do their best to keep cowardly, unprincipled, warmongering, neocon Labour from office until it returns to its traditional values. The worsening climate emergency means that we are rapidly running out of time - 10 billion people are predicted to die this century due to unaddressed man-made global warming (see Climate Genocide: https://sites.google.com/site/climategenocide/).

The reason why Pilger is puerile is because he believes his own PR and demands everyone else does so. Lackeys duly oblige, The antidote is liberal democracy where everyone has the right to agree/disagree, to share opportunity (and sometimes pain) and benefit from progress.This does not define any one group as correct. It does assert diversity is protection against dictatorship, Under the banner "Direct Action" we are not offered freedom, but the power of minorities to disrupt, destroy and denigrate. Their targets are not in truth villainised because of their adjectives, we are if fooled into believing their words. "craven.. clockwork..in a vice..."; note these cannot be evaluated they are abstract words used as propaganda. Extreme words used by extremists in the service of extreme views, persuasion by the seduction of unity and belonging. The oldest trick of manipulators is to remove all the underpinning of normal decent behaviour so the client is ready for the appeal "become one of us". Alas you then have no voice only the extremist has that. Where have we met this before (certainly in my lifetime)? I prefer one page of the BBC to all the rantings of hoards occupying other peoples buildings, or disrupting ordinary people's lives.

"...by surprise"??

Hilarious. Does anyone really think a little civil unrest isn't part of planning for cuts?

Don't learn from history. Play this decade's Scargill. A decade of Tory government awaits.

@Hans

You are projecting "Bolshevist Vanguardism" from your blinkered world view on to Pilger's comments where it doesn't exist.

"I'd rather live one more day as a lion than ten yrs as a jellyfish"

Danny Williams

Remember the poll tax riots anybody?

I remember the 1970`s and my student marching days....I was an authentic representative of the people then....and oddly,all these years later,I still am.All power to the students.The very people who had free university education are now wanting to make you pay all your working life.They ,in contrast, will be rich enough when they leave power to pay off all their children`s Uni debts.

Just read the worlds smallest book The Wit of Mr Divine.

Oh, the agony of the Left, the exploded theory and the twentieth century genocides

@Jack and Roy

I'm guessing you forgot one of these http://02d9656.netsoljsp.com/SarcMark/modules/user/commonfiles/loadhome.do

Pilger is an enemy of the left.

Tidy, Mr Pilger.

I second it.