Press Release: Student protest forces Lib Dem's London Conference Venue to be cancelled at eleventh hour

For Immediate Release
Friday 3rd December 2010

Students preparing to protest outside the Lib Dem London Conference on Saturday have caused the venue to cancel the booking at the eleventh hour

In just a few days, more than 1200 students had signed up via Facebook to the protest planned for tomorrow.

According to the police, as a result of the protest the venue has now said it does not want to be associated with the Liberal Democrats Conference at this time.

If the Liberal Democrats find another venue for the conference the student protest will go ahead.

Fiona Edwards, spokesperson for the Free Education Campaign, which was organising the protest said:

“The cancellation of the venue for the conference is yet another sign of the deep unpopularity of the Liberal Democrats policy on fees and is hugely embarrassing for the party.

It is not too late for them to keep the promise they made to students that they would reject higher fees.

A free market in fees is a Tory policy cooked up by the heirs of Thatcher and the Lib Dems should not go along with it."

Notes to Editor
1. The peaceful protest was organized by the Free Education Campaign and supported by a range of organizations including the NUS Black Students’ Campaign, NUS LGBT Campaign and Compass Youth.
2. It is part of ongoing student campaign that has focused on pressuring the Liberal Democrats MPs to keep their pre-election promise to vote against higher tuition fees on Thursday 9th December.
3. For all press enquiries contact Free Education Campaign Secretary Fiona Edwards on 07900922766. Email: freeeducationcampaign@gmail.com
The Free Education Campaign’s blog: http://freeeducationcampaign.blogspot.com
Twitter: @free_edcampaign