Rallying call

(Photograph) - Protests by students against tuition fees held in 14 British towns last weekend are only the start of a campaign to keep higher education free, their leaders have warned. The student movement is split by calls for theNational Union of Students to fight not only fees but abolition of maintenance grants as well. A week of action is planned for December.

Meanwhile the Campaign for Free Education willgo ahead with a national demonstration in London on November 26 against fees and the abolition of grants. And 14 student unions have now called for an emergency conference to discussa motion of no confidence in NUS president, Douglas Trainer, for his handling of the campaign. Bob Dalrymple, president of Edinburgh University students union, said: "The NUS is caughtin the headlights - it opposes fees, but can't make a coherent case against them because it is already in favour of a massive loans system."

Blunkett launches fees offensive, page 52