politics

An open letter to Cameron’s undemocratic Tory government

Students, grants, education, politics, David Cameron, Tory, government, letter, Ross Darragh, Kettle Mag
Written by Ross Darragh

Firstly, Mr Cameron, can I congratulate you on your non-existent counter-arguments made during Prime Minister’s Question Time on Wednesday? When you consistently avoided answering Labour MP Paul Bloomfield’s questions about the scrapping of maintenance grants and insisted the important issue had been “fully debated and discussed” in the House of Commons, which is entirely untrue. 

Secondly, can I say what an inspiration you, George Osborne, and your entire Conservative party are to Britain’s youth. Defying democracy by sneakily attempting to pass a bill to scrap all maintenance grants through a fabricated committee of mainly Conservative MPs, without a single vote or debate in the House of Commons. The system of legislation and the passing of bills is there so such plans can be fairly scrutinsed and the people justly represented – votes and opinions from MPs whose constituencies consist mainly of already struggling working class families, have a right to vote and debate on such a major issue. 

Unnecessary stress

Do you think the half a million university students who rely on student grants will forget this? Do you think all the college students from working class families will forget the unnecessary stress you have now dumped on them whilst they are trying to make a vital decision about their future? Do you think those students coming out of university, with even higher amounts of debt and no financial support from a family and a home already on its knees from other cuts will forgive you? Of course they won’t. 

But what they will do is defy your aim to crush the working class people. Your pitiful attempts to deter the poorest students with the scrapping of the grant won’t work, and they will still attend university even more determined to succeed, with even more ambition and drive to prove you wrong. You want the class divide to increase further, but all you are doing is fueling a generation of people who will grow up to despise you, and vote you out of power. The power of education is something you cannot underestimate, and the fact you are willing to sacrifice the RIGHT to higher education for some of the country’s brightest young minds emphasises your selfish, ignorant ways. 

Fierce competition

Even students who aren’t entitled to the grant will feel the impact of its removal, and they will blame it on you. Many students get part-time jobs to support themselves at university whilst others have extra support from the grant, but once your plans come into place and this support is no longer available, the competition for part-time jobs will become even more fierce. More students will be without work and will struggle to make ends meet, which will ruin their university experience, causing them stress, anxiety and a hatred for the Conservative party. Another demographic you can add to your ever-growing list of ‘people we have screwed over’. 

What do you think? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!