Students come together for demo

Hundreds of students from Leeds are set to join forces for a march in London in a bid to voice their concerns about austerity measures.

Students from Leeds’s three universities are supporting the demonstration, which is organised by the National Union of Students (NUS) in response to rising tuition fees and youth unemployment.

Undergraduates from Leeds University, Leeds Trinity University College and Leeds Metropolitan University will make their voices heard at the rally tomorrow.

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Students at Leeds University have staged a series of pre-demonstrations at their campus ahead of the demonstration, which is the first of its kind since students protested in the capital two years ago.

Anthony Haddley, union affairs officer at Leeds University Union, said: “This is the first demonstration of this sort since 2010.

“Since then we have seen the scrapping of EMA, youth unemployment has raised significantly, university fees have trebled and 30,000 fewer students have had access to university this year.”

The pre-demonstrations included students littering mortar boards with footprints on them around Leeds University.

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They claim that the move shows that graduates are being walked all over.

They also set up a bed in front of the steps of the Parkinson building to ask students whether they wanted something to get out of bed for.

Anthony Haddley added: “The pre-demo events this month have been perfect opportunities for students to have their say about the issues which matter to them most.

“On demo day we aim to make the Leeds voice the loudest on the streets of London.”

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Organisers are expecting 10,000 people from across the country to attend the march, which will also focus on the hardships faced by students during austerity.

The 2010 protests led to confrontations outside parliament.

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