Sussex University is a disgrace

Let me quickly qualify that.

The people who work at Sussex University are not a disgrace (a few senior managers excepted).

The students who study at Sussex University are not a disgrace.

In particular, the students who have staged a long running occupation against privatisation are not only not a disgrace, they are a fine example to us all.

It is, however, disgraceful that the overpaid bureaucrats who squat above the worthwhile endeavour of the students and staff teaching and studying in the Sussex countryside opposite the Amex Stadium have spent public money litigating to evict the occupiers (http://www.badgeronline.co.uk/2013/03/high-court-eviction/).

As a taxpayer and Brightonian I want to say that this abusive use of public money to silence legitimate dissent is not done in my name.

As a local lad I want to say that the senior managers of Sussex University who wasted our money on this reactionary frolic deserve forever to be unwelcome in our town. I suggest they go and live somewhere where their reactionary views will be accepted.

The Eighteenth Century suggests itself.

As a socialist and a trade unionist I want to say that the students who have carried out the occupation are an inspiration - and that every trade unionist who has supported them can be proud (whilst others should feel otherwise).

As a Labour Party member I want to record that local Labour Party members supported the occupation - and I want to demand that Labour's leadership pledges to reverse privatisation when we win the next General Election.

The plague of privatisation of our public services is striking us down throughout the public sector. The exemplary resistance of the Sussex students stands as a beacon of resistance for which we should all be grateful.

The senior management of Sussex University may be a disgrace - but some of their students are a great and positive example. I know that the Sussex occupation has already provided many labour movement activists with inspiration.

All true trade unionists will have been on the side of the occupiers. Others may have done otherwise.

So, maybe Sussex University is not a disgrace. Perhaps it is just that there are some disgraceful people in senior positions.

Sent using BlackBerry® from Orange