King’s students scream ‘fuck off’ at Osborne

Tories abandon plans to sleep in student beds after their visit to Cambridge is met with fury.

build a bonfire cambridge defend education david willetts George Osborne Jack McConnel King's College police in cambridge special branch student accomodation student protest Wolfgang Schäuble

Ministers including George Osborne, David Willetts and Danny Alexander were in King’s College on Thursday, intending to sleep in student beds.

But as he lounged in King’s cafe, furious protesters greeted Osborne with shouts of “fuck off!”

As ministers continued their occupation of the college, students chanted, “Build a bonfire, build a bonfire, put the Tories on the top! Put the Lib Dems in the middle and we’ll burn the fucking lot!”

In an exclusive video interview with The Tab, Mr Osborne revealed that it was “very good to be in Cambridge.”

When asked if he had a message for UK students, he replied “No no, I’m going to go and see the German Finance Minister.”

When a valiant Tab journalist asked Mr Osborne about his views on raising university tuition fees, he was threatened by a bodyguard with arrest for “breaching the peace”.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9dvFBXt9–s

The ministers were in Cambridge to attend a Anglo-German conference with the German Finance Minister, Wolfgang Schäuble.

Cambridge Defend Education later penned in the German diplomatic cars carrying the Finance Minister and other diplomats. They shouted, “Wolfgang, get out, we know what you’re all about!”

Officers from Scotland Yard were overheard saying that they should ask the German bodyguards to “beat up the students” because they could claim diplomatic immunity.

King’s First Bursar, Dr Keith Carne, who is responsible for conference arrangements, told The Tab that he would be “surprised” if this were the case.

“If it was a joke, it was a joke in bad taste.”

But Dr Carne revealed that “it got to the point where I think police were going to make arrests” when German diplomatic cars were prevented from leaving.

He went on to say that “some of the police found themselves in a difficult situation.

“Lots of them were coming in from outside Cambridge and I think stuggling with what powers and controls they had within private property and I think our Porters were doing their best to calm everybody down.”

Cambridge Defend Education protesters prevent diplomatic cars from leaving

He was adamant that it was “more effective and more consistent with the College’s aims and aspirations to present an argument rather than screaming.”

Osborne clearly found this all incongruous. One onlooker overheard him in King’s Bar saying he was sad that he tried so hard to make money for King’s and in return, the students were just mean.

Students were prevented from moving around some areas of the College which were not being used for the conference.  They were stopped by Special Branch from watching protesters banging pots on King’s Lane, outside the conference hall.

Police trailed students and did not allow photos.

College officials eventually put King’s on a lockdown, ejecting non-Members from College grounds.

Following their vitriolic reception, ministers including Willetts and Danny Alexander were reportedly too scared to sleep in student beds and chose alternative accommodation.