Student Protesters Attack Prince Charles and Camilla

Amidst chants of "Tory scum!" and "Off with their heads!" Prince Charles and his wife, Camilla, found their Rolls-Royce smack in the middle of a student protest over Britain's rising price of college tuition. About 50 protesters swarmed their vehicle, smashing a window and dousing it in a coat of white paint.

While the U.S. Senate spent yesterday striking down progressive legislation (tabling the DREAM Act, blocking aid for 9/11 first responders, and failing to repeal "Don't Ask, Don't Tell"), the U.K. Parliament similarly tacked conservative, by voting to increase annual college tuition to approximately $14,000 a year, while simultaneously cutting government funding by an additional 80 percent. (The catch being that loans only have to be paid back if graduates go on to earn a salary of more than $34,000.)

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All across London, Slate reported of students "throwing lit flares, storming the Treasury building, and pulling policemen from their horses." The Associated Press quoted a 16-year-old demonstrator, John Dawson, who vowed to keep on fighting: "The fact that so many students came out to protest today shows that, even after the vote, they will still do whatever they can to avoid paying this much for higher education."

Next week, if the DREAM Act isn't passed by the Senate, do you predict a similar student uprising?

Photo via Matt Dunham for the Associated Press