Letter: Farewell to the spirit of '68

From Mr Seamus Murphy

Sir: As a member of generation Y, I am proud to salute the endeavours of my more active brethren in taking to the streets to protest against the penny- pinching Government ("Students march against cash cuts", 24 November). Alas, little do they seem to realise that the spirit of '68 has lost its resonance. How can students protest about student grants and loans, about the drop in government funding, when faced with the reality of state spending in the 1990s? Students are privileged to have their fees paid, a fate their US counterparts do not share. Although I would not advocate the same system, perhaps the solution lies in the Antipodes, where a graduate tax is used that would overcome the nonsense that is the loan system.

Yours faithfully,

Seamus Murphy

London, SE24

24 November