I have just spent two days in London and, although I missed the rioutous student demo against tuition fees, I did stumble across some festive students yesterday outside Somerset House who were singing their protests with a parody on our favourite carols.  It’s very mild compared to some of the scenes from today, though I feel students have every right to feel angry as they face a future of considerable debt if they want a university education. Why doesn’t the government re-introduce entry charges charges for art galleries and museums, or reduce our contribution for overseas aid which David Cameron has refused to budge on?

He would do well to learn from Tony Blair’s mistakes which he admitted in an essay for The Economist in 2007 to mark his 10 years in office. He was criticised for his support of foreign policy above the needs of British people: “Foreign policy rarely wins votes, and can easily lose them. Yet nowadays the reality is increasingly that we are obliged as leaders to think, work and act internationally.”

Anyway, back to the Somerset House student who were from the Courtauld Institute of Art and King’s College, London. As I was recording them on my iPhone, a BBC World Service journalist came along and had the very same idea. This is their version of “The 12 Days of Cutmas” written by the King’s “occupation” students:

On the 1st day of Cutmas
the Con-Dems gave to me
a life of uncertainty

On the 2nd day of Cutmas
the Con-Dems gave to me
public sector cuts, and…

On the 3rd day of Cutmas
the Con-Dems gave to me
large deficits, and…

On the 4th day of Cutmas
the Con-Dems gave to me
more empty words, and…

On the 5th day of Cutmas
the Con-Dems gave to me
80% cuts, and…

On the 6th day of Cutmas
the Con-Dems gave to me
poor people paying, and…

On the 7th day of Cutmas
the Con-Dems gave to me
greedy bosses grinning, and…

On the 8th day of Cutmas
the Con-Dems gave to me
public sector cuts, and…
greedy bosses grinning (yes, again for some reason)…

On the 9th day of Cutmas
the Con-Dems gave to me
more wasted money, and…

On the 10th day of Cutmas
the Con-Dems gave to me
no EMA, and…

On the 11th day of Cutmas
the Con-Dems gave to me
tax dodgers dodging, and…

On the 12th day of Cutmas
the Con-Dems gave to me
social inequality…