Toby Atkin-Wright

Driving home this evening in the dark, I had to hit the brakes to avoid an unlit cyclist who shot out of a side road and crossed in front of me.

I suppose it is inevitable that a student town like St Andrews will have its share of irresponsible young cyclists, but this is the third time that I’ve nearly hit an unlit bicycle since the evenings started drawing in this year. Infuriating.

I sometimes think that idiot cyclists deserve anything that hits them, but of course they aren’t insured, so the poor motorist would end up paying to get the dents and bloodstains out of their car.

Just as Newsnight told us that the NUS protest march consisted of an estimated 50,000 English students, pictures showed a banner from the University of Strathclyde. Which I found rather amusing.

Did the students and staff have neither lectures nor labs today? It seems odd to have a protest march mid-week when the participants should have been at their studies. Maybe it was their Wednesday-afternoon sporting fixture.

Just as Newsnight told us that the NUS protest march consisted of an estimated 50,000 English students, pictures showed a banner from the University of Strathclyde. Which I found rather amusing.

Did the students and staff have neither lectures nor labs today? It seems odd to have a protest march mid-week when the participants should have been at their studies. Maybe it was their Wednesday-afternoon sporting fixture.

Student tuition fees was the big issue in English politics today. Clegg defended his position at PMQs, while the NUS marched outside. There was potential to damage the coalition, particularly with the politically opportunist change of heart on fees by Labour.

But then it all went wrong for the students: the protests descended into violence and confrontation, and the news channels were filled with students expressing astonishing levels of entitlement. Students justifying their bully-boy tactics made for pretty unpleasant listening. I felt great sympathy for the people working in the Millbank Tower and at 30 Millbank, and in the surrounding area.

The students' message appeared to be that they want taxpayers to give them money, and if they don't, violence will follow. Isn't that a protection racket?

What a nasty bunch.

Student tuition fees was the big issue in English politics today. Clegg defended his position at PMQs, while the NUS marched outside. There was potential to damage the coalition, particularly with the politically opportunist change of heart on fees by Labour.

But then it all went wrong for the students: the protests descended into violence and confrontation, and the news channels were filled with students expressing astonishing levels of entitlement. Students justifying their bully-boy tactics made for pretty unpleasant listening. I felt great sympathy for the people working in the Millbank Tower and at 30 Millbank, and in the surrounding area.

The students' message appeared to be that they want taxpayers to give them money, and if they don't, violence will follow. Isn't that a protection racket?

What a nasty bunch.