The Call Keir with students and their parents has started. The Labour leader is joined by shadow minister Emma Hardy rather than Kate Green as advertised.
Sophie at Leeds says she is in a flat of six people and they've all tested positive after a week of living together. "It’s quite emotionally distant. I feel like I haven’t been able to make friends as easily as I would have normally"
Dylan, a Labour activist at Plymouth, noted that lectures are being prerecorded, which means you can't ask questions. "I really feel that the support from the university and government hasn’t been there"
Zoe, a parent of a young carer who's gone to uni, says she's "gutted" about her daughter's university experience and the students are "furious" about paying over 9k a year for this situation
Jack, a student, says he thinks "If there had been no fee to pay, we wouldn't have been asked to come"
Student Joe says his flat of six swabbing each other in the kitchen for their Covid tests was an interesting freshers' bonding experience
Aurora, another studying at Leeds, says students had to walk three hours to get a test. "People had to refresh the testing page for whole days before there were any tests available"
Aurora says: “All my teaching is on a computer, which I could’ve done from home… I’m quite frustrated that I’ve moved all this way.”
Eugene at Glasgow uni says they've received a one month rent rebate and £50 food allowance, after students at the uni wrote for publications about their experiences. All 12 in his flat have tested positive
NB Kate Green was responding to Gavin Williamson in the Commons:
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