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Edward Bauer VPE Arrested
Sep 21 2011 | Written by James Brilliant

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Vice President of Education Edward Bauer has been arrested, charged with causing danger to road users and remanded in custody following an incident at the Liberal Democrats conference in Birmingham. Bauer, 22, was arrested with two other students last Friday after scaling a bridge linking the International Convention Centre and Hyatt Hotel on Broad Street before unfurling a banner reading “Traitors Not Welcome – Hate Clegg Love NCAFC (National Campaign Against Fees and Cuts)”. As a result of the banner debris reportedly fell onto the road below endangering road users and pedestrians.

The men, charged with causing danger to road traffic users, were subsequently held in custody over the weekend as their membership of an “organisation” (believed to be the NCAFC) suggested they could not be trusted not to cause danger to the public. Appearing at Birmingham Magistrates Court on Monday, all three pleaded not guilty to the charges, denying they had caused danger to road users, with the prosecution accepting in court that “no damage or injury was caused” during the incident. However whilst the 19-year-old and 21-year-old were bailed on the conditions they do not enter Birmingham city centre until their trial, Bauer was remanded in custody. He will remain in custody until Monday September 26th, when a second hearing will decide whether or not he is granted bail before his trial in late October.

A spokesperson for the University of Birmingham said, “Universities are places of free speech and we respect the rights of students and staff to protest peacefully within the law.  However, our priority is the safety and wellbeing of our students, staff and the wider community and we are concerned where any protest poses a potential hazard to protesters or bystanders, or causes unwarranted disruptions to study or work, or damage to property whether on campus or elsewhere. This protest was not organised or endorsed by the University of Birmingham or its Guild of Students.”

Michael Chessum NCAFC (National campaign against fees and cuts) and NUS NEC (National Union of Students National Executive Committee) said, “It is appalling that students taking part in peaceful protest are being victimised in this way. It is ludicrous that anyone would be remanded in custody for a minor traffic charge – and it’s clear that the behaviour of the police and the court is an attempt to intimidate and muzzle protests against the Liberal Democrats’ betrayal of education. Whether it’s kettles, intimidation, or tactical charges – it is becoming increasingly difficult for students and young people to say that they have a meaningful right to protest.”

As a result of his arrest speculation has been mounting over the possible university sanctions Bauer will face, with Guild President Mark Harrop meeting Vice-Chancellor David Eastwood on Tuesday evening to discuss the situation. It is believed discussions between the Guild and the Vice-Chancellor are still at an initial stage, with Bauer yet to go on trial.

Although Bauer, having graduated last year, is technically no longer a student at the university, as a sabbatical officer it is possible he may face the same non-academic misconduct reprimands as a student under the University of Birmingham Student Charter. The charter states that students must act “as responsible ambassadors for the University through their good conduct and by ensuring that their actions do not have an adverse impact on the University’s reputation”, with those failing to do so facing possible sanctions ranging from a fine and community service to suspension or expulsion from the university. In the case of expulsion, it is not yet clear how the Guild of Students would approach the sensitive issue of replacing him.

In addition to his arrest the issue of Bauer’s close affiliation with the NCAFC movement and the extent to which his ties with student movements have compromised the impartiality of the Guild has also been raised. The constitution of the Guild of Students (as stated in the University of Birmingham Code of Practice) says that “it may not support political or other causes”, although “this does not prevent student members from collecting and raising funds privately for the support of any lawful campaigns.” Prior to Bauer’s arrest he posted on his official Guild VPED Facebook account, “Watch this video as a perfect reminder of their (Lib Dems) betrayal of an entire generation and how powerful our campaign of direct action against them was. We can do it again!” Concern has been voiced that these views are personal and do not accurately represent the views of the Guild or students, and therefore Bauer should reserve these comments for publication via his personal Facebook account, not in an official Guild capacity. Will Miéville-Hawkins, President of the Liberal Democrats Society said, “The University of Birmingham Liberal Democrats respect the right to free assembly, speech and protest.  However Mr. Bauer’s actions this weekend show his contempt for democracy and free association and bring the Guild into disrepute.”

Alice Swift, a 20 year old International Relations with Political Science student, attended the banner drop and offered the following comment for Redbrick.

“Ed Bauer has been remanded in custody for a banner that displays the opinion of so many students, that the Liberal Democrats are traitors for going back on their word on the increase in tuition fees. He was elected on the back of promising to be a campaigning Vice President of Education and to actively fight against the unfair and unnecessary rise in tuition fees. Students like me voted for Ed to have a voice in the debate surrounding the attack on our education and it would be a disgrace if University management were to sack an elected student representative. I would be distraught to see him sacked and I know so many more students would be too.”

 

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Written by James Brilliant on Sep 21 2011. Filed under Key Stories, News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry
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  • Anonymous

    The very fact that someone is stood on a bridge above traffic creates a distraction and therefore presents a danger, let alone the bits dropping in the road. Bauer and his acolytes speak for no one else but themselves and are shameful self publicists. He is remanded in custody because he cannot be trusted not to be a public nuisance. What has all this protesting changed? Absolutely nothing.

    • Betht

      Here’s one nice little example of what all this protesting has changed: http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2011/sep/20/hmrc-admits-errors-in-corporate-tax-deals

      And then of course, in a broader sense, there’s universal suffrage, civil rights, salaried MPs, all those little things that protest has got us over the centuries.

      • Anonymous

        Not a fat lot then. Protesting, like striking, is the last resort of the useless. Though there is something strangely quaint about seeing some dopey student trying to change the world and then ending up in the pokey. Bless ‘em, they’ll grow out of it.

  • Matt

    My cost got deleted so I’ll post it again:

    Regardless of what his protest was about (I hate the coalition as much as the next liberal), I think the police have a valid point. The placement of that banner poses a serious danger to passing traffic. If it somehow came loose (and the police aren’t going to trust the knot tying abilities of a member of the public, why should they?) then it could either land on a passing car and obscur the driver’s vision, or cause the driver to swerve and cause an accident. Furthermore from the looks of it (though I can’t back this up) it looks like they’re on a section of the bridge that isn’t open to the general public.

    So… peaceful though their protest may have been, it was nothing more than outright dangerous.

    • http://twitter.com/BrumProtestor Brummie Protestor

      I’m sure I replied to this before, so I guess my reply got deleted as well :)
      Firstly, the right knot, tied rightly, is impossible to come undone (I mean, the rope *might* break, but it’s highly unlikely).  The police trusted the knot tying abilities of the activists enough not to stop traffic, even when they were removing the banner.
      Secondly, the ability of the activists to tie knots is evidenced by the fact that the banner did not come down.
      Thirdly, if you have seen Broad Street at rush hour on a friday, you will know that traffic barely moves.  Even if the banner did come down, it would have fallen on stationary or near-stationary traffic.  The chances of any accident happening are basically zero.

      Your whole risk assessment of the situation is totally wrong, as you would know if you had witnessed it.
      If you think my arguments are wrong, please answer substantively as to how any accident could have reasonably occured, or acknowledge that your idea about what could have happened is wrong.

  • Jimminy Cricket

    Where can i get a radish from?

  • Jimminy Cricket

    Where can i get a radish from?

  • Jimminy Cricket

    Where can i get a radish from?

  • A Liberal Student

    As a student at the University of Birmingham I feel embarrassed that our institution has been brought into disrepute.  I speak as a student, obviously deeply saddened by the nature of current educational policy, and as a Liberal Democrat.  What is most striking is the fact that the UBLD and the Guild held a meeting before the conference knowing, full well, that a situation such as this would be fairly likely and that the ramifications for the Guild and the University would be appalling.  

    I’m all for ‘Grass Roots’ campaigning but what hit hardest was Ed Bauer’s contempt for the society’s suggestion when we proposed that we would, rationally, be able to communicate our anger towards educational policy with the people that can make a difference at conference through debate and negotiation.  Instead we were quite abruptly dealt with and Mr. Bauer decided to go along with the protest.  The fact that it actually panned out as predicted is really not very surprising.  The student body as a whole has a lot of pent up anger, if channelled efficiently and rationally some real and legitimate change might even be effected.  

    Protesting in such a way as Bauer has is damaging and pyrrhic, and here we stand again at square one.  UBLD actually managed to have a talk with Nick Clegg and Tim Farron about the situation and we feel as though progress can be made if students decide to negotiate, calmly, and act like the supposedly rational and intellectual body they represent.  I feel, personally, as though the Guild as a collective has been slightly besmirched by the actions of a few individuals, as is always the case with potentially explosive matters such as this.

    Being locked up in prison for ineffectual protesting is really not a good use of a VPED’s (someone who is supposed to embody the intellectual betterment of their electorates) time.  Unfortunately the credibility of the position that Mr. Bauer sits incumbent in has been emphatically challenged by his actions; actions which he must, alone, be accountable for.  Behaving in such a way is dangerous and I, for one, do not think that a University with such a reputation as ours should be associated with such a firebrand. 

    • Betht

      “…be able to communicate our anger towards educational policy with the
      people that can make a difference at conference through debate and
      negotiation”  Er, what, like asking politicians to sign pledges? Voting according to what they say they’ll do? The irony of the Lib Dem apologists, it burns.

    • Dave Rudge

      I agree. That giant sign made of cloth might have killed somebody. It’s a good job they locked him up at the taxpayers’ expense so we can all sleep easily in our beds tonight. Who knows what other dastardly crimes he has in store for us? Perhaps he plans to sprinkle confetti over the Queensway underpass? Or drop a tea cosy from the top of Old Joe onto the head of some unwary passer by?

      Belt up.

      • Alister Lindley

        At last someone with a little common sence

    • John

      You are completely delusional. The education system is facing the biggest attack it’s ever had and you think the way to sort things is to get down on our knees and grovel to people  like Nick Clegg??

      Politics is about power. Asking politicians to do things without power is literally pointless. If we want to make a difference we need to build a movement and part of that is heroes like Ed standing up for their convictions in the face of repression.

      What we definitely don’t need to do is to sit down and wait for arrogant careerist ***** like you and Will to destroy our chances of something better in the name of your ‘credibility’.     

  • Dave Rudge

    Somebody ought to arrest the cabinet for the damage they’ve done to the youth of this country.

    Bauer = legend.

  • Dave Rudge

    Somebody ought to arrest the cabinet for the damage they’ve done to the youth of this country.

    Bauer = legend.

  • Pingback: Birmingham’s Vice President of Education arrested | Ones to Watch

  • Simon

    Well done Ed – and if the Lib Dems response doesn’t, once and for all, expose their hypocrisy, then we really are losing an understanding of what is necessary to make the world a better place.

  • http://twitter.com/BrumProtestor Brummie Protestor
    • Dave Rudge

      Bauer Power.

  • Anonymous

    “However Mr. Bauer’s actions this weekend show his contempt for democracy and free association and bring the Guild into disrepute.”
    What on earth are you on about? Surely peaceful protest is the best way to show respect for democracy. The one who shows real contempt for democracy is the man who attacks those whose views disagree with their own. Even the prosecution is stated to have accepted no damage was caused. I don’t care whether this man is a member of the guild, a member of the Catholic Church or confined to an insane asylum, he has a right to protest however he sees fit as long as he causes no damage to others or their property and no damage was caused. If people disagree with him, they are free to say so just as those who agree with him can. That’s the democracy word you’re bandying about but apparently have no idea how to use.

  • The silent majority.

    This is absurd, there are clearly those within the Guild who have a personal agenda and wish to push Bauer out of his position  for his politics. The fact is that Edd was democratically elected by the student body, and had made no attempt to deceive students as to the nature of his politics, in fact he has worn them on his sleeve throughout his time at university. Students who voted for Edd would have known exactly what it was they were voting for; and if you claim otherwise then I would say that they that they certainly had no idea who they were voting for in any of the other elections. In which case, democracy at the University of Birmingham is defunct, and none of the sabbatical team have the right to be there. Like it or not, Edd represents a significant portion of the student population in Birmingham, and seems to be the only member of the Sabb team representing their views. If you believe in democracy then you must accommodate those who disagree with you within the debate, rather than pushing them to one side making sweeping statements about representation whilst simultaneously forcing your own political agenda through without making any real effort to listen to the students themselves.

    Edd is still awaiting trial, and thus has not been found guilty of any crime, I find it premature for the Guild of students to feel as though they have the right to find him guilty before he has even stood trial in a court. As far as myself, and several unions including UCU are concerned, there has been an abuse of justice, but this does not seem to have even crossed your minds. The fact is that the student body (and by student body, I do not mean the political cliques in Guild council) has not even been consulted on this, and Edd has not even been given the chance to stand trial. If the Guild considers defending the interests of students to be an infringement of their code of conduct then I say they have no right to claim to represent me, for they clearly represent only themselves.

  • Mr Raving

    http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1988/52/section/22A

    A person is guilty of an offence if he intentionally and without lawful authority or reasonable cause—

    See word “intentionally” there. 

    Guilty or not guilty?

  • Mr J Dredd
  • Pxh716

    Bauer wasn’t remanded just because of the traffic charge; he was remanded because he committed the offense while on bail for a previous offense which he picked up for going OTT at another protest. That seems to be something getting swept under the rug by Bauerites. He’s a serial offender with a history of violence.

    Is protesting wrong? Of course not. He had every right to express his displeasure at the LibDems. But Edd could have done that through a peaceful, legal protest anywhere in the city centre and there’d have been no problem. He chose not to. Now he has to live with the consequences of that choice.

    Why did Bauer make that choice, to suspend a banner instead of gathering a crowd? Could it be because it only takes one or two cronies to drape a banner hazardously over traffic while it takes at least a dozen to make a notable street presence? Could it be Bauer didn’t quite have the populist backing he needed?

    Now he’s trying to gain support by making himself a martyr figure, running crying to the Guardian and misrepresenting the issue. As someone who has had past encounters with Bauer, who was there when he decided his anger was more important than the safety of Birmingham’s motorists, I’m not fooled.

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