Nick Clegg’s first visit to Cambridge as Deputy Prime Minister yesterday was interrupted by a vocal minority of protestors who had travelled all the way to Cambridge Regional College to voice their anger at Clegg and the Liberal Democrats’ u-turn on tuition fees.

Clegg, who read Archaeology and Anthropology at Robinson College, visited the College for a tour of the carpentry and bricklaying facilities there in support of apprenticeships, before then giving a question and answer session for Liberal Democrat members.

A sizeable protest group had been expected to meet him, but the turnout was small with just three members of Cambridge Defend Education (CDE) turning up.

Andrew Osborne, the secretary of Cambridgeshire Against the Cuts, had also spoken of plans to protest ahead of Clegg’s visit: “We’re looking forward to welcoming Nick to Cambridge and explaining to him the devastating impact his government’s cuts and austerity measures are having on the people of Cambridgeshire. I can only hope he’s listening.”

There was a large security presence at the college too in anticipation of potential demonstrations, but the Deputy Prime Minister arrived before any protestors and evaded a hostile welcome.

Upon emerging for the second part of his visit though, he was interrupted by the three members of CDE, banging a drum and chanting about cuts

One of the protestors, who described himself as Hugh from Cambridge Defend Education, shouted at Clegg “shame on you, you hypocrite!”.

Speaking to Varsity, he said that he was disappointed with the turnout at the protest, stating that: “this clearly does not reflect the national climate, as is shown by the thousands who attended the recent demonstrations and strikes at the end of last year.”

He added: “We need to gather together and generate the momentum that could be possible.”

Another protestor, a student at Christ’s who wishes to remain anonymous, thought that their small but vocal protest was still a success as Clegg was met with some form of obstruction. He told Varsity that: “it’s not just Clegg’s hypocrisy that’s worrying, but the fact that he is willing to go along with the destructive progression of ideological cuts and the destruction of the welfare state.”

The lack of publicity surrounding the event and the distant location were both considered key factors in the disappointing protester turnout