Miners' leader Arthur Scargill backed students who are protesting against tuition fees at a public meeting in Brighton last night.
The head of the Socialist Labour Party pledged that if his candidates were MPs they would be at Sussex University showing solidarity with the protesters.
Mr Scargill, who is also head of the National Union of Mineworkers, spoke to about 100 people at a meeting above The Open House pub in Springfield Road.
Prospective parliamentary candidates John McLeod (Kemp Town) and Ian Fyvie (Pavilion) also spoke at the gathering.
Mr Scargill, 63, attacked the compulsory tuition fees system, which is being phased in to replace grants, and accused the Labour Party of being "no different to the Tories".
Students at the university have staged a sit-down protest after 110 of their colleagues were threatened with withdrawal of library and computing access for non-payment of the fees.
They refused to let the vice-chancellor of Sussex University into his office.
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