AceShowbiz - Hundreds of students from Cambridge University, where Thandie Newton studied social anthropology, hit the streets in November 2010, to demonstrate against the proposals to increase annual payments and withdraw public funding across several subjects.

Thandie Newton has applauded students for taking a stand against the plans, insisting the fight to save the arts is an important one.

When asked if she would have joined the demonstration, she tells London's Evening Standard, "God, yes! I think that protest was hugely significant. The government should take into account the fact that people have taken to the streets unhappy and allow that to be part of the ongoing dialogue."

"It's always the arts (that are affected). It's the most obvious place to make cuts, but it's also the place everyone goes when they need their broken hearts mended."