UK students

Student activism in the UK and the NUS. See also UCU.

Come to NUS conference. Vote “Education Not for Sale”

By Daniel Randall In March 2004, the National Union of Students conference rejected Labour Students’ bid for the NUS presidency for the first time in more than 20 years. The beneficiary was Kat Fletcher, a former support of Solidarity and Workers’ Liberty, and still a self-proclaimed revolutionary socialist. Over the past 11 months, however, Kat has proved anything but revolutionary in office. In fact, she has been a more effective right-wing NUS president than any Labour Student would have been, not only failing to radicalise the national union but marginalising and attacking the left as only...

NUS "left" undermines democracy

On NUS NEC, the factions have started cross-dressing. Time was when you pretty much knew who was left and who was right. Now some of the lefties — self-styled revolutionaries, no less — are taking the lead in voting down anything which smacks of socialist principle. These “Trots” come in different shapes and sizes. First, we have Kat Fletcher, elected President as a united left candidate but now on a fast track to the right. Kat normally insists on chairing NEC meetings so she won’t have to take a position on anything, but intervenes at points she considers crucial — most recently to push...

NUS Conference rubber stamps attacks on democracy

On 8 November, a National Union of Students “extraordinary conference” — the second in five months — met to rubber-stamp the attacks on democracy being proposed by the NUS leadership, including cuts to the size and lenght of NUS National Conference and a regressive reform of affiilation fees. With fewer than 400 largely self-selected delegates the result was pretty much a foregone conclusion. We were told that the “reforms”, which are supposed to help NUS solve its financial crisis, could not wait until a properly representative National Conference next term. In fact, reducing NUS democracy...

Defend democracy in the student movement

The National Union of Students “extraordinary conference” called for Monday 8 November to push through attacks on NUS structures looks set to be even more farcically undemocratic than the gathering which originated these attacks in June. By Alan Clarke, NUS National Executive (personal capacity) and Education Not For Sale Network Back in June, right in the middle of the exam period, less than 350 delegates (compared to 1,000 at a ordinary National Conference) agreed “reforms” including cuts to the size and length of National Conferences, limitation of the right of Liberation Campaigns to send...

NUS opposes religious obscurantist speaking at ESF - or does it?

On Wednesday October 6th, the National Union of Students National Executive Committee overwhelmingly passed a motion proposed by AWL member Alan Clarke, stating that since Swiss academic Tariq Ramadan is an Islamist reactionary, NUS should oppose his invitation to speak at the European Social Forum. However, following a campaign by the Federation of Student Islamic Societies , NUS President Kat Fletcher and National Secretary James Lloyd are refusing to carry out the resolutions involved. They cite the fact that 13 out of 26 NEC members have written in asking for the carrying out of the motion...

Mounting student debt: TIME TO ORGANISE!

By Alan Clarke, NUS executive (personal capacity) According to Barclays, top-up fees will mean average student debt rising from £18,000 for students graduating in 2004 to £34,000 for those graduating in 2010. That estimate was made before universities declare what top-up fee they will charge. According a Guardian survey, two-thirds plan to charge the maximum possible! Small wonder that fewer school students want to apply to university — making a nonesense of the Government’s stated aim of getting more people into higher education. Higher education is in a mess: we see courses closing, college...

New student campaign launched

Education not for sale! On September 21, a Guardian survey of English universities showed that two-thirds are preparing to charge the maximum possible top-up fee in order to maintain their image against competitors. This information, while not unpredicted, should be ringing alarm bells for the student movement — yet despite the election of a new president, Kat Fletcher, on a left-wing platform, the National Union of Students appears to be continuing on the same course that has meant defeat after defeat for the student movement throughout the last 20 years. To rally the forces necessary for a...

Defend NUS democracy

At a tiny, unrepresentative “special conference” in June, the right-wing leadership of the National Union of Students (NUS) moved a step closer to its long-cherished goal of completely banishing ordinary students from involvement in the national union by passing a raft of anti-democratic “reforms”. These measures, which include limiting the size and length of NUS National Conference, were successful only because they received the support of Kat Fletcher, the new NUS president elected on a platform of… defending democracy! The leadership has justified its cuts by reference to NUS’s £500,000...

Manifesto for education

With the General Election approaching, ENS will be developing a Manifesto for Education as a focus for campaigning against the Government. The manifesto, which will be developed over the next months, will include demands like: l Tax the rich and business to fund expansion of education at every level. l No to privatisation and marketisation, from top-up fees to private contractors running halls of residence. An education system organised for people not profit. l Abolish all fees; a living wage, non-means-tested living grant, or equivalent benefit for every student. l Abolish hidden course costs...

NUS "conference" votes through cuts in democracy

By Sally Murdock On 17 June, a very small NUS extraordinary conference met in Leeds and endorsed the National Executive Committee's proposals for cuts in the union's democratic structures. It was announced earlier this year that NUS is facing an annual financial shortfall of £500,000. This has provided an excuse for the right-wing of the union, including the Labour Students/independent Blairite majority on the National Executive Committee, to take up their favourite theme of "democratic reform", ie attacks on NUS's democratic structures. By the start of June, they had succeeded in getting 25...

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