A sad day for UK students

With only a minority of Students' Unions voting unanimously against the reforms (Sussex, SOAS and Goldsmiths amongst them) the student right will use this victory to claim that they have not merely won the numbers game, but also triumphed over the hearts and minds of students: that the abolition of NUS' most democratic structure, the Block of 12; the ability of appointed boards of trustees to override the decisions of supposedly autonomous liberation campaigns; the transformation of National Conference into a "look what NUS does for you" photo opportunity, with all political debate removed to four undemocratic Zone Conferences and, last but certainly not least, the kiss of death to any chance of a fighting, campaigning union, is something the majority of students want. But this is not the case...

Without even getting onto the undemocratic nature of the Conference itself (the left was listening to the rumour mill for months, wondering and waiting for the next attack from the top-down Review) or the lack of student consultation on the Review itself, there is the problem that many of the delegates who went to Extraordinary Conference were not elected. They were appointed by university careerists. My own university, Manchester, still holds open elections- although the faction power of the right easily weeded out the left and independent candidates. Down the road, Manchester Metropolitan did not even bother with elections. So what was yesterday? In short, a victory for factionalism, bureaucracy and a handful of student politicians who are already on the road straight to the top of the Labour Party.

Thu 13, November 2008 @ 15:02