Ben Thomas is president of the group NUSceptics which aims to encourage colleges and universities to disaffiliate from the National Union of Students (NUS). The Liberal Democrat member is currently working towards a PhD in atmospheric chemistry at Reading University. Read why he believes it’s time to wave goodbye to the NUS.
The National Union of Students has completely failed to provide students with a coherent political voice with which to stand up for themselves on the national scene and make a difference to our country.
A committed fringe of students still attempts to debate meaningful proposals to help students and inject a student voice into national politics however we still see the NUS conference debating things like how the Labour Party should select its parliamentary candidates – as if the Labour Party cares.
While the cabal in control of the NUS wastes students’ time and money providing a lavishly funded debate club for a small group of extremists to discuss whether or not we should commemorate the Holocaust (many, disgustingly, think that we should not) and whether or not Jewish students should be allowed to elect the Jewish representative on the anti-racism committee, the concerns of most students are either pushed out of sight or are tackled with total incompetence.
When the new fees structure was introduced in 2011 the NUS chose to secretly urge the government to drop support for students with physical and mental disabilities, including those currently studying, instead of engaging with the government to come up with a sensible alternative proposal. Tuition fees are about to rise again, and the NUS has been so embroiled in managing its ongoing anti-Semitism scandal to mount an effective riposte. They care more about the internal politics of the Labour Party and their own dramas and splits than they do about the national student body.
Debating issues of national and international politics, including the more arcane and niche, is something students should be welcome to do at university, but that’s what debating and political societies are for. The national student representative body should focus on representing the concerns of students at large, the majority of whom are completely disconnected from the farcical extremism of the NUS leadership. Those involved in the NUS are increasingly an isolated elite amongst students, feathering their CVs for a life in the world of the extreme left, bullying and shouting down anyone who does not follow their nonsensical views, until only those who already agree with them bother to get involved in the first place.
The undemocratic nature of the NUS makes it easy for this cabal to retain control. A recent proposal, by a group that wished to reform the NUS from inside, to actually allow students to vote on NUS proposals and in leadership elections was defeated heavily. This, along with the election of a blatant anti-Semite to the leadership of the organisation, convinced me and many others that reform was impossible and that the only path was to attempt to convince students that this closed cabal of careerist extremists who go on national TV and make statements like “of course everyone has an equal right to freedom of speech, but some people have more equal rights than others” can never be representative of the student body at large nor can it ever be of use as a campaigning organisation to fight for students on the national stage.
The NUS cannot be reformed; the only route to real student representation is for us to leave it behind and build something better.
The views expressed in this guest post are those of Ben Thomas and not of Officially Peter, the NUSceptics group or the national student body. If you have any questions about the points made we’ll be happy to pass them on for you.
Officially Peter supports the view that the NUS is failing and will not allow itself to be reformed. We support those looking to disaffiliate from this outdated organisation.
Peter Marcus 