BobKKKindle$
13th November 2008, 02:40
This only happened today so it might not be in the news yet, but the governance reforms were passed by the NUS extraordinary conference. These reforms will, in addition to other changes, establish a new administrative body, which has been termed the board, with the role of overseeing the rest of the union's work. This board will include external legal and financial advisers who are not part of the student body, and will be given the right to veto proposals and decisions taken by the NEC on grounds of legality or financial impacts - in essence, any kind of action which could land students in legal difficulties or force the NUS to spend some money on things that actually matter to students instead of frivolous rubbish will be cancelled and students will not be able to rely on the support of their union if they persist in taking action. Illegal actions include university occupations, organized demonstrations without the permission of the local police, and so clearly the effect of these reforms will be to limit the student movement's struggles, which is exactly what you'd expect from an NUS so closely tied to the New Labour government. Furthermore, the board will not include spaces for the "liberation" officers, who are responsible for the demands of oppressed groups such as women, disabled students, and LGBT students, despite the fact that these officers, and the groups they represent, deserve to have a say in the administration of the NUS.
This is a bad day for the student movement in the UK, comrades.
This is a bad day for the student movement in the UK, comrades.