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{{Short description|National students' union in the United Kingdom}} | |||
{{Use British English|date=March 2012}} | {{Use British English|date=March 2012}} | ||
{{Use dmy dates|date= |
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2020}} | ||
{{More citations needed|date=June 2016}} | |||
{{Infobox Political Youth Organization | |||
{{Infobox organization | |||
|name_english = National Union of Students | |||
| |
| image = National Union of Students UK logo.png | ||
| alt = Logo of National Union of Students UK | |||
|foundation = 1922 | |||
| caption = | |||
|president = ] | |||
| motto = | |||
|headquarters = Macadam House, 275 Gray’s Inn Road, London, WC1X 8QB, UK | |||
| formation = {{Nowrap|{{start date and age|1922|2|10|df=yes}}<ref>{{cite web|title=A brief history: Our History: Who We Are: www.nus.org.uk|url=http://www.nus.org.uk/en/who-we-are/our-history/a-brief-history/|access-date=10 June 2016}}</ref>}} | |||
|international = ] | |||
| type = | |||
|public website = | |||
| status = | |||
|membership website = | |||
| purpose = | |||
| headquarters = ], England, UK | |||
| services = support to students and students' unions | |||
| language = English, Welsh (NUS Wales) | |||
| leader_title = ] | |||
| leader_name = Amira Campbell<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.nus.org.uk/nus-announces-newly-elected-full-time-officers |title=NUS announces newly elected Officer team |publisher=National Union of Students |date=12 April 2024 |access-date=14 November 2024}}</ref> | |||
| subsidiaries = NUS Services Limited, NUS Holdings Limited, NUS Students' Union Charitable Services, NUS Media Limited | |||
| affiliations = ] | |||
| budget = | |||
| volunteers = | |||
| slogan = | |||
| remarks = | |||
| formerly = | |||
| footnotes = | |||
| name = National Union of Students | |||
| image_size = | |||
| abbreviation = NUS | |||
| merger = | |||
| products = | |||
| membership = ~600 students' unions | |||
| secessions = | |||
| budget_year = | |||
| revenue = | |||
| revenue_year = | |||
| disbursements = | |||
| expenses = | |||
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| endowment = | |||
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| mission = | |||
| website = {{URL|https://www.nus.org.uk}} | |||
}} | }} | ||
The '''National Union of Students''' ('''NUS''') is a confederation of ] in the ]. Around 600 student unions are affiliated, accounting for more than 95% of all higher and further education unions in the UK. Although the National Union of Students is the central organisation for all affiliated unions in the UK, there are also the devolved national sub-bodies ] in Scotland, ] (''UCM Cymru'') in Wales and ] in Northern Ireland (the latter being co-administered by the ]). | |||
The '''National Union of Students of the United Kingdom''' ('''NUS''') is a confederation of ] in the ]. Around 600 students’ unions are in membership, accounting for more than 95 per cent of all higher and further education unions in the UK. Although the National Union of Students is the central organisation for all affiliated unions in the UK, there are also the devolved national sub-bodies ] in Scotland, ]/ UCM Cymru in Wales and ] in Northern Ireland (the latter being co-administered by the ]). There is also an NUS Area for London- NUS London. | |||
NUS is a member of the ]. | NUS is a member of the ]. | ||
==Membership== | ==Membership== | ||
{{Citation needed-span|date=June 2016|text=There are four types of membership of NUS:}}<ref>{{Cite web|title=Membership of NUS|url=https://www.nusconnect.org.uk/nus-uk/who-we-are/membership-of-nus|access-date=July 6, 2020}}</ref> | |||
There are four types of membership of NUS: | |||
* '''Constituent membership '''is granted to students' unions by National Conference or National Executive Council by a two-thirds majority vote | * '''Constituent membership '''is granted to students' unions by National Conference or National Executive Council by a two-thirds majority vote | ||
* '''Individual membership '''is granted automatically to members of students' unions with constituent membership, sabbatical officers of constituent members, members of the National Executive Council and sabbatical conveners of NUS Areas | * '''Individual membership '''is granted automatically to members of students' unions with constituent membership, sabbatical officers of constituent members, members of the National Executive Council and sabbatical conveners of NUS Areas | ||
* '''Associate membership''' is granted by a two-thirds majority vote of National Executive Council to: | * '''Associate membership''' is granted by a two-thirds majority vote of National Executive Council to: | ||
** ''Student Organisations in Association |
** ''Student Organisations in Association – ''any national student organisations | ||
** ''Partner Organisations in Association ''- non-student organisations which sympathise with the NUS | ** ''Partner Organisations in Association ''- non-student organisations which sympathise with the NUS | ||
** ''Individuals in Association'' |
** ''Individuals in Association'' – any individual who supports the objects of the NUS | ||
** ''NUS Areas ''- geographically-defined associations of students' unions | ** ''NUS Areas ''- geographically-defined associations of students' unions | ||
* '''Honorary membership''' is granted by National Conference to "any person or organisation as it sees fit" | * '''Honorary membership''' is granted by National Conference to "any person or organisation as it sees fit" | ||
Of these types of membership, only constituent members may vote on or submit policy proposals to National Conference. Constituent members and associate members are required to pay a subscription fee as a condition of their membership.<ref>{{Cite web|url = http://www.nusconnect.org.uk/pageassets/about/democraticprocess/NUS_Articles_Rules_Aug12.pdf|title = Articles of Association & Rules|publisher = National Union of Students| |
Of these types of membership, only constituent members may vote on or submit policy proposals to the National Conference. Constituent members and associate members are required to pay a subscription fee as a condition of their membership.<ref>{{Cite web|url = http://www.nusconnect.org.uk/pageassets/about/democraticprocess/NUS_Articles_Rules_Aug12.pdf|title = Articles of Association & Rules|publisher = National Union of Students|access-date = 9 September 2013|url-status = dead|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160105032545/http://www.nusconnect.org.uk/pageassets/about/democraticprocess/NUS_Articles_Rules_Aug12.pdf|archive-date = 5 January 2016}}</ref> | ||
==History== | ==History== | ||
{{further|Student unionism in the United Kingdom}} | {{further|Student unionism in the United Kingdom|List of Presidents of the National Union of Students (United Kingdom)}} | ||
] was the founding president of the NUS. He was later the first Director-General of the ].]] | |||
The NUS was formed in 1922 at a meeting held at the ]. At this meeting, the Inter-Varsity Association and the International Students Bureau (which organised student travel and had been lobbying for a national body) agreed to merge. | |||
Founding members included the unions of ], ], London, ], ] (who first left in 1923 and have subsequently rejoined and left three times, the last time being in June 2008), ] (who supplied the first President, ]) and the ]. | |||
] | |||
===Origins and early history=== | |||
==Mission== | |||
The NUS was formed on 10 February 1922 at a meeting held at the ]. At this meeting, the Inter-Varsity Association and the International Students Bureau (which organised student travel and had been lobbying for a national body) agreed to merge.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://en.unesco.org/prize-esd/2016laureates/nus|title=National Union of Students |date=2016-09-14|website=UNESCO|language=en|access-date=2020-04-11}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.nusconnect.org.uk/nus-uk/who-we-are/our-story|title=Our story @ NUS Connect|website=www.nusconnect.org.uk|language=en|access-date=2020-04-11}}</ref> | |||
NUS' mission is to promote, defend and extend the rights of students by providing students and students’ unions with a collective voice by delivering a range of activity that articulates the needs and aspirations of its members to relevant bodies. They also develop and champion strong students’ unions and deliver a range of activities aimed at building their affiliates’ capacity to engage effectively on a local level, building strong and sustainable organisations that make students’ lives better. | |||
Founding members included the unions of ], ], ], ] (who first left in 1923 and have subsequently rejoined and left three times, the last time being in June 2008), ] (who supplied the first President, ]) and the ].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.imperial.ac.uk/news/2945/students-start-voting-nus-membership/|title=Students start voting on NUS membership {{!}} Imperial News {{!}} Imperial College London|website=Imperial News|date=15 November 2006 |language=en|access-date=2020-04-11}}</ref> | |||
==Democracy== | |||
The NUS holds national conferences once a year. National Conference is the sovereign body of NUS, and is where NUS policy is decided. Other conferences, such as Regional Conferences, Women's Conference, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Trans Students' Conference (changed as of 2004), Disabled Students' Conference, Black Students' Conference, Mature and Part-Time Students' Conference and the International Students' Conference (created in 2004) are run to enhance the representation of the specific members they include. | |||
===Politicisation and Broad Left, 1968–1982=== | |||
In July 2014, due to the creation of a new NUS London area- the first NUS London conference was held. | |||
In the aftermath of the ] in its founding constitution, the National Union of Students had adopted from the outset a "non political" clause in its charter in an attempt to distance itself from the reasons that the War had broken out. It had thus concerned itself with student interaction and cheap travel, student grants and student interests.<ref>Ivison Macadam papers, King's College Archives.</ref> | |||
Most of these conferences, and in particular the elections held at them, are contested by ] including ], ], ], ], the ], ], ], ], ] and ]. In addition to these political factions, interest groups such as the ] and the ] are deeply involved in the internal democratic processes of NUS. | |||
This apolitical consensus was challenged in concert with the international ] and as the Cold War intensified.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://eprints.port.ac.uk/16958/1/ERH_National_Union_of_Students_1958_1968_post_print.pdf|publisher=Jodi Burkett|title=The National Union of Students and transnational solidarity,1958–1968|date=26 January 2016|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160828105606/http://eprints.port.ac.uk/16958/1/ERH_National_Union_of_Students_1958_1968_post_print.pdf|archive-date=28 August 2016}}</ref> At the 1969 NUS conference, then president ] came up against ] (then close to ] of the ], but much later Foreign Secretary under the ] government of ]) over the issue. Straw supported student protests against US military involvement in the ], while Fisk advocated neutrality; Straw's side won and the "no politics" clause was removed.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.nus.org.uk/en/who-we-are/our-history/a-brief-history/|publisher=National Union of Students|title=A Brief History|date=26 January 2016}}</ref> | |||
==NUS Services== | |||
NUS Services provides collective purchasing, support and marketing services to NUS-affiliated students' unions. Its shareholders consist of over 200 NUS-affiliated students' unions, and it is directed by a board and committees composed of volunteers from these shareholder unions. | |||
A new era began for the NUS, where political agitation and protest became institutionalized. Straw was followed up as president by ], also representing the Radical Student Alliance (formed in 1966 by Fergus Nicholson) and a member of the Communist Party of Great Britain. According to contemporary British government reports, the RSA was connected to the Trotskyist-led ] and had close links with the '']'' (organising a protest following ]'s shooting). The government report stated "If they have an ideological bible it consists of the work of Professor ], '']''."<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2000/may/31/freedomofinformation.politics|work=The Guardian|title=Student rebels were 'frighteningly radical' |date=26 January 2016}}</ref> In line with the Marcusian viewpoint of championing politicised ], throughout the 1970s, the NUS came to support what it called "liberation campaigns", including; ] (the first national group to do so in 1973), ] and ]. At the same time, the NUS adopted a ]; a concept pioneered by the ] in 1972; to stifle the campus organisation and speech of nationalistic British groups that it declared to be "racist or fascist". At the time, this was aimed at the ] and the ] (a faction in the ]).<ref>{{cite news|url=https://hatfulofhistory.wordpress.com/2015/11/03/by-whatever-means-necessary-the-origins-of-the-no-platform-policy/|publisher=Hatful of History|title='By whatever means necessary': The origins of the 'no platform' policy|date=26 January 2016}}</ref> | |||
The Association for Managers in Students' Unions voted to merge with NUS and NUS Services in 2010.<ref>{{cite web|title=AMSU votes to merge with NUS|url=http://www.nus.org.uk/en/news/amsu-votes-to-merge-with-nus/|website=NUS News|publisher=NUS|accessdate=22 December 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=SUSU: What is NUS|url=http://www.susu.org/downloads/democracy/papers/election_2.pdf|publisher=Southampton University Students' Union|accessdate=22 December 2014}}</ref> | |||
The union was also involved in affairs in ], where most higher education establishments there were members of both the NUS and the ] (USI), though this differed from case to case. Indeed, two presidents of the NUS earlier on in the 1960s were from ] (Queen's or QUB); T. William Savage and T. Geoff Martin. The 1968–69 unrest in Northern Ireland saw the onset of ] and a sectarian divisiveness come to the fore. After members of the QUBSU organised a protest against the hardline ] politician ], the then ], some members such as ], ] and ] decided to found the ] group ] in 1968, which played a role in the ]. Following a meeting in ] in 1972, to combat divisions, it was agreed that a group called the ] would be founded with dual-membership to cover Northern Ireland. | |||
===NUS Extra=== | |||
One of the NUS' protest campaigns which was of particular significance during the 1970s and the 1980s was the boycott campaign against ] governed ] as part of the ].<ref name="aa">{{cite news|url=http://www.nus.org.uk/en/news/the-anti-apartheid-movement-50-years-on/|publisher=NUS|title=The Anti-Apartheid Movement: 50 Years On|date=26 January 2016}}</ref> In 1970, NUS vice president Tony Klug visited South Africa and met with ] of the ] among others.<ref name="aa"/> Members also attempted to disrupt South African rugby and cricket matches in the United Kingdom during the 1970s.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/mike-terry-campaigner-who-led-the-anti-apartheid-movement-for-two-decades-1059367.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220618/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/mike-terry-campaigner-who-led-the-anti-apartheid-movement-for-two-decades-1059367.html |archive-date=18 June 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|work=The Independent|title=Mike Terry: Campaigner who led the Anti-Apartheid Movement for two decades|date=26 January 2016}}</ref> In the 1980s, the NUS played a significant role in getting ] to divest from South Africa, attacking it as "]clay Bank".<ref name="aa"/> | |||
NUS Extra is a discount card which can be purchased by members of students' unions which are affiliated with NUS. It is produced by NUS Services in conjunction with NUS, and affiliated students’ unions receive commission on every card sold to their members. | |||
Throughout this period, the NUS presidency was dominated by the ], within which the Communist Party of Great Britain (where Eurocommunism was most popular among students rather than the pro-Soviet "]" anti-revisionists) predominated and usually supplied the president, but were backed up by Labour and the Liberals. They did so to work as a voting bloc against both the Conservatives and ]. The first of these Broad Left presidents was ] (later a Home Secretary under Blair) who as a member of the ], won the ] back from Militant influence. Other presidents included ] (who began on the ] wing on the Communist Party of Great Britain but ended up a founding member of the ] by 1981), ] (a Broad Left independent and the first black NUS president, who later led the race relations group the ]) and ] (who was then a Eurocommunist, but later became a journalist aligned to ]). | |||
===NUS Charitable Services=== | |||
===Labour Students presidency, 1982–2000=== | |||
NUS has established a new charity to drive improvement in students’ unions. It will focus on students’ union quality, talent management, equality and diversity, strategic development and turnaround, ethical and environmental work, and fundraising. | |||
From 1982 with the election of ], until ] stood down in 2000, the presidency of the National Union of Students was controlled by the National Organisation of Labour Students, which shortened its name to ] in 1994. Notable NUS Presidents of this period included ], ] and ]. | |||
===History in the 21st century=== | |||
'''Ethical and environmental work''' | |||
====Fairtrade==== | |||
NUS' ethical and environmental department originated in 1995, forming a committee tasked with investigating allegations of environmental bad practice at Bass breweries. | |||
{{Citation needed-span|date=June 2016|text=The '''Fairtrade NUS Campaign''' was started by students at the ] in autumn 2005. The campaign, which has now been joined by numerous other ]s in Britain, is calling for 100% of the hot beverages (tea, coffee, ], etc.) sold by member unions of the NUS to be accredited with the ].}} | |||
The campaign has since been extended into Students Organising for Sustainability (SOS-UK), an educational charity responding to the climate emergency and ecological crisis.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Students Organising for Sustainability|url=https://sustainability.unioncloud.org/|access-date=July 6, 2020|website=NUS}}</ref> | |||
As of 2013, the department employs over 25 members of staff, delivering far-reaching behavioural change programmes among staff and students such as , , and . | |||
The Fairtrade Foundation collaborated with the NUS in awarding The Fairtrade Universities and Colleges Award,<ref>{{Cite web|title=Universities and College|url=https://www.fairtrade.org.uk/get%20involved/In-your-community/Universities|access-date=July 6, 2020}}</ref> which started as a pilot in 2017.<ref>{{Cite web|date=6 September 2017|title=Fairtrade and NUS pilot new University and College Award scheme|url=https://www.nus.org.uk/en/news/fairtrade-and-nus-pilot-new-university-and-college-award-scheme/|access-date=July 6, 2020|website=NUS}}</ref> As of 2020, twelve universities had achieved Fairtrade status.<ref>{{Cite web|date=22 June 2020|title=12 UNIVERSITIES HAVE ACHIEVED FAIRTRADE STATUS IN NATIONWIDE FAIRTRADE UNIVERSITY AND COLLEGE AWARD|url=https://www.fairtrade.org.uk/Media-Centre/News/June-2020/12-Universities-have-achieved-Fairtrade-status-in-nationwide-Fairtrade-University-and-College-Award|access-date=July 6, 2020|website=Fairtrade Foundation}}</ref> | |||
The department is currently managing the pilot year of - a £5 million grant from HEFCE, supporting 25 student-led, transformative sustainability projects at students' unions across England. | |||
====Education finance==== | |||
NUS' ethical and environmental department turns students' unions into hubs of sustainability at the hearts of wider communities, and empowers students to become part of the solution to our environmental challenges. Read more about them and their strategy . | |||
{{main|2010 education cuts protests}} | |||
Under the leadership of ] the NUS abandoned its long-standing commitment to ] and backed a ] as its preferred outcome of the ] into higher education funding. Before the ], the NUS invited candidates to sign a ], receiving over 1000 signatories from prospective parliamentary candidates. This became a very high-profile campaign when many Liberal Democrat MPs, who all signed individual NUS pledges stating they would vote against any rise in tuition fees if elected, had to abstain or do the opposite as part of their coalition agreement. | |||
The NUS, under new leader ], organised ] in November 2010, demanding an end to education cuts. The march route passed ] and the ] headquarters at ]. As they marched past the building, some protesters diverted in to the courtyard of ] and began an occupation of the building. | |||
==Criticisms== | |||
With an attendance of over 50,000 people, it was the largest British demonstration since the ]. This led to various more demos until the rise in tuition fees was passed.<ref>{{cite news|title=Tuition fees: government wins narrow victory as protests continue|url=https://www.theguardian.com/education/2010/dec/09/tuition-fees-vote-government-wins-narrow-victory|access-date=22 December 2014|work=The Guardian|date=9 December 2010}}</ref> | |||
The NUS has come in for criticism from various quarters, particularly from those students' unions who are not affiliated. Sen Ganesh, then president of ], said in 2002 that "NUS's claim to be representative of students is not borne out by their work", especially as "the NUS is dominated by Labour students and this diminishes the ability to address student issues in an impartial fashion."<ref name="whatever">{{cite news | |||
|url=http://web.archive.org/web/20081206174038/http://www.hero.ac.uk/uk/studying/archives/2002/what_have_nus_ever_done_f1509.cfm|title=What have NUS ever done for us? | |||
|year=2002 |accessdate=30 May 2006 |author=Adam Keating}}</ref> | |||
The day before the vote to allow a rise in tuition fees, the ''Daily Telegraph'' reported that they had seen emails that suggested ] had supported, rather than increase ], cuts of up to 80% should be made to student support packages including grants and loans.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/universityeducation/8190379/National-Union-of-Students-secretly-urged-Government-to-make-deep-cuts-in-student-grants.html|title=National Union of Students secretly urged Government to make deep cuts in student grants|work=The Daily Telegraph |location=UK|date=8 December 2010|access-date=8 December 2010}}</ref> Porter responded to the claims on NUS Connect that "In all of these meetings and communications we stated our firm and clear opposition to cuts" and that the distortion of the discussions was "political desperation from a coalition government losing the arguments on its own policies".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nusconnect.org.uk/news/article/6001/1173/|title=NUS responds to Telegraph article|publisher=NUS Connect|date=9 December 2010|access-date=9 December 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101212222919/http://www.nusconnect.org.uk/news/article/6001/1173/|archive-date=12 December 2010}}</ref> | |||
Another criticism leveled at NUS is the absence of ] in electing national offices. Currently, officers of NUS are elected at conferences by delegates chosen by affiliated union of NUS. Critics from both within and outside the student movement have argued that consultation by unions with their members over who should represent the students' union at national conferences is often minimal, and some have argued in favour of changes to the NUS constitution that would result in a one-member-one-vote policy.<ref>{{cite web|title=One Member One Vote Working Group Findings|url=http://www.theyworkforstudents.co.uk/uploads/6/2/1/0/6210998/nc2012_omov_report.pdf|website=They Work for Students|publisher=Theyworkforstudents.com|accessdate=22 December 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=#NUSnc14 - And our one member one vote motion.|url=http://www.yusu.org/your-union/blogs/entry/1319|website=University of York Students' Union|publisher=University of York Students' Union|accessdate=22 December 2014}}</ref> | |||
On 9 April 2014 the National Union of Students passed policy at its national conference to reverse its position on education funding. The call for a ] was abandoned in favour of calls for ] funded through progressive taxation.<ref>{{cite book|title=NUS National Conference 2014|date=8 April 2014|publisher=NUS|pages=26–27|url=http://www.theyworkforstudents.co.uk/uploads/6/2/1/0/6210998/cd10_final_proposals_post_priroty_ballot_draft_12.pdf|access-date=22 December 2014}}</ref> | |||
The NUS has also been criticised for prioritisation of NUS Extra over campaigning on issues which affect students.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://web.archive.org/web/20061006235301/http://www.epigram.org.uk/view.php?id=906 |title=NUS: Extra rip-off for students? |publisher=Epigram.org.uk |accessdate=31 May 2010}}</ref> Despite it being NUS policy that none of the discounts on the original free NUS card would be moved to NUS Extra, proposed by ], NUS Treasurer Dave Lewis went against policy and removed the discounts from the original free NUS card.<ref>http://resource.nusonline.co.uk/media/resource/CD22_Resolutions.pdf {{Dead link|date = September 2013}}</ref> | |||
====Governance review==== | |||
Other critics have focussed on the organisation's perceived failure to campaign effectively on student issues such as tuition fees and prescription costs<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.tcs.cam.ac.uk/issue/comment/nus-should-we-vote-to-disaffiliate/ |title=NUS – Should we vote to disaffiliate? | The Cambridge Student |publisher=Tcs.cam.ac.uk |date=21 January 2010 |accessdate=31 May 2010}}</ref> and have advocated that students and unions coordinate independently of the NUS to campaign on the national stage.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.free-education.org.uk/?p=653 |title=NUS Trustee Board: hammering in the final nails… : Education Not For Sale |publisher=Free-education.org.uk |date=14 December 2009 |accessdate=31 May 2010}}{{Dead link|date = February 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://cambridgetab.co.uk/news/chigbos-guilty-of-election-abuses/ |title=Chigbo Guilty Of Election Abuses « THE TAB – www.cambridgetab.co.uk – All the latest Cambridge University news online |publisher=Cambridgetab.co.uk |accessdate=31 May 2010}}</ref> | |||
] | |||
{{further|Governance of the National Union of Students (United Kingdom)}}The 2008 Conference in Blackpool was dominated by the governance review debate and vote. The proposals were for a restructuring of the running of the Union but the vote was lost by 25 votes (a two-thirds majority was required).<ref>{{cite news| url=http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/mortarboard/2008/04/blairite_revolution_in_nus_is.html |work=The Guardian|location=London | title=Blairite revolution in NUS is defeated | first=Donald | last=MacLeod | date=1 April 2008 | access-date=19 May 2010}}</ref> The review was criticised for what was felt by detractors to be an attack on the organisation's democratic accountability.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.upsu.net/news/union/democracy/2008/04/01/nus-governance-revie.html|title=NUS Governance Review defeated at last stage – Education-News-News-UPSU.net<!-- Bot generated title -->|access-date=2 September 2017|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080516090236/http://www.upsu.net/news/union/democracy/2008/04/01/nus-governance-revie.html|archive-date=16 May 2008}}</ref> Its supporters however defended the review as providing a more 'innovative' corporate structure which was hoped to make it more credible in negotiating policy, rather than simply 'reactive'.<ref>{{cite news| url=http://education.guardian.co.uk/students/news/story/0,,2236692,00.html |work=The Guardian|location=London | title=New year, new union | first=Anthea | last=Lipsett | date=8 January 2008 | access-date=19 May 2010}}</ref> This was not well received by many in the executive with President, Gemma Tumelty, vowing to press ahead with reform.<ref>{{cite news| url=http://education.guardian.co.uk/higher/news/story/0,,2270226,00.html |work=The Guardian|location=London | title=Every single year you boo me. I couldn't care less | date=2 April 2008 | access-date=19 May 2010}}</ref> The perceived lack of progress on governance reform also prompted ] to hold a referendum on disaffiliation.<ref>{{cite web |author=Ashley Brown |url=http://live.cgcu.net/news/1769 |title=Live! – Council Calls NUS Referendum |publisher=Live.cgcu.net |date=19 May 2008 |access-date=31 May 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110608213148/http://live.cgcu.net/news/1769 |archive-date=8 June 2011 |url-status=dead}}</ref> | |||
====ISIS, Malia Bouattia, and disaffiliations==== | |||
===Financial crisis=== | |||
In October 2014, NUS National Executive Committee rejected a motion to condemn the militant group ] because some executive members "felt that the wording of the motion being presented would unfairly demonise all Muslims rather than solely the group of people it set out to rightfully condemn."<ref>{{cite web|title=NUS-statement-on-NEC-motion|url=http://www.nusconnect.org.uk/news/article/nus/NUS-statement-on-NEC-motion/|publisher=NUS connect|website=www.nusconnect.org.uk|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141222144258/http://www.nusconnect.org.uk/news/article/nus/NUS-statement-on-NEC-motion/|archive-date=22 December 2014}}</ref> NUS received criticism for this stance given its previous condemnation of the ] political party.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://i100.independent.co.uk/article/nus-will-condemn-israel-and-ukip-but-not-isis--lJLK98e7Ul|title=NUS will condemn Israel and Ukip but not Isis|date=15 October 2014|access-date=2 September 2017|archive-date=13 February 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160213184443/http://i100.independent.co.uk/article/nus-will-condemn-israel-and-ukip-but-not-isis--lJLK98e7Ul|url-status=dead}}</ref> Despite a statement from NUS<ref>{{cite web|title=NUS-statement-on-NEC-motion|url=http://www.nusconnect.org.uk/news/article/nus/NUS-statement-on-NEC-motion/|website=nusconnect|publisher=NUS|access-date=22 December 2014|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141222144258/http://www.nusconnect.org.uk/news/article/nus/NUS-statement-on-NEC-motion/|archive-date=22 December 2014}}</ref> confirming that "a new motion will be taken to the next NUS National Executive Committee meeting, which will specifically condemn the politics and methods of ISIS and offer solidarity for the Kurdish people," media coverage of the vote caused some students' union members to speculate that the NUS itself has been infiltrated by extremist sympathisers.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Merrill|first1=Jamie|title=NUS motion to condemn Isis fails amidst claims of islamophobia|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/student/news/nus-motion-to-condemn-isis-fails-amidst-claims-of-islamophobia-9796193.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220618/https://www.independent.co.uk/student/news/nus-motion-to-condemn-isis-fails-amidst-claims-of-islamophobia-9796193.html |archive-date=18 June 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|access-date=16 October 2014|work=]|date=15 October 2014}}</ref> At the following executive meeting on 3 December 2014, a similar motion, which condemned ISIS, expressed solidarity with the Kurdish people, and called on NUS to challenge "Islamophobia and all forms of racism being whipped up" was resubmitted and easily passed.<ref>{{cite web|title=National Union of Students votes to oppose US and UK military intervention in Iraq and Syria|url=http://stopwar.org.uk/resources/reports/national-union-of-students-votes-to-oppose-us-and-uk-military-intervention-in-iraq-and-syria|website=Stop the War|access-date=22 December 2014|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://archive.today/20141222120707/http://stopwar.org.uk/resources/reports/national-union-of-students-votes-to-oppose-us-and-uk-military-intervention-in-iraq-and-syria|archive-date=22 December 2014}}</ref> | |||
In the mid-2000s, NUS faced a financial crisis, caused by a coinciding of spiraling expenditure and decreasing income. A series of measures were proposed to address this, of which the most controversial included a series of changes to the constitutional and democratic processes. In 2004, two emergency conferences passed some of the changes proposed, albeit not without fierce dispute between those claiming the proposals were necessary reforms to maintain the existence of the organisation and those arguing that they were aimed at curbing democracy and involvement. The 2006 NUS Conference passed a policy which enabled NUS to launch NUS Extra in September 2006.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://studentunion.ca/international/uk/NUS%20-%20CD21%20Resolutions%20-%20March%202006.pdf#page=17 |title=NUS CD21 Resolutions - March 2006 |publisher=NUS |accessdate=February 20, 2014}}</ref> | |||
At the 2016 NUS conference, ] was elected president with 50.9% of the vote defeating ] who had sought re-election.<ref name="Gilligan">{{Cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/04/20/malia-bouattia-elected-nus-president-after-causing-controversy/|title=Malia Bouattia elected NUS President after causing controversy over 'anti-Semitism and refusing to condemn Isil'|website=The Telegraph|date=20 April 2016 |access-date=2016-04-20|last1=Gilligan |first1=Andrew }}</ref> Bouattia was soon subject to ] of ];<ref>{{cite web|last=Bowden|first=George|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/nus-president-election-candidate-malia-bouattia-responds-to-anti-semitism-claims_uk_570fa2dae4b01711c61318c4|title=NUS President Election Candidate, Malia Bouattia, Responds To 'Anti-Semitism' Claims|work=The Huffington Post|date=14 April 2016|access-date=23 April 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://the-london-school-of-emancipation.blogspot.co.uk/2011/03/university-of-birmingham-israeli.html |title=University of Birmingham & Israeli Apartheid Week: Mock Israeli Checkpoint|last1=Lindley |first1=Daniel |last2=Bouattia |first2=Malia |date=28 March 2011 |website=The London School of Emancipation Blogspot |publisher=The London School of Economics Student Union Palestine Society |location=London |access-date=31 January 2017}}</ref><ref name="Nawaz">{{Cite web|last=Nawaz|first=Maajid|url=http://www.thejc.com/comment-and-debate/comment/157134/malia-bouattia-symbolic-poison-regressive-left|title=Malia Bouattia is symbolic of the poison of the regressive Left|work=The Jewish Chronicle|date=20 April 2016|access-date=23 April 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Firsht|first=Naomi|url=http://www.thejc.com/news/campus-news/157101/student-leader-made-comments-about-zionist-led-media%E2%80%99-video-reveals|title=Student leader made comments about 'Zionist-led media', video reveals|work=The Jewish Chronicle|date=20 April 2016}}</ref> an October 2016 report by the House of Commons ] described her comments as "outright racism", and said that she was not taking issues of antisemitism on university campuses seriously enough.<ref name="SelectCommittee">{{cite news|last1=Dysch|first1=Marcus|title=Jeremy Corbyn, Baroness Chakrabarti and Malia Bouattia criticised in MPs' antisemitism report|url=http://www.thejc.com/news/uk-news/164742/jeremy-corbyn-baroness-chakrabarti-and-malia-bouattia-criticised-mps-antisemitis|access-date=17 October 2016|work=The Jewish Chronicle|date=16 October 2016}}</ref> Bouattia was condemned by over 300 Jewish student leaders, the ] and ].<ref name=":2">{{Cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/04/20/malia-bouattia-elected-nus-president-after-causing-controversy/|title=Malia Bouattia elected NUS President after causing controversy over 'anti-Semitism and refusing to condemn Isil'|author=Gilligan, Andrew|website=]|date=20 April 2016|access-date=20 April 2016}}</ref><ref name="AAli">{{cite web|last=Ali|first=Aftab|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/student/news/malia-bouattia-elected-nus-national-president-at-brighton-conference-a6992761.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220618/https://www.independent.co.uk/student/news/malia-bouattia-elected-nus-national-president-at-brighton-conference-a6992761.html |archive-date=18 June 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=The NUS has elected its new president for the next academic year|website=The Independent|language=en-GB|access-date=2016-04-20}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Khomani|first=Nadia|url=https://www.theguardian.com/education/2016/apr/21/nus-president-malia-bouattia-must-redress-concerns-over-antisemitism-say-jewish-students|title=NUS president must address concerns over antisemitism, say Jewish students|work=The Guardian|date=23 April 2016|access-date=23 April 2016}}</ref> In response to her election, students at ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ] and ] began campaigning to disaffiliate from the NUS.<ref name="BBC230416">{{cite news|title=Students threaten to split from NUS over new president|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-36109164|access-date=23 April 2016|work=]|date=22 April 2016}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://thelinc.co.uk/2016/05/lincoln-su-disaffiliates-from-national-union-of-students/|title=Lincoln SU disaffiliates from National Union of Students|date=2016-05-09|website=The Linc|language=en-GB|access-date=2016-05-10}}</ref> ], ], ] and ] disaffiliated; the remainder maintained affiliation, although NUS reportedly broke campaigning rules at ], ], and ].<ref> | |||
===Durham censorship controversy=== | |||
{{further|NUS No Platform Policy}}In February 2010, the NUS came under criticism after two of its officers forced a proposed debate on ] at the ] to be cancelled.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://web.archive.org/web/20101030031409/http://www.palatinate.org.uk/news/national-news/security-concerns-stifle-free-speech/ |title=Security concerns stifle free speech |publisher=Palatinate.org.uk |accessdate=31 May 2010}}</ref> The debate, organised by the ] – a debating society entirely separate from ] – was to have featured two prominent ] members: ] ] ] and ] ] Chris Beverley.<ref></ref> Upon hearing of BNP involvement in the debate, NUS Black Students' Officer Bellavia Ribeiro-Addy and NUS LGBT Officer Daf Adley jointly sent a letter to both the Durham Union Society and the university demanding its cancellation. The pair stated that the debate would be illegal and threatened to organise a "colossal demonstration" in tandem with ], adding that "if any students are hurt in and around this event responsibility will lie with you".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dur.ac.uk/vm.jcr/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1561&Itemid=496 |title=Multiculturalism Debate & Potential Anti-Fascist Protests – Van Mildert JCR |publisher=Dur.ac.uk |date=2 February 2010 |accessdate=31 May 2010}}{{Dead link|date = February 2014}}</ref> | |||
{{cite web|url=http://versanews.co.uk/2016/05/31/breaking-nus-violate-referendum-rules-in-an-attempt-to-influence-result/|title=VERSA – BREAKING EXCLUSIVE: NUS violate referendum rules in an attempt to influence result|date=31 May 2016|access-date=2 September 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://thetab.com/2016/05/27/nus-disaffiliation-referendums-story-far-91322|title=NUS disaffiliation: The story so far|date=27 May 2016|website=The Tab|access-date=2 September 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://thetab.com/uk/cambridge/2016/05/26/breaking-no-action-taken-nus-breaking-referendum-rules-77729|title=BREAKING: No action taken against NUS or CUCA for breaking referendum rules|date=26 May 2016|access-date=2 September 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://thetab.com/uk/2019/03/28/nus-caught-cheating-in-unis-vote-to-leave-by-emailing-voters-pro-nus-propaganda-96667|title=NUS cheat uni's vote to leave by emailing voters pro-NUS propaganda|date=28 March 2019|access-date=15 April 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/north-east-news/newcastle-university-cuts-ties-nus-11326067|title=Newcastle University cuts ties with the NUS following election of controversial president|first=Thomas|last=Hornall|date=12 May 2016|access-date=2 September 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.vice.com/en_uk/read/whats-going-on-with-the-nus-disaffiliation|title=Why Are So Many Student Unions Trying to Leave the NUS?|website=Vice|date=3 June 2016 |access-date=2 September 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.durhamsu.com/main-menu/have-your-say/referendum |title=Referendum @ Durham Students' Union |access-date=2016-06-15 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160607180701/http://www.durhamsu.com/main-menu/have-your-say/referendum |archive-date=7 June 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://versanews.co.uk/2016/06/02/breaking-oxford-votes-to-stay-in-the-nus/|title=VERSA – BREAKING: Oxford votes to stay in the NUS|date=2 June 2016|access-date=2 September 2017}}</ref> | |||
The subsequent cancellation of the debate by Durham Union Society President Anna Birley on safety grounds was met with fierce backlash. NUS President Wes Streeting was prompted to personally appear before the Durham Union Society to apologise for the actions of the officers concerned, though outrage among Durham students was sufficient that a significant number protested outside the debating chamber at the time.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/news/4997928.Student_union_apologises_over_BNP_claim/?ref=rss |title=Student union apologises over BNP claim (From the Northern Echo) |publisher=Thenorthernecho.co.uk |date=10 February 2010 |accessdate=31 May 2010}}</ref> A protest group on Facebook quickly amassed over 2,500 members.<ref>{{cite news|title=NUS mis-handling prompts backlash|url=http://www.palatinate.org.uk/?p=5293|accessdate=22 December 2014|agency=Palatinate Newspaper|date=22 February 2010}}</ref> An official petition was lodged with Durham Students' Union to call for a referendum on disaffiliation from NUS.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.palatinate.org.uk/news/national-news/nus-mis-handling-prompts-backlash/ |title=NUS mis-handling prompts backlash |publisher=Palatinate.org.uk |date=8 February 2010 |accessdate=31 May 2010}}</ref> On 12 March 2010, the referendum concluded with a majority of voting students choosing to disaffiliate.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.palatinate.org.uk/?p=9757|title=60% vote to reaffiliate with NUS|publisher=Palatinate Online|first=Daniel|last=Johnson|date=28 January 2011|accessdate=8 May 2011}}</ref> | |||
In April 2017, Bouattia was defeated in her re-election by ], the union's vice-president for further education, who received 56% of the vote.<ref name="Topping">{{cite news|last1=Topping|first1=Alexandra|last2=Marsh|first2=Sarah|url=https://www.theguardian.com/education/2017/apr/26/malia-bouattia-shakira-martin-nus-national-union-of-students-president-election|title=Divisive NUS president Malia Bouattia defeated in election|work=The Guardian|date=26 April 2017|access-date=26 April 2017}}</ref> | |||
Another referendum by those in favour of NUS membership was called shortly following the "no" result, and in January 2011, 60% of Durham students taking part in the referendum voted to reaffiliate with the NUS on a turnout of 21.6% (compared with 14.5% turnout to disaffiliate the previous year).<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.palatinate.org.uk/?p=9757|title=60% vote to reaffiliate with NUS|publisher=Palatinate Online|first=Daniel|last=Johnson|date=28 January 2011|accessdate=8 May 2011}}</ref> | |||
Martin pledged "unity", "pragmatism", and putting "NUS back into the hands of its membership".<ref name="The Independent">{{cite news|last1=Pells|first1=Rachel|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/student/news/shakira-martin-wins-nus-presidency-further-education-candidate-president-tom-harwood-malia-bouattia-a7703001.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220618/https://www.independent.co.uk/student/news/shakira-martin-wins-nus-presidency-further-education-candidate-president-tom-harwood-malia-bouattia-a7703001.html |archive-date=18 June 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=Further education underdog Shakira Martin wins NUS presidency|work=The Independent|date=26 April 2017|access-date=26 April 2017}}</ref> Moderate groups such as the ] and ] sought to reform the organisation to prevent further disaffiliations, passing major ] ]. The changes, developed from "two of consultation with hundreds of students' unions, legal and expert advice,"<ref name="Brooks">{{cite news|last1=Brooks|first1=Richard|url=https://thetab.com/uk/2017/04/20/democratic-processes-arent-sexy-38180|title=Democratic processes aren't sexy|work=The Tab|date=23 April 2017|access-date=30 April 2017}}</ref> were described as "the most comprehensive and wide-ranging structural reforms in NUS history".<ref name="Lapwood">{{cite news|last1=Lapwood|first1=George|url=http://www.studentnewspaper.org/press-coverage-of-the-nus-is-dishonest-and-manipulative/|title=The NUS Conference was an overwhelming success. So why the obsession with 'jazz hands'?|work=The Student Newspaper|date=29 April 2017|access-date=30 April 2017}}</ref> | |||
==== Threat of bankruptcy ==== | |||
==Current & recent issues== | |||
On 2 November 2018, it was reported that the NUS faced bankruptcy.<ref name="the Guardian">{{cite news |last1=Adams |first1=Richard |title=National Union of Students faces bankruptcy over £3m deficit |url=https://www.theguardian.com/education/2018/nov/02/national-union-of-students-faces-bankruptcy |work=The Guardian|date=2 November 2018 |language=en}}</ref> The 2017 reforms had not been delivered, and several years of financial mismanagement had created a significant decline in resources.<ref name="the Guardian"/> Martin wrote to members that the union would be "taking urgent action to stabilise", with reforms being developed for "consideration and refinement with the help of our members". Martin faced criticism for developing a drastic programme of financial, governance and campaigning reforms for approval by the 2019 National Conference; however after around five hours of debate, 700 delegates voted in favour of the package.<ref name="NUS reforms">{{cite news|last1=Weale|first1=Sally|url=https://www.theguardian.com/education/2019/apr/10/national-union-of-students-approves-reforms-to-plug-36m-deficit|title=NUS approves measures to plug £3.6m deficit|work=The Guardian|date=10 April 2019 |language=en}}</ref> Martin welcomed the vote, calling it a "momentous decision to endorse reform and deliver the vision of members". | |||
=== |
==== New NUS ==== | ||
In 2020, NUS official split into two organisations: NUS UK and NUS Charity.<ref name="Governing Boards @ NUS Connect">{{Cite web|title=Governing Boards @ NUS Connect|url=https://www.nusconnect.org.uk/governance/governing-boards|access-date=2021-04-09|website=www.nusconnect.org.uk|language=en}}</ref> NUS UK focuses on campaigning with students while NUS Charity focuses on supporting students' unions. | |||
{{main|2010 education cuts protests}} | |||
Under the leadership of ] the NUS abandoned its long-standing commitment to ] and backed a ] as its preferred outcome of the ] into higher education funding. Before the ], the NUS invited candidates sign a ], receiving over 1000 signatories from prospective parliamentary candidates. This became a very high profile campaign when many Liberal Democrat MPs, who all signed individual NUS pledges stating they would vote against any rise in tuition fees if elected, had to abstain or do the opposite as part of their coalition agreement. | |||
==== Report into institutional antisemitic behaviour ==== | |||
The NUS, under new leader ], organised ] in November 2010, demanding an end to education cuts. The march route passed ] and the ] headquarters at ]. As they marched past the building, some protesters diverted in to the courtyard of ] and began an occupation of the building. | |||
In May 2022, the UK Government announced it would sever all ties with the NUS on the basis claiming that it had failed to tackle “antisemitic rot at the heart".<ref>{{Cite news |last=Ellery |first=Ben |title=Government severs ties with NUS over 'antisemitic rot at its heart' |newspaper=] |language=en |url=https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/government-severs-ties-with-nus-over-antisemitic-rot-at-its-heart-m28gqsgd5 |access-date=2022-05-13 |issn=0140-0460}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-61447105 |title=NUS: Government cuts students' union links over anti-Semitism concerns |publisher=BBC News |date=14 May 2022 | last=Jackson |first=Marie |access-date=15 May 2022}}</ref> Also in May 2022, NUS announced that Rebecca Tuck QC would lead an independent investigation into allegations of antisemitism within NUS. Following her inquiry, Shaima Dallali was dismissed as NUS President in November 2022.<ref>{{Cite news |date=1 November 2022 |title=NUS president dismissed over anti-Semitism claims |work=] |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-63477692 |access-date=1 November 2022}}</ref><ref name="Bloch">{{Cite news |last=Bloch |first=Ben |date=1 November 2022 |title=Shaima Dallali sacked as NUS president after antisemitism investigation |work=] |url=https://www.thejc.com/news/news/shaima-dallali-sacked-as-nus-president-after-antisemitism-investigation-60pJUIaxpqtzEodLEN7EgU?reloadTime=1667320916834 |access-date=1 November 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |author1=Hugh Jones |author2=Caredig ap Tomos |author3=Michael Hennessey |title=NUS president suspended amid antisemitism row |url=https://www.varsity.co.uk/news/24198 |website=] |access-date=16 September 2022 |date=16 September 2022}}</ref> | |||
With an attendance of over 50,000 people, it was the largest British demonstration since the Iraq War protest. This led to various more demos until the rise in tuition fees was passed.<ref>{{cite news|title=Tuition fees: government wins narrow victory as protests continue|url=http://www.theguardian.com/education/2010/dec/09/tuition-fees-vote-government-wins-narrow-victory|accessdate=22 December 2014|publisher=Guardian|date=9 December 2010}}</ref> | |||
The independent investigation found that NUS has failed to sufficiently challenge antisemitism and hostility towards Jews in its own structures. Jewish students have been "subjected to harassment" and NUS policies have been breached. The NUS apologised to Jewish students and said it would implement the report's recommendations.<ref>{{cite news |title=NUS failed to challenge antisemitism - report |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-64228726 |access-date=12 January 2023 |work=BBC News |date=12 January 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Independent investigation into antisemitism |url=https://www.nus.org.uk/independent_investigation_into_antisemitism |publisher=NUS |access-date=12 January 2023}}</ref> | |||
The day before the vote to allow a rise in tuition fees, the ''Daily Telegraph'' reported that they had seen emails that suggested ] had supported, rather than increase ], cuts of up to 80% should be made to student support packages including grants and loans.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/universityeducation/8190379/National-Union-of-Students-secretly-urged-Government-to-make-deep-cuts-in-student-grants.html|title=National Union of Students secretly urged Government to make deep cuts in student grants|work=The Daily Telegraph |location=UK|date=8 December 2010|accessdate=8 December 2010}}</ref> Porter responded to the claims on NUS Connect that "In all of these meetings and communications we stated our firm and clear opposition to cuts" and that the distortion of the discussions was "political desperation from a coalition government losing the arguments on its own policies".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nusconnect.org.uk/news/article/6001/1173/|title=NUS responds to Telegraph article|publisher=NUS Connect|date=9 December 2010|accessdate=9 December 2010}}</ref> | |||
==Democracy== | |||
On April 9, 2014, the National Union of Students passed policy at its national conference to reverse its position on education funding. The call for a ] was abandoned in favour Amendment 213b (listed as 215c)<ref>{{cite book|title=NUS National Conference 2014|date=8 April 2014|publisher=NUS|pages=26-27|url=http://www.theyworkforstudents.co.uk/uploads/6/2/1/0/6210998/cd10_final_proposals_post_priroty_ballot_draft_12.pdf|accessdate=22 December 2014}}</ref> which calls for ] funded through progressive taxation. | |||
{{Unreferenced section|date=June 2016}} | |||
The NUS holds national conferences once a year. National Conference is the sovereign body of NUS, and is where NUS policy is decided.<ref>{{Cite web|title=National Conference|url=https://www.nusconnect.org.uk/conferences/national-conference|access-date=6 July 2020|website=NUS}}</ref> Regional Conferences are run to enhance the representation of members from Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. Prior to the 2019 reforms other conferences such as Women's Conference, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Trans Students' Conference (changed as of 2004), Disabled Students' Conference, Black Students' Conference, Mature and Part-Time Students' Conference and the International Students' Conference (created in 2004) were run to enhance the representation of the specific members they included. Post-2019 the Women's, LGBT, Trans, Disabled, and Black Students' Conferences have been merged into a single Liberation Conference and the Mature and Part-Time, Postgraduate, and International Students' Conferences are no longer in operation. | |||
In July 2014, due to the creation of a new NUS London area, the first NUS London conference was held. Most of these conferences, and in particular the elections held at them, are contested by ] including ], ], ], ], the ], ], ], ], Student RESPECT and ]. In addition to these political factions, interest groups such as the ] and the ] are deeply involved in the internal democratic processes of the NUS. | |||
===Fairtrade=== | |||
The '''Fairtrade NUS Campaign''' was started by students at the ] in autumn 2005. The campaign, which has now been joined by numerous other ]s in Britain, is calling for 100% of the hot beverages (tea, coffee, ], etc.) sold by member unions of the NUS to be accredited with the ]. | |||
==NUS Services== | |||
The campaign is supported by a number of NGOs and charities, including ], ], ] and ]. | |||
{{Citation needed-span|date=June 2016|text=NUS Services provides collective purchasing, support and marketing services to NUS-affiliated students' unions. Its shareholders consist of over 200 NUS-affiliated students' unions, and it is directed by a board and committees composed of volunteers from these shareholder unions.}} | |||
The Association for Managers in Students' Unions voted to merge with NUS and NUS Services in 2010.<ref>{{cite web|title=AMSU votes to merge with NUS|url=http://www.nus.org.uk/en/news/amsu-votes-to-merge-with-nus/|website=NUS News|publisher=NUS|access-date=22 December 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=SUSU: What is NUS|url=http://www.susu.org/downloads/democracy/papers/election_2.pdf|publisher=Southampton University Students' Union|access-date=22 December 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141222135106/http://www.susu.org/downloads/democracy/papers/election_2.pdf|archive-date=22 December 2014|url-status=dead}}</ref> | |||
While it is contested amongst the universities about who were the original Fairtrade University, the ] foundation gave this status first and worked with ] who spearheaded the movement – with the ] a close second. | |||
=== |
===TOTUM=== | ||
{{redirect|Totum|the album of that name|Abstract Truth}} | |||
{{further|Governance Structure of the National Union of Students of the United Kingdom}}The 2008 Conference in Blackpool was dominated by the governance review debate and vote. The proposals were for a restructuring of the running of the Union but the vote was lost by 25 votes (a two-thirds majority was required).<ref>{{cite news| url=http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/mortarboard/2008/04/blairite_revolution_in_nus_is.html |work=The Guardian |location=London | title=Blairite revolution in NUS is defeated | first=Donald | last=MacLeod | date=1 April 2008 | accessdate=19 May 2010}}</ref> The review was criticised for what was felt by detractors to be an attack on the organisation's democratic accountability.<ref></ref> Its supporters however defended the review as providing a more 'innovative' corporate structure which was hoped to make it more credible in negotiating policy, rather than simply 'reactive'.<ref>{{cite news| url=http://education.guardian.co.uk/students/news/story/0,,2236692,00.html |work=The Guardian |location=London | title=New year, new union | first=Anthea | last=Lipsett | date=8 January 2008 | accessdate=19 May 2010}}</ref> This was not well received by many in the executive with President, Gemma Tumelty, vowing to press ahead with reform.<ref>{{cite news| url=http://education.guardian.co.uk/higher/news/story/0,,2270226,00.html |work=The Guardian |location=London | title=Every single year you boo me. I couldn't care less | date=2 April 2008 | accessdate=19 May 2010}}</ref> The perceived lack of progress on governance reform has also prompted ] to hold a referendum on disaffiliation.<ref>{{cite web|author=Ashley Brown |url=http://live.cgcu.net/news/1769 |title=Live! – Council Calls NUS Referendum |publisher=Live.cgcu.net |date=19 May 2008 |accessdate=31 May 2010}}</ref> | |||
TOTUM, formerly known as NUS Extra, is a discount card which can be purchased by students.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nus.org.uk/en/nus-extra/|title=TOTUM – #1 student discount|website=www.nus.org.uk}}</ref> It is produced by NUS Services in conjunction with NUS, and affiliated students' unions receive a commission on every card sold to their members, however the card is available to all students regardless of whether they are members of an affiliated student union or not.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.totum.com/about|title=TOTUM – #1 student discount|website=www.totum.com}}</ref> TOTUM users are also eligible to apply for a NUS ]-approved ].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.totum.com/proof-of-age-id-card|title= Proof of age ID with TOTUM|website=www.totum.com|publisher=NUS|access-date=24 January 2020}}</ref> | |||
Revised proposals were drafted and submitted to an extraordinary conference in November 2008. The conference passed the proposals by 4 votes to 1. A second extraordinary conference to ratify the proposals (the constitution requires that any changes are passed by two consecutive conferences) took place on 20 January 2009. The proposals were accepted by a huge majority and the new constitution came into force. | |||
=== |
===NUS Charitable Services=== | ||
In October 2014, NUS National Executive Committee rejected a motion to condemn the militant group ] because some executive members "felt that the wording of the motion being presented would unfairly demonise all Muslims rather than solely the group of people it set out to rightfully condemn."<ref>{{cite web|title=NUS-statement-on-NEC-motion|url=http://www.nusconnect.org.uk/news/article/nus/NUS-statement-on-NEC-motion/|website=nusconnect|publisher=http://www.nusconnect.org.uk/news/article/nus/NUS-statement-on-NEC-motion/}}</ref> | |||
NUS has established a charity to drive improvement in students' unions. It will focus on students' union quality, talent management, equality and diversity, strategic development and turnaround, ethical and environmental work, and fundraising.<ref name="Governing Boards @ NUS Connect"/> | |||
'''Ethical and environmental work''' | |||
To encourage environmental ], the NUS organises behavioural change programmes among staff and students, such as Green Impact,<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Scarborough |first1=C |last2=Cantarello |first2=E |title=Barriers to pro-environmental behaviours at Bournemouth University |journal=Meliora: International Journal of Student Sustainability Research |date=2018 |volume=1 |issue=2 |doi=10.22493/Meliora.1.2.0010 |url=https://eprints.bournemouth.ac.uk/31095/ |language=en}}</ref> Student Switch Off,<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Mazhar |first1=MU |last2=Bull |first2=R |last3=Lemon |first3=M |title=Critical success factors for embedding carbon management in organizations: lessons from the UK higher education sector |journal=Carbon Management |date=2 November 2017 |volume=8 |issue=5–6 |pages=379–392 |doi=10.1080/17583004.2017.1386533 |bibcode=2017CarM....8..379M |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/17583004.2017.1386533 |language=en |issn=1758-3004|hdl=2086/14940 |hdl-access=free }}</ref> and Student Eats.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Laycock Pedersen |first1=R |last2=Robinson |first2=ZP |last3=Surman |first3=E |title=Understanding Transience and Participation in University Student-Led Food Gardens |journal=Sustainability |date=January 2019 |volume=11 |issue=10 |pages=2788 |doi=10.3390/su11102788 |doi-access=free |language=en |issn=2071-1050}}</ref> | |||
NUS's ethical and environmental department originated in 1995, forming a committee tasked with investigating allegations of environmental bad practice at Bass breweries.{{Citation needed|date=June 2016}} | |||
In 2016, the department managed the pilot year of NUS Students' Green Fund – a £5 million grant from HEFCE, supporting 25 student-led, transformative sustainability projects at students' unions across England.{{Citation needed|date=June 2016}} | |||
In 2019, this department became an independent organisation called Students Organisation for Sustainability UK.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Students Organising for Sustainability UK (SOS-UK)|url=https://sustainability.nus.org.uk/|access-date=2021-04-09|website=sustainability.nus.org.uk}}</ref> | |||
==Criticisms== | |||
The NUS has come in for criticism from those students' unions who are not affiliated. Sen Ganesh, then president of ], said in 2002 that "NUS's claim to be representative of students is not borne out by their work", especially as "the NUS is dominated by Labour students and this diminishes the ability to address student issues in an impartial fashion".<ref name="whatever">{{cite news|url=http://www.hero.ac.uk/uk/studying/archives/2002/what_have_nus_ever_done_f1509.cfm |title=What have NUS ever done for us? |year=2002 |access-date=30 May 2006 |author=Adam Keating |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081206174038/http://www.hero.ac.uk/uk/studying/archives/2002/what_have_nus_ever_done_f1509.cfm |archive-date=6 December 2008 }}</ref> | |||
Another criticism leveled at NUS is the absence of ] in electing national officers. Officers of NUS are elected at conferences by delegates chosen by affiliated unions of NUS. Critics, from both within and outside the student movement, have argued that consultation by unions with their members over who should represent the students' union at national conferences is often minimal, and some have argued in favour of changes to the NUS constitution that would result in a one-member-one-vote policy.<ref>{{cite web|title=One Member One Vote Working Group Findings|url=http://www.theyworkforstudents.co.uk/uploads/6/2/1/0/6210998/nc2012_omov_report.pdf|website=They Work for Students|publisher=Theyworkforstudents.com|access-date=22 December 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=#NUSnc14 – And our one member one vote motion.|url=http://www.yusu.org/your-union/blogs/entry/1319|website=University of York Students' Union|access-date=22 December 2014|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141222131054/http://www.yusu.org/your-union/blogs/entry/1319|archive-date=22 December 2014}}</ref> | |||
The NUS has also been criticised for prioritisation of NUS Extra over campaigning on issues which affect students.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.epigram.org.uk/view.php?id=906 |title=NUS: Extra rip-off for students? |publisher=Epigram.org.uk |access-date=31 May 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110722200944/http://www.epigram.org.uk/view.php?id=906 |archive-date=22 July 2011 }}</ref> | |||
===Financial crisis=== | |||
In the mid-2000s, NUS faced a financial crisis, caused by a coinciding of spiraling expenditure and decreasing income. A series of measures were proposed to address this, of which the most controversial included a series of changes to the constitutional and democratic processes. In 2004, two emergency conferences passed some of the changes proposed, albeit not without fierce dispute between those claiming the proposals were necessary reforms to maintain the existence of the organisation and those arguing that they were aimed at curbing democracy and involvement. The 2006 NUS Conference passed a policy which enabled NUS to launch NUS Extra in September 2006.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://studentunion.ca/international/uk/NUS%20-%20CD21%20Resolutions%20-%20March%202006.pdf#page=17 |title=NUS CD21 Resolutions – March 2006 |publisher=NUS |access-date=20 February 2014}}</ref> | |||
=== ''Liar Liar'' campaign === | |||
In the run up to the 2015 general election the NUS launched its ''Liar Liar'' campaign aimed at unseating ] (MPs) who broke promises regarding the cost of education.<ref>{{Cite web|title = Liar Liar: www.nus.org.uk|url = http://www.nus.org.uk/en/liar-liar/|access-date = 2015-04-21}}</ref> At an estimated cost of £40,000 and consisting of a social media campaign alongside billboards, the campaign was well-received by many students, but also came under criticism for being politically motivated specifically against ] MPs as opposed to members of all parties.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Morrissey |first=Ciarán |date=2015-04-21 |title=NUS's 'Liar Liar' campaign comes under fire for being politically biased |url=http://www.nouse.co.uk/2015/04/21/nus-liar-liar-campaign-comes-under-fire-for-being-politically-biased/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150523172227/http://www.nouse.co.uk/2015/04/21/nus-liar-liar-campaign-comes-under-fire-for-being-politically-biased/ |archive-date=2015-05-23 |access-date=2015-04-21 |website=]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title = Blair Blair: a response to the NUS's 'Liar Liar' campaign {{!}} Redbrick|url = http://www.redbrick.me/ge2015/election-comment/blair-blair-a-response-to-the-nus-liar-liar-campaign/|website = Redbrick|access-date = 2015-04-21|first = Sarah|last = Dougherty|archive-date = 27 April 2015|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150427021655/http://www.redbrick.me/ge2015/election-comment/blair-blair-a-response-to-the-nus-liar-liar-campaign/|url-status = dead}}</ref> | |||
Posters promoting the campaign were also removed from several railway stations on the grounds that Network Rail is an "arms length public sector body" and must therefore remain politically neutral. The NUS claimed that the removal of the posters was an attempt to "gag" the union.<ref>{{Cite web|title = Network Rail orders removal of NUS anti-Lib Dem posters|url = https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2015/apr/24/network-rail-orders-removal-students-anti-lib-dem-posters-tuition-fees|website = The Guardian|access-date = 2015-04-24|first = James|last = Meikle| date=24 April 2015 }}</ref> | |||
Despite a statement from NUS<ref>{{cite web|title=NUS-statement-on-NEC-motion|url=http://www.nusconnect.org.uk/news/article/nus/NUS-statement-on-NEC-motion/|website=nusconnect|publisher=NUS|accessdate=22 December 2014}}</ref> confirming that "a new motion will be taken to the next NUS National Executive Committee meeting, which will specifically condemn the politics and methods of ISIS and offer solidarity for the Kurdish people," media coverage of the vote caused some student's union members to speculate that the NUS itself has been infiltrated by extremist sympathisers.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Merrill|first1=Jamie|title=NUS motion to condemn Isis fails amidst claims of islamophobia|url=http://www.independent.co.uk/student/news/nus-motion-to-condemn-isis-fails-amidst-claims-of-islamophobia-9796193.html|accessdate=16 October 2014|work=]|date=15 October 2014}}</ref> | |||
NUS president Toni Pearce defended the union's actions saying that the breach of a promise regarding tuition fees: "Wasn't a minor misdemeanour. It was an outright lie. We have an obligation to hold them to account for this, and we will."<ref>{{Cite news|title = Election 2015: Nick Clegg's broken fees pledge defence 'weak' says NUS| work=BBC News | date=16 April 2015 |url = http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/article/32332363/election-2015-nick-cleggs-broken-fees-pledge-defence-weak-says-nus|access-date = 2015-04-21}}</ref> | |||
At the following executive meeting on December 3 2014, a similar motion, which condemned ISIS, expressed solidarity with the Kurdish people, and called on NUS to challenge "Islamophobia and all forms of racism being whipped up" was resubmitted and easily passed.<ref>{{cite web|title=National Union of Students votes to oppose US and UK military intervention in Iraq and Syria|url=http://stopwar.org.uk/resources/reports/national-union-of-students-votes-to-oppose-us-and-uk-military-intervention-in-iraq-and-syria|website=Stop the War|accessdate=22 December 2014}}</ref> | |||
== |
==See also== | ||
* ] | |||
The NUS also supports ]<ref>{{cite web|title=Who we are|url=http://www.abortionrights.org.uk/index.php/about-us/about-us|publisher=Abortion Rights|accessdate=9 December 2014|quote=We are delighted to have the support of ... NUS}}</ref> through an affiliation programme. This organisation campaigns "to defend and extend women's rights and access to safe, legal abortion"; among its statements it opposes the criminalisaton of ].<ref>{{cite web|title=Statement on sex-selective abortion|url=http://www.abortionrights.org.uk/index.php/about-us/position-statements/534-statement-on-sex-selective-abortion|publisher=Abortion Rights|accessdate=9 December 2014|date=18 September 2014}}</ref> The organisation also campaigns to remove any restructions on abortion and so allow full term abortions. | |||
* ] | |||
* ] | |||
* ] | |||
* ] | |||
* ] | |||
* ] | |||
==References== | ==References== | ||
{{reflist|colwidth=30em}} | {{reflist|colwidth=30em}} | ||
== |
==External links== | ||
* {{Official website}} | |||
* (external focused) | |||
* | |||
* | |||
*, held at the ] | |||
===Video clips=== | |||
* | |||
{{National Union of Students (United Kingdom)}} | {{National Union of Students (United Kingdom)}} | ||
{{Universities in the United Kingdom}} | {{Universities in the United Kingdom}} | ||
{{European Students' Union}} | |||
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{{DEFAULTSORT:National Union Of Students Of The United Kingdom}} | {{DEFAULTSORT:National Union Of Students Of The United Kingdom}} | ||
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Latest revision as of 19:29, 4 December 2024
National students' union in the United Kingdom
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Abbreviation | NUS |
---|---|
Formation | 10 February 1922; 102 years ago (1922-02-10) |
Headquarters | London, England, UK |
Services | support to students and students' unions |
Membership | ~600 students' unions |
Official language | English, Welsh (NUS Wales) |
President | Amira Campbell |
Subsidiaries | NUS Services Limited, NUS Holdings Limited, NUS Students' Union Charitable Services, NUS Media Limited |
Affiliations | European Students' Union |
Website | www |
The National Union of Students (NUS) is a confederation of student unions in the United Kingdom. Around 600 student unions are affiliated, accounting for more than 95% of all higher and further education unions in the UK. Although the National Union of Students is the central organisation for all affiliated unions in the UK, there are also the devolved national sub-bodies NUS Scotland in Scotland, NUS Wales (UCM Cymru) in Wales and NUS-USI in Northern Ireland (the latter being co-administered by the Union of Students in Ireland).
NUS is a member of the European Students' Union.
Membership
There are four types of membership of NUS:
- Constituent membership is granted to students' unions by National Conference or National Executive Council by a two-thirds majority vote
- Individual membership is granted automatically to members of students' unions with constituent membership, sabbatical officers of constituent members, members of the National Executive Council and sabbatical conveners of NUS Areas
- Associate membership is granted by a two-thirds majority vote of National Executive Council to:
- Student Organisations in Association – any national student organisations
- Partner Organisations in Association - non-student organisations which sympathise with the NUS
- Individuals in Association – any individual who supports the objects of the NUS
- NUS Areas - geographically-defined associations of students' unions
- Honorary membership is granted by National Conference to "any person or organisation as it sees fit"
Of these types of membership, only constituent members may vote on or submit policy proposals to the National Conference. Constituent members and associate members are required to pay a subscription fee as a condition of their membership.
History
Further information: Student unionism in the United Kingdom and List of Presidents of the National Union of Students (United Kingdom)Origins and early history
The NUS was formed on 10 February 1922 at a meeting held at the University of London. At this meeting, the Inter-Varsity Association and the International Students Bureau (which organised student travel and had been lobbying for a national body) agreed to merge.
Founding members included the unions of University of Birmingham, Birkbeck, University of London, London School of Economics, Imperial College (who first left in 1923 and have subsequently rejoined and left three times, the last time being in June 2008), King's College London (who supplied the first President, Sir Ivison Macadam) and the University of Bristol.
Politicisation and Broad Left, 1968–1982
In the aftermath of the First World War in its founding constitution, the National Union of Students had adopted from the outset a "non political" clause in its charter in an attempt to distance itself from the reasons that the War had broken out. It had thus concerned itself with student interaction and cheap travel, student grants and student interests.
This apolitical consensus was challenged in concert with the international protests of 1968 and as the Cold War intensified. At the 1969 NUS conference, then president Trevor Fisk came up against Jack Straw (then close to Bert Ramelson of the Communist Party of Great Britain, but much later Foreign Secretary under the New Labour government of Tony Blair) over the issue. Straw supported student protests against US military involvement in the Vietnam War, while Fisk advocated neutrality; Straw's side won and the "no politics" clause was removed.
A new era began for the NUS, where political agitation and protest became institutionalized. Straw was followed up as president by Digby Jacks, also representing the Radical Student Alliance (formed in 1966 by Fergus Nicholson) and a member of the Communist Party of Great Britain. According to contemporary British government reports, the RSA was connected to the Trotskyist-led Vietnam Solidarity Campaign and had close links with the Sozialistischer Deutscher Studentenbund (organising a protest following Rudi Dutschke's shooting). The government report stated "If they have an ideological bible it consists of the work of Professor Herbert Marcuse, One-Dimensional Man." In line with the Marcusian viewpoint of championing politicised minority groups, throughout the 1970s, the NUS came to support what it called "liberation campaigns", including; homosexual rights (the first national group to do so in 1973), radical feminism and black nationalism. At the same time, the NUS adopted a No Platform policy; a concept pioneered by the IMG in 1972; to stifle the campus organisation and speech of nationalistic British groups that it declared to be "racist or fascist". At the time, this was aimed at the National Front and the Monday Club (a faction in the Federation of Conservative Students).
The union was also involved in affairs in Northern Ireland, where most higher education establishments there were members of both the NUS and the Union of Students in Ireland (USI), though this differed from case to case. Indeed, two presidents of the NUS earlier on in the 1960s were from The Queen's University of Belfast (Queen's or QUB); T. William Savage and T. Geoff Martin. The 1968–69 unrest in Northern Ireland saw the onset of The Troubles and a sectarian divisiveness come to the fore. After members of the QUBSU organised a protest against the hardline Unionist politician Bill Craig, the then Minister of Home Affairs, some members such as Bernadette Devlin, Eamonn McCann and Michael Farrell decided to found the Trotskyist group People's Democracy in 1968, which played a role in the Northern Ireland civil rights movement. Following a meeting in Galway in 1972, to combat divisions, it was agreed that a group called the NUS-USI would be founded with dual-membership to cover Northern Ireland.
One of the NUS' protest campaigns which was of particular significance during the 1970s and the 1980s was the boycott campaign against National Party governed South Africa as part of the Anti-Apartheid Movement. In 1970, NUS vice president Tony Klug visited South Africa and met with Steve Biko of the SASO among others. Members also attempted to disrupt South African rugby and cricket matches in the United Kingdom during the 1970s. In the 1980s, the NUS played a significant role in getting Barclay's Bank to divest from South Africa, attacking it as "Boerclay Bank".
Throughout this period, the NUS presidency was dominated by the Broad Left, within which the Communist Party of Great Britain (where Eurocommunism was most popular among students rather than the pro-Soviet "Tankie" anti-revisionists) predominated and usually supplied the president, but were backed up by Labour and the Liberals. They did so to work as a voting bloc against both the Conservatives and Militant. The first of these Broad Left presidents was Charles Clarke (later a Home Secretary under Blair) who as a member of the Clause Four Group, won the National Organisation of Labour Students back from Militant influence. Other presidents included Sue Slipman (who began on the Eurocommunist wing on the Communist Party of Great Britain but ended up a founding member of the Social Democratic Party by 1981), Trevor Phillips (a Broad Left independent and the first black NUS president, who later led the race relations group the Runnymede Trust) and David Aaronovitch (who was then a Eurocommunist, but later became a journalist aligned to neoconservatism).
Labour Students presidency, 1982–2000
From 1982 with the election of Neil Stewart, until Andrew Pakes stood down in 2000, the presidency of the National Union of Students was controlled by the National Organisation of Labour Students, which shortened its name to Labour Students in 1994. Notable NUS Presidents of this period included Phil Woolas, Maeve Sherlock and Stephen Twigg.
History in the 21st century
Fairtrade
The Fairtrade NUS Campaign was started by students at the University of Edinburgh in autumn 2005. The campaign, which has now been joined by numerous other students' unions in Britain, is calling for 100% of the hot beverages (tea, coffee, hot chocolate, etc.) sold by member unions of the NUS to be accredited with the Fairtrade Markchart.
The campaign has since been extended into Students Organising for Sustainability (SOS-UK), an educational charity responding to the climate emergency and ecological crisis.
The Fairtrade Foundation collaborated with the NUS in awarding The Fairtrade Universities and Colleges Award, which started as a pilot in 2017. As of 2020, twelve universities had achieved Fairtrade status.
Education finance
Main article: 2010 education cuts protestsUnder the leadership of Wes Streeting the NUS abandoned its long-standing commitment to free education and backed a graduate tax as its preferred outcome of the Browne Review into higher education funding. Before the 2010 General Election, the NUS invited candidates to sign a pledge not to raise tuition fees, receiving over 1000 signatories from prospective parliamentary candidates. This became a very high-profile campaign when many Liberal Democrat MPs, who all signed individual NUS pledges stating they would vote against any rise in tuition fees if elected, had to abstain or do the opposite as part of their coalition agreement.
The NUS, under new leader Aaron Porter, organised a national protest attended by thousands in November 2010, demanding an end to education cuts. The march route passed Whitehall and the Conservative Party headquarters at Millbank Tower. As they marched past the building, some protesters diverted in to the courtyard of Millbank Tower and began an occupation of the building.
With an attendance of over 50,000 people, it was the largest British demonstration since the Iraq War protest. This led to various more demos until the rise in tuition fees was passed.
The day before the vote to allow a rise in tuition fees, the Daily Telegraph reported that they had seen emails that suggested Aaron Porter had supported, rather than increase tuition fees, cuts of up to 80% should be made to student support packages including grants and loans. Porter responded to the claims on NUS Connect that "In all of these meetings and communications we stated our firm and clear opposition to cuts" and that the distortion of the discussions was "political desperation from a coalition government losing the arguments on its own policies".
On 9 April 2014 the National Union of Students passed policy at its national conference to reverse its position on education funding. The call for a graduate tax was abandoned in favour of calls for free education funded through progressive taxation.
Governance review
Further information: Governance of the National Union of Students (United Kingdom)The 2008 Conference in Blackpool was dominated by the governance review debate and vote. The proposals were for a restructuring of the running of the Union but the vote was lost by 25 votes (a two-thirds majority was required). The review was criticised for what was felt by detractors to be an attack on the organisation's democratic accountability. Its supporters however defended the review as providing a more 'innovative' corporate structure which was hoped to make it more credible in negotiating policy, rather than simply 'reactive'. This was not well received by many in the executive with President, Gemma Tumelty, vowing to press ahead with reform. The perceived lack of progress on governance reform also prompted Imperial College Union to hold a referendum on disaffiliation.
ISIS, Malia Bouattia, and disaffiliations
In October 2014, NUS National Executive Committee rejected a motion to condemn the militant group Islamic State because some executive members "felt that the wording of the motion being presented would unfairly demonise all Muslims rather than solely the group of people it set out to rightfully condemn." NUS received criticism for this stance given its previous condemnation of the UKIP political party. Despite a statement from NUS confirming that "a new motion will be taken to the next NUS National Executive Committee meeting, which will specifically condemn the politics and methods of ISIS and offer solidarity for the Kurdish people," media coverage of the vote caused some students' union members to speculate that the NUS itself has been infiltrated by extremist sympathisers. At the following executive meeting on 3 December 2014, a similar motion, which condemned ISIS, expressed solidarity with the Kurdish people, and called on NUS to challenge "Islamophobia and all forms of racism being whipped up" was resubmitted and easily passed.
At the 2016 NUS conference, Malia Bouattia was elected president with 50.9% of the vote defeating Megan Dunn who had sought re-election. Bouattia was soon subject to several allegations of antisemitism; an October 2016 report by the House of Commons Home Affairs Select Committee described her comments as "outright racism", and said that she was not taking issues of antisemitism on university campuses seriously enough. Bouattia was condemned by over 300 Jewish student leaders, the Union of Jewish Students and Oxford University Student Union. In response to her election, students at Durham, Loughborough, Hull, Aberystwyth, Oxford, Cambridge, Manchester, Essex, York, King's College London, Nottingham, UWE, Leicester, Queen Mary University of London and Reading University began campaigning to disaffiliate from the NUS. Newcastle, Portsmouth, Hull and Loughbrough disaffiliated; the remainder maintained affiliation, although NUS reportedly broke campaigning rules at Oxford, Cambridge, and Christ Church.
In April 2017, Bouattia was defeated in her re-election by Shakira Martin, the union's vice-president for further education, who received 56% of the vote. Martin pledged "unity", "pragmatism", and putting "NUS back into the hands of its membership". Moderate groups such as the Organised Independents and Union of Jewish Students sought to reform the organisation to prevent further disaffiliations, passing major democratic reform motions. The changes, developed from "two of consultation with hundreds of students' unions, legal and expert advice," were described as "the most comprehensive and wide-ranging structural reforms in NUS history".
Threat of bankruptcy
On 2 November 2018, it was reported that the NUS faced bankruptcy. The 2017 reforms had not been delivered, and several years of financial mismanagement had created a significant decline in resources. Martin wrote to members that the union would be "taking urgent action to stabilise", with reforms being developed for "consideration and refinement with the help of our members". Martin faced criticism for developing a drastic programme of financial, governance and campaigning reforms for approval by the 2019 National Conference; however after around five hours of debate, 700 delegates voted in favour of the package. Martin welcomed the vote, calling it a "momentous decision to endorse reform and deliver the vision of members".
New NUS
In 2020, NUS official split into two organisations: NUS UK and NUS Charity. NUS UK focuses on campaigning with students while NUS Charity focuses on supporting students' unions.
Report into institutional antisemitic behaviour
In May 2022, the UK Government announced it would sever all ties with the NUS on the basis claiming that it had failed to tackle “antisemitic rot at the heart". Also in May 2022, NUS announced that Rebecca Tuck QC would lead an independent investigation into allegations of antisemitism within NUS. Following her inquiry, Shaima Dallali was dismissed as NUS President in November 2022.
The independent investigation found that NUS has failed to sufficiently challenge antisemitism and hostility towards Jews in its own structures. Jewish students have been "subjected to harassment" and NUS policies have been breached. The NUS apologised to Jewish students and said it would implement the report's recommendations.
Democracy
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The NUS holds national conferences once a year. National Conference is the sovereign body of NUS, and is where NUS policy is decided. Regional Conferences are run to enhance the representation of members from Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. Prior to the 2019 reforms other conferences such as Women's Conference, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Trans Students' Conference (changed as of 2004), Disabled Students' Conference, Black Students' Conference, Mature and Part-Time Students' Conference and the International Students' Conference (created in 2004) were run to enhance the representation of the specific members they included. Post-2019 the Women's, LGBT, Trans, Disabled, and Black Students' Conferences have been merged into a single Liberation Conference and the Mature and Part-Time, Postgraduate, and International Students' Conferences are no longer in operation.
In July 2014, due to the creation of a new NUS London area, the first NUS London conference was held. Most of these conferences, and in particular the elections held at them, are contested by factions including Conservative, Labour Students, the Young Liberals, National Campaign Against Fees and Cuts, the Organised Independents, Young Independence, Socialist Students, Socialist Workers' Student Society, Student RESPECT and Liberation Left. In addition to these political factions, interest groups such as the Federation of Student Islamic Societies and the Union of Jewish Students are deeply involved in the internal democratic processes of the NUS.
NUS Services
NUS Services provides collective purchasing, support and marketing services to NUS-affiliated students' unions. Its shareholders consist of over 200 NUS-affiliated students' unions, and it is directed by a board and committees composed of volunteers from these shareholder unions.
The Association for Managers in Students' Unions voted to merge with NUS and NUS Services in 2010.
TOTUM
"Totum" redirects here. For the album of that name, see Abstract Truth.TOTUM, formerly known as NUS Extra, is a discount card which can be purchased by students. It is produced by NUS Services in conjunction with NUS, and affiliated students' unions receive a commission on every card sold to their members, however the card is available to all students regardless of whether they are members of an affiliated student union or not. TOTUM users are also eligible to apply for a NUS PASS-approved identification card.
NUS Charitable Services
NUS has established a charity to drive improvement in students' unions. It will focus on students' union quality, talent management, equality and diversity, strategic development and turnaround, ethical and environmental work, and fundraising.
Ethical and environmental work
To encourage environmental sustainability, the NUS organises behavioural change programmes among staff and students, such as Green Impact, Student Switch Off, and Student Eats.
NUS's ethical and environmental department originated in 1995, forming a committee tasked with investigating allegations of environmental bad practice at Bass breweries.
In 2016, the department managed the pilot year of NUS Students' Green Fund – a £5 million grant from HEFCE, supporting 25 student-led, transformative sustainability projects at students' unions across England.
In 2019, this department became an independent organisation called Students Organisation for Sustainability UK.
Criticisms
The NUS has come in for criticism from those students' unions who are not affiliated. Sen Ganesh, then president of Imperial College Union, said in 2002 that "NUS's claim to be representative of students is not borne out by their work", especially as "the NUS is dominated by Labour students and this diminishes the ability to address student issues in an impartial fashion".
Another criticism leveled at NUS is the absence of direct democracy in electing national officers. Officers of NUS are elected at conferences by delegates chosen by affiliated unions of NUS. Critics, from both within and outside the student movement, have argued that consultation by unions with their members over who should represent the students' union at national conferences is often minimal, and some have argued in favour of changes to the NUS constitution that would result in a one-member-one-vote policy.
The NUS has also been criticised for prioritisation of NUS Extra over campaigning on issues which affect students.
Financial crisis
In the mid-2000s, NUS faced a financial crisis, caused by a coinciding of spiraling expenditure and decreasing income. A series of measures were proposed to address this, of which the most controversial included a series of changes to the constitutional and democratic processes. In 2004, two emergency conferences passed some of the changes proposed, albeit not without fierce dispute between those claiming the proposals were necessary reforms to maintain the existence of the organisation and those arguing that they were aimed at curbing democracy and involvement. The 2006 NUS Conference passed a policy which enabled NUS to launch NUS Extra in September 2006.
Liar Liar campaign
In the run up to the 2015 general election the NUS launched its Liar Liar campaign aimed at unseating members of Parliament (MPs) who broke promises regarding the cost of education. At an estimated cost of £40,000 and consisting of a social media campaign alongside billboards, the campaign was well-received by many students, but also came under criticism for being politically motivated specifically against Liberal Democrat MPs as opposed to members of all parties.
Posters promoting the campaign were also removed from several railway stations on the grounds that Network Rail is an "arms length public sector body" and must therefore remain politically neutral. The NUS claimed that the removal of the posters was an attempt to "gag" the union.
NUS president Toni Pearce defended the union's actions saying that the breach of a promise regarding tuition fees: "Wasn't a minor misdemeanour. It was an outright lie. We have an obligation to hold them to account for this, and we will."
See also
- Governance of the National Union of Students
- List of students' unions in the United Kingdom not affiliated with the NUS
- National Union of Students Disabled Students' Campaign
- National Union of Students Scotland
- National Union of Students-Union of Students in Ireland
- National Union of Students Wales
- National Union of Students Women's Campaign
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