NUS President Bouattia: 'My thoughts and prayers are with all the victims of the horrific attack in Westminster'

Malia Bouattia, the current president of the NUS who is running to serve a second term, has released a statement on the Westminster attack.  However, the statement has been condemned by Tom Harwood, who is also running for NUS President.

Read the full statement here:

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My thoughts and prayers are with all the victims of the horrific attack in Westminster, as well as their loved ones.

Among those injured are four students from Edge Hill University, and a group of students from France. As the President of NUS I would like to send them our movement's love and solidarity.

I also want to extend our solidarity to the many Muslims and migrants who at this time will be especially fearful of racism and abuse. We must stand firm against all attempts to stoke up Islamophobia or intolerance against migrants of any nationality, especially at a time of increased hate crime against many communities across society.

Similarly, we must also continue to oppose attempts to utilise such events to undermine civil liberties, extend surveillance policies such as Prevent, or to tighten border controls.

Last night thousands came together in London for a vigil. Let us take the time to remember the victims and all the victims of war and terror around the world. Let us appreciate one another and remind ourselves that the strength of our movement comes from its diversity and unity. Let us recommit ourselves to building a movement that stands firm against racism and xenophobia, is vigilant against attempts to divide us, and fights to build a more just and safer world.

In unity,

Malia Bouattia

NUS National President

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Tom Harwood, the US presidential candidate who lead Students for Britain (the EU Leave campaign) and was recently elected an NUS delegate from Durham, was critical.  He wrote:

Extraordinary statement from Malia that fails to mention the police or even the terrorist.

I can only hope that the paragraphs condemning the atrocity and thanking the police for their tireless, heroic work have been temporarily misplaced.