The NUS is drowning in an ocean of its own bile. This
week – as its annual conference began to get under way – the Independent reported
on a deep problem of anti-Semitism right at the heart of its organisation. It
was revealed that one current member of the National Executive Committee shared
a video mocking Jews as having big noses, and being ‘tight with money’.
Another, who seeks a position on the union’s executive, wrote a Twitter message
that was derogatory to Jewish people, which was topped off with ‘#heilhitler’.
This is not the first time that the NUS has become
embroiled in anti-Semitic related scandal. Readers may recall that Malia
Bouattia, the NUS President (at the time of writing), was accused of ‘outright
racism’ by the Home Affairs Select Committee for her remark that the University
of Birmingham was ‘something of a Zionist outpost in British Higher Education’.
There are intrinsic problems with the NUS, and anti-Semitism is not the only
way it flashes its credentials of intolerance.
In 2014,
the NUS Executive Committee rejected a motion to condemn Islamic State because
certain members ‘felt that the wording of the motion being presented would
unfairly demonise all Muslims’. The supreme irony of this is that they did not
hesitate to condemn UKIP, whilst also voting in favour of boycotting Israel. To
display their skewed priorities further, Malia Bouattia wrote a
letter containing a brief tribute to the victims of the
Westminster attack (with the notable exception of PC Keith Palmer.) This then
proceeded to become a call for students to ‘be aware of the concerns of Muslim,
migrant and racialised students.’ You really could not make this up.
The NUS appears to be in free-fall. Rather than focus
on the concerns of the diversity of the student body, it anxiously wrings it
hands over issues such as what the foreign policy of the British government
should be. Instead of promoting the freedom of all of its students, the NUS
instead decided to claim that gay
men
‘don’t face oppression’, and (bizarrely) banned
clapping.
There is an urgent need for somebody to catch this
most valuable of institutions before it reaches the very bottom. With the
election of the new NUS President rapidly approaching, there is one clear
option as to who can achieve this: Tom
Harwood. This 20-year-old Durham University student is
running on the ticket of injecting ‘democracy, legitimacy, and inclusivity back
into our movement.’ His plan pledges to ‘stick to campaigning on student
issues’ and ‘welcome people of all opinions into our movement’, returning to
the idea of the NUS being for students. He can talk the talk and, as his work
with the campaign for Brexit demonstrates, he can walk the walk.
Harwood represents the rational, sensible, pragmatic
face of student politics. Being an actual student, unlike the 30-year-old Malia
Bouattia, means that he actually understands the concerns of the average
student because he is one, and as a result can actually reasonably be felt to
be representative. Refusing to take himself too seriously, his policies – such
as enacting one member one vote – are interspersed with jokes (remember them?) like
making Freddo’s 10p again.
At this 2017 conference, the future of the NUS is on a
knife’s edge. If it re-elects Malia Bouattia, it can kiss its hopes of becoming
a legitimate student movement goodbye. If it elects Tom Harwood, the NUS can
start to move towards being a serious democratic organisation, and begin to –
once again – make precious change. It cannot be denied that this will be a
long, and difficult, path. But some things are worth fighting for.
Daniel Clark is a writer for Student Voices. Read his articles here >
Tom Harwood Can Save the NUS | Daniel Clark
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