Aaron Porter, the leader of the NUS, has announced today that he will stand down. Apparently, this is only the second time since 1969 that an NUS president won’t serve two terms. Impressive.
For those who don’t know much about this, traditionally being NUS president leaves you with a cushy job in the Labour, à la Jack Straw. The NUS has been a moderate body mostly filled with prospective Labour politicians, but never before has a president managed to shoot himself in the foot with quite such finesse.
Where do I start with its failings? As Billy Bragg sings, there is power in a union. Yet it seems that the NUS failed to utilise it, instead being dithering and spineless – as Aaron Porter himself said.
Aaron Porter and those of his ilk may lament the “radical elements” that have been unleashed upon mainstream society, but this is a student movement on the scale that hasn’t been seen for the last fifty years; this is an homage to 1968.
Aaron Porter didn’t understand or like what was happening. He was happy to condemn the student “violence” while saying nothing about the brutal police tactics that almost killed innocent students he was supposed to represent.
A series of leaked memos showed everyone that Aaron Porter really wasn’t on the same side as either the “radical elements” or the mainstream student movement. Anyone who can describe parts of the government’s education reforms as “progressive” is no friend of mine.
The pinnacle of the betrayal came at the rally in Manchester in January 2011 (you know – the one where he had to take cover due to the jovial anger directed at him by his own members) when rumours were spread that the students at the rally were shouting anti-Semitic chants at Porter, who is not Jewish. It was later revealed that the source for these rumours was an NUS official. Even before this, there was no verifiable evidence of any anti-Semitic chants (The Daily Mail and Telegraph based their articles on dubious claims from dubious sources), despite the masses of video evidence there were at the rally.
For Aaron Porter to stay as president of the NUS would cause little more than a student civil war. While I don’t doubt he had support from some of the NUS delegates, the completely non-democratic way that the NUS is run means that the student body is already isolated and frustrated that they can’t have their voice heard.
I would love to vote for Mark Bergfeld, except I won’t because the NUS’s version of democracy is somewhat dubious. Instead I’ll vote for Andrew to attend the conference. Mark Bergfeld is part of the Education Activist Network, Socialist Workers Party and sits on the NUS exec council. It would be a refreshing change to have an activist rather than a career politician heading the NUS.
If you’re in Aberystwyth University and see the problems with the NUS, come to the Guild’s GM on March 3rd, where Andrew proposed and I seconded a motion for the democratisation of the NUS.
As Andrew wrote on his personal blog, Aaron Porter is leaving, but the problems with the NUS aren’t. Nor are the Neoliberal policies of our current government. More than ever we need a strong president who can unite the students, and fight for the students. Not fight for their career in the government.
I can’t vote, but I can write. This is my protest, and my endorsement.
Bergfeld for President!
