@ NUS Conference 09 Wednesday 1st
Student
unity! Y
Stop the fascist BNP
esterday’s speech by Matthew Collins from Searchlight was an excellent look into the potential threat of the BNP in the upcoming EU elections. Matt, who was once a more prominent member of the National Front (NF), became an anti-fascist activist after he realised what the NF, BNP & their ilk are really like. He explained that his activity had seen him mingle with the elements of the British National Party (BNP) and that he’d witnessed their true colours. “I have watched the BNP stamp on the heads of innocent Asian women in London”. Such shocking statements are nothing new when it comes to the BNP, they may have changed their image but the racist blood that pumps through its veins remains the same, and always will. What Matt highlighted was that students by acting collectively in struggle against the BNP could help stop them in their jack boot tracks! Wes Steering,
current NUS president, added, “the Far right are threatening our education”. Granted, the BNP would break up our communities and our union and we agree that they would destroy our education system. Although Wes doesn’t seem to make the point that the new constitution is undermining our democratic structures, and is making the NUS a less effective campaigning body in the fight against the BNP fascists. Matthew Collins reiterated that the challenge of words is important; words being either derogative or racist. He
recalled an abusive email from a BNP member that showed exactly what their real intentions are. They said that Matt and his “Jewish, Muslim and gay friends ” will be defeated by the BNP (obviously in words that we don’t want to repeat in print). Matt emphasised that the fight against fascism is not about “wearing T-shirts and badges but about activity” followed by the point that the BNP can defeat the Lib/Lab/ Con grey muddle that is the main parties, but they cannot defeat organised labour, the
trade union movement organised against the BNP and all they stand for. With the collapse of UKiP, the BNP have the very real potential of getting as many as 7 MEPs elected at the up-coming European elections in June. This will earn them hundreds of thousands of pounds from the European parliament to allow them to continue their racist vile lies and give them a massive amount of credibility as they have gained from winning a seat in the GLA last year. The fight against the BNP is as important as ever. Communist Students can see that the problems in today’s economy and society as a whole are not, as the BNP claims, caused by immigration. We can see that the capitalist system itself is to blame for the current banking & economic crisis. Communist students supports the work of Searchlight, UAF and other anti-fascist organisations and feel every aspect of opposition needs to be taken in order to combat the BNP and fascism. Get the vote out in European elections –defeat the fascist BNP ¡NO PASARAN!
Fringe meeting Wednesday 1st Liberation in every union Organised by NUS LGBT, NUS Black Students, NUS Disabled Students, NUS Women’s Campaign
Windsor Bar, 8pm Includes Q&A session with relevant NUS officers
they did with the University’s promise to open their books on twelve companies of our choosing (they claimed the data protection ct prevented them opening their books), and would enter discussions as to the sending of resources (they claimed it would take time to liaise with various departments) and look at the situation regarding scholarships. The victories of this resurgence of student activism will inspire a greater confidence in the struggles to come. Unity is key to bringing these Palestinian students and that efforts together, this does no repercussions would face not stop with Palestinian activists.” A meeting room solidarity, this represents was set aside, and all a renewal in the campaign decisions were made against tuition fees, and democratically. Comrades ultimately the fight for a were elected for negotiation democratic, fighting union. with the university, and at all points we ensured that students of the university represented us so that the university knew it was their To be or not own students participating. Despite the decision to to be allow all tutors and PHD connected students access to the that is the building the university turned off the heating, along Question with access to the internet. Sources revealed that the The NUS has (helpfully) university planned to provided a list of WiFi remove all utilities from the hotspots & places with building over the course of access to the internet in the week, with a view to Blackpool. After raiding us once we had been extensive research by broken down. It was Communist Students we decided that we would have become aware that stockpile water in the event the Gillespies Bar on of this. One comrade Topping Street has in entered the basement to try fact been closed since and find water coolers, last Christmas. unaware of the previous agreement. However, do not With allegations of despair, the Trespassing and the familiar establishment next door, threat of arrest, that many Churchills, has recently, student activists have and exclusively, offered encountered up and down internet for all delegates the country, the university who quote - "Long live demanded the occupiers Cuba" leave the building which
From the River to the Sea Universities across Britain have witnessed an explosion of student activism in solidarity with the oppressed people of Palestine. There have been occupations in over twenty five different universities, signalling a return to the more vibrant student politics of the 1960s. Many universities have already given in to their students’ demands and have been forced to divest from arms companies and provide scholarships for Palestinian students. The occupation at the University of Manchester was the longest yet. Manchester YCLer George Waterhouse stated that “despite repeatedly telling students he would not negotiate while the occupation continued, the Vice-Chancellor, persuaded by a step up in activity, agreed to negotiate.” Philip McGuinness, a member of the Young Communist league in Scotland, has been actively involved in the occupation at Edinburgh University. Philip is the President of Edinburgh University’s socialist society, a broad left grouping within the student body, he and comrades
from various political parties have distributed flyers and mobilised as many students as the can for the sit in. Phil stated that “We have provided a good core of activists for the sit-in and as socialists we will be active in university and local politics as much as possible." Phillip has outlined that "The aims of our occupation are profoundly people friendly. The occupation is a political tool that both meets practical ends in securing scholarships for Gazan students and hopefully divestment from unethical corporations, as well as politicising the student populace." Willis Hall, a member of the Young Communist League in Yorkshire and was engaged with an occupation in Leeds. Willis outlined the aims of the occupation, that were in line with most occupations in the country, “that the University releases a statement condemning Israeli aggression against the Gaza strip, that they open their books allowing us to view their investments that they disinvest in any unethical companies that excess resources be sent to Gaza at their expense, that 5 scholarships be offered to
This week, NATO will hold its 60th Anniversary Summit in Strasbourg. This event will mark the official opening of discussions on a new ‘Strategic Concept’. The last Strategic Concept agreed by NATO, during the bombing of Yugoslavia ten years ago, changed the rhetoric of the alliance from that of a defensive grouping to explicitly sanctioning out-ofarea operations to defend the ‘vital interests’ of member states. The new focus is on military intervention across the globe at the behest of US and EU imperialism and ‘interoperability’. As one military analyst put it in 1997, “military cooperation should now be the goal, so that the interoperability and capacity necessary to mount an effective joint military operation can be created. The object of an operation may vary from defence of the treaty area, to out-ofarea operations designed to protect the vital interests of member states, to providing humanitarian aid. This means that NATO has only one single mission – conflict prevention and conflict control. To carry out this mission NATO must have capabilities which allow freedom of action concerning crisis management.” Basically, ‘interoperability’ means that impoverished Eastern European states, which have seen their economies collapse since the reintroduction of capitalism, are forced to replace and develop their military hardware and contribute to joint operations while their citizens struggle to survive. This ties in directly with the expansion of the European Union which has accompanied NATO expansion. The European Constitution, now renamed
NATO & EU militarisation the Lisbon Treaty, will require member states to “make civilian and military capabilities available to the Union for the implementation of the common security and defence policy” and to “undertake progressively to improve their military capabilities”. This is part of the development of a European Defence and Security identity framed entirely within the context of NATO military cooperation. In the words of Javier Solana, the EU/US western alliance is a “formidable force for good in the world” and must be able “to sustain several operations at the same time”, developing “a culture that fosters early, rapid and robust intervention”. Or, as Robert Cooper more plainly states, “When dealing with old-fashioned states outside the postmodern continent of Europe, we need to revert to the rougher methods of an earlier era – force, preemptive attack, deception, whatever is necessary to deal with those who still live in the 19th century world of every state for itself.” This is a vision of the future that no progressive
could support. We must campaign, in the broadest possible alliances for Britain to develop an Independent Foreign Policy, free from the twin evils of US and EU imperialism. Vital to this will be defeating Trident replacement and decommissioning Britain nuclear weapons, withdrawal from NATO
and the EU, and an end to the ‘special relationship’ with the US, including withdrawing from the Mutual Defence Agreement. For more information on anti-NATO activities, visit
www.cnduk.org
For more information on opposing EU militarisation, visit www.no2eu.com
Got a question for us? Come and visit our stall in the exhibition centre. Come along and post your thoughts about NUS conference on our discussion forum.
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No jobs, no future? Students face an "extremely worrying" time with a shrinking graduate job market and less financial support from cashstrapped parents. The National Union of Students (NUS) published research on the first day of conference, which suggested four out of five undergraduates were concerned about their work prospects. Nearly a third - 28 per cent were more likely to carry on studying after their degree because there were fewer jobs available. And a quarter would get less financial support from their parents as a result of the recession. NUS president Wes Streeting said: "The great distress being experienced by students and their families in the middle of this economic crisis puts the grossly insensitive demands of vice-chancellors for even higher fees into stark perspective. "At this year's annual conference, NUS members will be calling for a reasonable debate about higher education funding.” "Vice-chancellors and the government need to consider more options than just where to place the cap on fees." The findings follow research published by Universities UK on March 17, which suggested that students would not react if fees were raised to £5,000. When 12 university vicechancellors were asked how much undergraduates should be charged, the average answer was £6,500.
A lively and successful discussion on Venezuela and the resistance to big business priorities was hosted by the Communist Students at a late night fringe last night. Whilst modest turnout, the discussion heard Alvaro from the Venezuelan embassy talk about the
success and challenges of the Bolivarian revolution. A discussion with activists supporting the NO2EU campaign was also held with Paul Moorehouse from the Socialist Party and Communist Student activists. Practical campaigning initiatives in
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local areas along with a determination to offer a progressive alternative to the right wing and fascist response to the Capitalist Crisis. The so-called European ‘parliament’ is an expensive fraud which has no lawmaking or parliamentary powers. All EU laws are proposed by another EU institution, the unelected European Commission, which is heavily influenced by corporate and big business lobbyists. A recent report showed that MEPs can make over one million pounds from a single five-year term by claiming various allowances and even for assistants for whom no record exists. The pay of British MEPs’ will rise by even more after Junes election. While in the real world banks go under, shares nosedive and hundreds of thousands of workers lose their jobs, EU elites continue to enrich themselves at the taxpayers' expense. If you vote No2EU - Yes to Democracy we will continue to campaign against the Lisbon Treaty and wasteful and corrupt EU institutions and demand the repatriation of democratic powers to member states.