On Wednesday the NUS held an Extradordinary Conference (called by 36 students unions back in October) to discuss reform and the new proposed NUS constitution. At the conference, the proposed new constitution was passed by 614 votes to 142. There is however a condition that the constitution must be ratified by a further conference - either another Extraordinary Conference or the Annual Conference next April. UMSU held its election for delegates before reading week. A list of our delegates is available online on the UMSU website.
Union hacks will have probably been suffering from deja vu - the proposed reforms are very similar to those proposed and defeated at this year’s Annual Conference in Blackpool. Those in favour of the reforms claim that they will modernise the NUS for the 21st century (its constitution has barely changed since the organisation was founded in the 1920s) whilst those against argue that it is an attack on the democratic elements of NUS.
More information is available over at Officer Online. We’ll bring you more updates nearer the Annual Conference next year or when another Extradordinary Conference takes place (if called).
The Debating Society hosted their first guest speaker debate on nuclear energy this Tuesday. The event was chaired by Ciaran Prendeville, who recently won ‘best speaker’ at the last inter-university competition. The society adopted the stance that the UK should abandon its nuclear arsenal. Guest speakers included Eric Grove, a Professor at the Centre for International Security at Salford University; and not surprisingly, due to the topic of debate, Jackie Burke, a regional development officer for the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND). There was, however, one difference to the usual style of debate in that there were no POI’s (points of interest) where the audience or the opponent is allowed to interrupt the debate and make a challenge.
Burke started with the mission statement of the CND; basically that the UK has failed to comply to the 1968 Non-proliferation treaty. The CND campaign against this was recently stepped up due to the “hush hush” bill to replace trident - she claimed at a cost of 76 billion - that had been pushed through the commons. The audience was on the verge of confusion whilst she argued that the production of the new weapons would reduce employment. However, she brought the game back when she explained this was down to an increased use of machinery. The conclusion to her opening speech started to tug at the heart strings of the audience using media intense rhetoric like ‘weapons of mass destruction’. She talked about the bombs being eight times more powerful than those dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki and suggested that the new nuclear program could stimulate a nuclear arms race.
Continue reading ‘Nuclear Energy Debate’
Yesterday, the Politics Society hosted ‘Student Question Time’ which saw student representatives of political parties from across the spectrum clash in a spectacular war of words.
Speaking on behalf of the Labour Party was Michael Joslin, likewise for the Conservatives was Rob Largan and the Liberal Democrats by Chris Jenkinson. Also present were the Socialist Workers Student Society (SWSS) spokesperson, Dave Sewell and the Greens were represented by Justine Hall.
Unsurprisingly, with the global economic slowdown, and the strains placed on the banking sector, the economy was the major topic of the day. Many allegations were levelled at Labour for the government’s inability to deal with the banking crisis as Rob Largan noted the need for ‘fiscal conservatism’. This earned a stalwart, if not slightly predictable ‘defence of the Labour realm’ retort from Michael Joslin who talked of steering clear of ‘change’ for change sake, and emphasised fears that without Labour leadership, the country would go into a ‘deeper recession’.
Continue reading ‘Student Question Time Roundup’
The Politics Society’s Environmental Question Time got off to a controversial start on Friday when Phil Woolas, Minister for Immigration, had a cream pie thrown at him. The pie was thrown by a member of the No Borders group which is vehemently opposed to his recent comments on immigration caps in the UK.
Protestors from the No Borders group staged a demonstration at Woolas’ comments on immigration outside the event, holding signs reading “only if you’re British”. A spokesperson said the group objected to the “essentially racist immigration policies” of the government and accused Woolas of “playing right into the hands of right-wing extremists”. The start of the event was delayed by around ten minutes as a result of the protest.
Around 100 students attended the event, which featured six panellists. The Liberal Democrats were represented by Chris Davies MEP, the Greens by Peter Cranie and the Conservatives by Farraz Bhatti. UMSU Communications Officer Robbie Gillett and Gayle O’Donovan, a member of Camp for Climate Action also attended. Politics Society Chair James Maskell chaired the debate.
Continue reading ‘Controversial Environment Question Time’
On Thursday night, the Challenging Orthodoxies Society (COS) welcomed Kenyan expert Kiruja Micheni and Dr Sarah Bracking from Manchester University’s Institute for Development Policy and Management (IDPM) to address the pressing question of democratization in African countries. With last year’s electoral dilemma, overshadowing Kenya and Zimbabwe, the shakiness of African democracy has come to its fore. The controversial issue of colonial interference by the West to build stable democracies attracted considerable interest; about 70 people attended the event in Lime Grove next to UMSU. Students engaged in a lively 60-minute Q&A session and reached a general consensus that there is still much to be done to achieve substantive democracy at the grassroots level.
Continue reading ‘Colonialism in Africa Debate’
Yesterday’s Union General Meeting was cancelled as a result of dismal turnout. Following last year’s trend of low turnouts which has consistently dogged UMSU, the first meeting of the new academic year did not reach quorum and the motions were not voted on. Those who came to vote on the proposed student policies were trying to make last-minute calls to friends or course mates to get the venue filled. However, despite persistent demands for a time extension to wait for more people to turn up, the meeting was cancelled at 2pm as fewer than 300 students attended. (According to GM rules, meetings start at 1.30pm and need a minimum number of 300 students to conduct business.)
Continue reading ‘First GM of the year fails to meet quorum’
UMSU Womens’ Officer Jennie Killip today helped to lead a small protest in Piccadilly Gardens as part of a Riveters and Feminist Fightback campaign to get abortion rights for women in Northern Ireland. Some protesters tied themselves to railings, a reference to the suffragette protests that took place in Britain 100 years ago, whilst others held up signs with slogans such as “Defend Our Rights”, and “Abortion Rights for Northern Ireland”.
Abortion is currently largely illegal in Northern Ireland (except where the mother’s life is in danger) as The Abortion Art 1967 applies only to England, Scotland and Wales. Each year between seventy and eighty abortions are carried out legally in Northern Ireland (comparatively low when compared with the rest of the UK) and as many as 2000 Northern Irish women pay up to £900 to travel and have an abortion in England and Wales (source).
Continue reading ‘Abortion Rights for Northern Ireland Protest’
The Palestinian human rights campaigner Musheir El-Farra and Ramy Abdu, one of the university students trapped in Gaza visited the university on Wednesday evening to raise awareness about the Gaza crisis in the Middle East. In a two-hour session, El-Farra and Abdu talked about their personal experiences of the Israeli occupation and called for more justice and freedom to ‘put an end to the horrible human suffering of the Palestinian people.’
Since the closing of Rafah crossing last year, 722 Palestinian university students studying abroad were trapped in Gaza. They are part of the 7,500 Gazans who need permission to continue their work, education or medical treatment outside of Gaza. There certainly is a consensus that the blockade of the Gaza Strip has worsened levels of poverty and unemployment and deteriorated education and health services. Musheir El-Farra started off his talk by criticising the inaction of the West despite those facts and declared that ‘selfish economic interests’ should not take priority over basic human rights including freedom of movement. The human rights campaigner said that ‘we must get rid of such hypocrisy.’
Continue reading ‘A feel of Gazan despair in Manchester’
