I struggle to believe that it's really been a year since I wrote this blog

But there you have it. A whole year. Incredible. And, looking back, things sure were different in mid-May 2005. For example, Will Page was still on the NUS NEC. "Lloydie" was still around. The NOLSies had an outgoing VP instead of an incoming one. And...oh yeah - NUS still had policy in favour of free education and universal living grants.

Gee - those were the days.

Some things, though, never change. In the week that the union "welcomed" the appointment of Alan Johnson (remember him? Yeah, that's the one - the top-up fees guy) as Education Secretary and vowed to "up the pressure" on the AUT to "demand" that it sets exams, it is clear that now - as then - the National Union of Students has still got some pretty serious shortcomings when it comes to our basic political instincts.

And now - as I then - I believe that the only way to change a union is to get actively involved in its structures and campaigns and push it in a better direction. Which is why I was more than happy that, if only for this meeting alone, I would be joined on the NEC by Sofie Buckland and Joe Rooney - Education Not for Sale supporters elected to the Committee at this year's annual conference.

And I've gotta say - if every NEC meeting they go to this year is like the one we had on 8th May, they might be slightly less bitter about them than I am. Because, to be honest, it really wasn't that bad.

The 'management update' was pretty succinct, there were no interminable discussions about mindless bureaucracy, and the two reports we got from NUS staff members were genuinely interesting and encouraging.

The first focused on the ongoing reforms to NUS's regional structures. It was the first time we'd been brought up to speed with that process since November (when I wrote this blog) and the emphasis placed on turning towards an activist-based organising culture (rather than one of apolitical service-provision) was - as then - music to my ears.

The second report was from NUS's newly appointed Trade Union Partnerships Manager, Joe Keenan. The left in NUS has been pushing for the creation of a position like this for years, so it's nice to see it finally get off the ground. Having a full-time worker whose job it is to co-ordinate NUS's relationship and joint-work with the labour movement is definitely a big step forward. Now that Joe's in place, then maybe projects like the one I talk about here can actually be brought into meaningful existence.

The debate I really wanted to get stuck into - around the AUT dispute - got off to a faltering start as Kat (in the chair for the very last time) said she didn't want us to pre-empt the discussion around motions on the subject that had been submitted. Given the NEC's record when it comes to discussing motions isn't terrific, this worried me slightly but, believe it or not, we arrived at the motions debate with well over an hour to spare.

I won't cover everything here. Comrade Rooney is far more meticulous than I when it comes to recording exactly who voted for what and exactly how and by whom motions were chopped to bits. If that's the type of detail you're after, check out Joe's blog

Our motion on the Miami hunger strikes and living wage campaigns passed with little controversy (very positive considering this - is happening soon) and our free education motion was predictably and depressingly gutted by the NEC's resident Blair/Brown fan-club (actually, given that this description could apply to almost everyone on the NEC, I should be more specific: I'm talking about the NOLSies). However, it did ultimately pass (albeit in reduced form), so the NUS does now have policy to " encourage CMs to organise demonstrations and occupations on their campuses in protests at the introduction of top-up fees this Autumn." A positive step, no doubt, but I'm under no illusions; Sofie and Joe (and anyone else seriously committed to building a fighting NUS) will have to give the union a few mighty pushes to ensure it actually acts on that policy.

When it came to our motion on China (available here), it was with a certain sense of depressed weariness but no surprise whatsoever that I got sucked into a debate with SBL's Peter Leary on the subject of whether the Chinese regime isn't really all that bad.

Pete's arguments were, simply put, shocking. He talked about the need to "engage" with the Chinese government to win democracy there (want democracy in 1940s USSR? Engage with Stalin! Want democracy in the USA? Engage with Bush!), and about how my motion scandalously "ignored the Chinese regime's many great achievements." (Why these are any more legitimate or worthy of celebration than the "achievements" of any other exploitative regime I am not sure.)

Peter even voted in favour of a proposal from Benson Osawe to remove the words " not closer links with businessmen and bureaucrats" from the text. "You may be against capitalism, Daniel," Benson said, "but businessmen and bureaucrats are very important for the economy." Peter nodded vigorously, and the line was deleted.

Apologists for Stalinist regimes have always been depressingly strong in NUS ever since the days of CP fellow-traveller presidents like Trevor Phillips and Jack Straw (both of whom ended up being pretty appalling right-wingers - draw your own conclusions). Apparently those days are not yet over.

Mel Ward accused the motion of being motivated by inter-factional rivalry between ENS (or, more specifically, AWL) and SBL. "It's just them lot", she said, pointing at us, "having a pop at them lot" (she indicated Peter and George Woods). Not quite, Mel, but as far as I'm concerned, anyone who acts as an apologist for a regime like the Chinese dictatorship (and worse - SBL's parent organisation Socialist Action are also big North Korea fans) deserves every "pop" that's thrown at them.

Eventually, the text passed, but not Benson's proposal passed, not before NOLS had come to rescue of the Mayor of London and removed every reference to him from the motion and not before - in a blinding flash of common sense - the NEC voted down a proposal from Peter to remove a line referring to the Chinese regime as "reactionary and exploitative".

Still, better that it passed in parts than not at all, and at least next year's NEC has a paper commitment to " seeking closer links with workers and students fighting for democracy."

The final debate was on the AUT motions. One, from the NOLSies and both factions of Independents, pledged continuing support but also pledged to continue and step-up NUS's "demands" on the AUT that it set exams "immediately." The other motion - from Suzy Wylie - simply pledged unconditional support for "ongoing industrial action", implicitly criticising the official NUS position and explicitly criticising the mealthy-mouthed and confusing statements it has issued on the matter thus far.

I've got another blog in the pipeline specifically about this industrial dispute and NUS's response to it, so I'll save a full dissection of the debate surrounding that issue for there. I'll say here that, as you might imagine, the same NEC members who are only too quick to affirm their unwavering commitment to solidarity with our lecturers are similarly speedy to cover their right flanks by talking about "upping the pressure", "condemning" the AUT's tactics and "demanding" that they set exams "immediately." That's the sort of solidarity I imagine the AUT are just desperate to receive more of.

In the end, both motions passed and an attempt by the left to amend the NOLS/Independent motion was unsuccessful.

And then it was over. Looking back, I guess a good old-fashioned ideological struggle against Stalinism washed down with a heated debate on a bread-and-butter, workplace-based class struggle issue was as fitting a conclusion to my last NEC meeting as I could have hoped for.

I've still got a two-and-a-bit months left as a member of the NUS National Executive Committee so this won't be quite my final word here. But if a whole year can go by before you can say "tiger prawns", two months will be gone in a blink.

In solidarity -

Daniel Randall

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