For many of us this moment comes about once. Some of us may even see it twice. The opportunity to change NUS, to shape a better future, to set us up to achieve is an opportunity we can not fail to grasp.

Students don’t care much for our internal debates, they would get frustrated by the procedure, the irrelevance, the mystery of why NUS does particular things. But what do they really care about? They care that NUS has policy which their local students’ union can shape and decide, they care that NUS doesn’t waste money, they care that our campaigns will make a difference to their lives.

Students’ unions have long recognised that NUS could do so much more, that it could be so much more relevant. We have had discussions year after year focusing on how we make decisions, rather than deciding how we are going to make the lives of students better.

That time, that frustration, that irrelevance, must stop.

This is our opportunity to change.

Too often we leave Annual Conference floor in Blackpool thinking we have changed the world, that we’ve made the lives of students better, but far too often, we are wrong. Passing policies which are irrelevant to students or students’ unions, electing officers who simply can not be held to account, setting a direction for an organisation, when we don't know whether it will exist in twelve months or not. This isn’t the national union that we want, or the national union that students need.

For two years I was President at my union, going to NUS events, angry with a lack of focus, frustrated with no financial transparency, annoyed that NUS wasn’t relevant to my students. This can not continue.

Everyone knows that we failed to secure the two thirds majority that was needed on Annual Conference 2008 to change NUS, but we listened, and we have learnt. We have gone back to look at the relationship between the NEC and the Trustee Board, we have adapted the policy making structure, we have introduced a national ballot to put power in your hands when you want to take it from the NEC, we have changed the language to make it more relevant, we have made significant changes to the substance so we have a different set of proposals.

And after 25 calls to discuss the issue, our National President, Wes, called for an Extraordinary Conference to be held. And it is now, on November 12, that we will all discuss the sort of national union you want, the sort of change that your students need.

The new constitution hasn’t been written by the NEC, it hasn’t been written by me, it was written by you. Every suggestion, every paragraph and every clause comes from student officers or students. And because it comes from the membership, because it comes from you, it is your vote in November 12 which will decide if you see a better NUS on your time.

Every students’ union, every student officer, every student has the opportunity on November 12 to change NUS for the better.

For many of you, this will be your last chance to make NUS an organisation which is truly in the hands of your successors, so when the time comes, raise your hand, raise your voting card, and be proud that from the very first submission to the very final vote, we have achieved a new constitution which stops irrelevance today, allowing us to achieve for students and students' unions tomorrow.

One vote, in a matter of minutes, will firmly put power back into the hands of students’ unions and students. It sounds easy, but there are those who don’t want change to happen, who benefit from the status quo, who like the NUS of old.

Some of those have said that they want to see a different kind of NUS than the one we will discuss on November 12. Some have said that they need more time to discuss change. And I understand their concerns, but we have a set of proposals which every interested party has fed into, we have listened to the membership about how quick you would like to discuss these issues.

And that’s why even people who voted against the Constitutional changes at Annual Conference 2008 should vote in favour at Extraordinary Conference. These proposals are more mature, we have stopped using divisive rhetoric, and there can be no doubt that it is you who has decided the pace of change and the content of the proposals.

Our Time

Are there other things that I would like to see in the new constitution? Of course. But I am a pragmatist and a realist, and I recognise that the substantive of the proposals present an opportunity for students’ unions to take back NUS. Some people will criticise me for that, but I don’t care. I know, as do you, that these proposals were built upon your ideas, will address your concerns, and that’s what really matters. This is your opportunity, these are your proposals, and it is your right to change NUS now.

Because on November 12 it doesn’t matter what my view is, it doesn’t matter that others on the NEC think, what matters is more relevant policy discussions, more effective campaigns, better accountability of national officers, transparency over finances.

This is it. This is your chance. Be there on November 12, listen to the debate, because I am confident that you will agree with me, the majority of students, the majority of students’ unions, the majority of the National Executive, that enough is enough. Change is needed now, and we are the ones who will achieve it.

And that’s why we need reform, why we need it now. Because it is you who understands how NUS is failing students, and it is you who can change it.

See you in Wolverhampton,

dave x

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