Hello and welcome to the first blog of 2009, having survived new years eve in Leeds ‘socialising’ with the membership all the way down Otley Road, I thought it was time to make some resolutions and some predictions for what promises to be the busiest year ever!

The two NUS-related resolutions I am making are:

1. Visit Unions that are overdue a visit. I would put Northumbria, Liverpool Cumbria and Teesside at the top of the list although I am sure that as ever, more unions (especially in the best region… the North) will be holding events and I look forward to attending as many of these as possible! (Although I don’t expect to be chased down the road by that giant globe the Leeds Sabbs like to play with!)
2. In conjunction with the National Union of Teachers (NUT) I am convinced that we can make some real progress in the fight against hidden course costs. It seems totally inequitable that teaching students who are the future of our education system can be priced out of their degrees by costs such as travel and books. The fight will start in unions and on campuses, but I intend to take the fight to parliament. WATCH THIS SPACE!

Ed’s Crystal Ball - predictions for the year ahead:

1. In Sport:

• After losing the first 2 tests Shane Warne will come out of retirement for Australia, but despite the return of the great man England will regain the ashes, with the two all-rounders of Andrew Flintoff and Stuart Broad staring.
• The British Lions Tour will end in disappointment, I suspect that the very large expected Welsh presence in the squad will divide the dressing room, I anticipate the Lions winning one test but still losing the series 2-1
• My beloved Man City will finally implode amid rumours of dressing room unrest, with Mark Hughes finally being forced to resign after his January gamble of signing Titus Bramble for £20m doesn’t pay off. (I am a proud member of the ‘if Titus Bramble can play in the premiership then so can I facebook group’)

2. In students’ unions:

• Students will start to feel the impact of the recession - some will find it harder to get by because their families are harder up; some will find it harder to find a part time job or may have lost theirs already and many will be worried about graduate prospects. With the recession beginning to bite, the fight for both an equal minimum wage for all (youth and apprentices included), and ultimately a living wage should move towards centre stage within NUS.
• More students' unions will be looking at their balance sheets and struggling to make ends meet, which will make fair block grants from institutions a must. I would like universities to make a new year’s resolution of not fiddling the figures around block grants, with an end to large parts of the grant being taken back as extortionate rent, meaning the real figure is much lower than that published in the league tables.
• NUS Extra will hit sales targets thanks to the improving product and hard work of students' unions - as a result the discounters will get better for 09/10. I recently sat on the NUS Extra review committee, and I believe that a target which is almost double for next year is achievable. However new discounts must be quality and exclusive.
• The government will delay the 09 review for as late as possible, but if they're really committed to listening to students (and with a lot of campaigning work on our part) NUS will be represented on the review group

• The big parliamentary issue for the Labour party will be… the Post Office; definite contender for the ‘thorny issue award’. For what its worth, I think that the part privatisation (and that’s what it is despite the governments protestations) will be deeply regressive and the first step towards the end of the post office, and for that reason should be avoided. What will become apparent is that you will have a government proposing the use of markets (like with top up fees), the interest groups will present an alternative funding model called the peoples bank (like NUS will do), many labour MPs will be in opposition (like with top-up fees). The government will have to decide whether it listens and changes course or ploughs ahead (like with the 2010 review of top-up fees). To that end it will provide us with a pre-cursor to our campaign, and may give us some hope (or otherwise) for the outcome of the education funding review.
• Social housing will become politically explosive, and play into the hands of the extreme right. What must be stopped is cross ward purchasing by councils, as I saw first hand when campaigning against the BNP in Dagenham this week. A voter I was talking to said he was supporting the BNP, because he had ‘been on the housing waiting list for years, that house opposite became available and they moved in a Nigerian family who are not even from Dagenham.’ Except the Nigerian family were from Newham. Newham local authority had purchased the house and given it to a family off their waiting list. It is perceived inequalities like this, combined with the shortage of housing stock which the BNP play on. It must be stopped if we are to stop them. It is clear that new housing stock is required, and watching what Boris chooses to do with the London Housing Strategy (which would create 50 thousand houses) will be interesting. For London students any easing of the housing market in London would be enormously beneficial, and for that reason I would urge the London mayor not to allow local authorities to opt out of the new housing stock strategy.

4. On a Personal Level…

• Get a hair cut
• Buy a new coat (yes, one that doesn’t look like a flashers coat)
• Ring my mum more often

Finally I would like to thank everyone who has been such a support this last year. And I look forward to everything 2009 has to bring, starting with extraordinary conference!

In Unity

Ed

The Blogs on this site represent the individual views of their authors and do not necessarily reflect the policies or practices of the National Union of Students.

All links in blogs will open in a new browser window.

The permanent URL for this specific blog entry is: http://www.officeronline.co.uk/blogs/edmarsh/275982.aspx