Below is my opening speech to delegates at the recent Big Welsh One, where NUS Wales launched its campaigns for the year ahead. The event is not dissimilar from the old Annual Convention, with workshops and discussion groups ranging from working with staff to discussing sectarianism.

I’d like to thank the Bangor sabbatical team who worked so hard to make the event a success, as well as all the staff who worked furiously behind the scenes.

More information on the priority campaigns is to follow, but for those of you who weren’t there, here’s the speech.

In solidarity,

JK

Welcome to the Big Welsh One 2005. It’s a pleasure to visit a union set in such beautiful surroundings, and on a personal note it’s a pleasure to return home.

In the year since the last Big Welsh One at Trinity College, Carmarthen, we’ve seen a lot: the first ever UK demonstration in Cardiff, the biggest ever student demonstration in Wales; a turbulent general election where many former MP’s paid the price for supporting war in Iraq; and who could forget, Wales winning the Grand Slam?!

And, of course, we saw the government in Cardiff turn its back on its principles just as we have seen in Westminster, by trying to introduce top-up fees.

Professor Rees may have called them ‘flexible fees’ to try and escape the stigma around variability, but what’s in a name? What’s ‘flexible’ about some institutions receiving less funding than others when all need more? What’s ‘flexible’ about courses closing to pave the way for lucrative research, despite reducing student choice? And what’s ‘flexible’ about a funding system that forces poorer students to choose cheaper courses?

Rhodri Morgan, First Minister of the National Assembly, once described the ‘clear red water’ between Westminster and Wales. Well we have seen those waters – muddy and pink – as Blair’s privatisation agenda has crossed the Severn almost by osmosis.

That’s not to say that all hope is lost: despite the backtrack on socialism we’ve seen in Cardiff, a broad coalition against top-up fees, united by you, by us, forced the government to stop, at least in part. No Welsh student need pay top-up fees, and that is a credit to all of us who have campaigned so long and so hard.

But to stop now whilst the going’s good? To rest on our laurels would be to injustice thousands of students who study in Wales but who were not fortunate enough to have been born here. Our fight for a free, fair and funded education system must go on.

And, when we talk about a fair education sector, let us be clear that includes the right of every Welsh student to study through the medium of Welsh if that is their choice. For too long Welsh students have been treated as second class citizens in their own country; forced to choose between studying in English or relegated to studying one of only a handful of subjects available in Welsh.

Jane Davidson, Minister for Education and Lifelong Learning, talks the talk about increasing Welsh Medium Teaching provision, and real gains have been made, mostly at primary school level. But even if the Minister can kid herself, we cannot. There is only one answer to a sustainable Welsh Medium education sector, and we all know it. Coleg Ffedral Cymraeg Nawr: Welsh Federal College Now.

Lipservice to Welsh medium education is only one of a long line of attacks on difference, attacks on diversity. The recent terror bombings in London being a fresh reminder to us all that there are those who would see us divided, to further their own ends. I was ill at the time of the bombings, and so I wasn’t in London for what should have been the first NEC meeting of the year.

I remember feeling sick as I frantically tried to contact other members of the NEC. I remember feeling a little more relieved as slowly I heard from them all. And I remember being terrified when there was one member unaccounted for.

Fortunately nobody I knew was hurt, although one friend was trapped on the tube for hours as a result of the blast. But for all the fear, through the tragedy, I saw something remarkable: the NEC pulled together like nothing I have ever see, using friends and media contacts, any resource we had to make sure everyone was accounted for.

Unity is strength. On July 7th I saw what that phrase truly means, and how it is threatened by those who sow hate. In a council by-election shortly after the bombings the BNP put out a leaflet with a picture of the blown up bus and the words ‘don’t you think it’s time to start listening to the BNP?’.

Thankfully the fascists lost as anti-racist activists from across the UK united to defeat them. Again I saw how unity is strength.

But to be united does not mean to be the same. Just as we celebrate cultural diversity on our campuses, so we should celebrate political diversity in our national union.

There are debates to be had about the NUS of the future, difficult, passionate debates. But nothing worthwhile is ever easy. NUS must come through the fires of reform, tempered by the diverse views and needs of our 5.2 million members.

And we must all be honest about the kind of NUS we want, not inviting change for change’s sake, but not clinging to the old, the familiar, that feels safe but does not reflect what the majority of people want.

Last year NUS UK undertook a project called the ‘Year of Change’. You can judge for yourselves the success, but I think all of us agree that more needs to be done. I’m sure there are some here who say that NUS is too stubborn to change, but bear with us – we’re nearly 80 years old, and old habits die hard.

To you I would say, simply, that if last year was NUS’ year of change, then this is your year to change your NUS.

And let’s not even talk about apathy. The Making Poverty History campaign has captured the imaginations of millions of students. Inspired them to act locally, nationally and even internationally, to try and make a difference; to try and make the world they live in a better place.

If my youngest brother, the most apathetic, non-political person I know, can travel to Scotland to march at the G8 summit, if he can organise enough petrol money for his mate’s car, and if he can blag a tent for a few days from the local Scouts, then frankly anything’s possible.

This weekend is one part inspiration, two parts activism. You’ll hear from speakers on a variety of topics, join workshops and discussion groups, and plan our campaigns for the year ahead. I hope that when you return to your unions you will feel sure of the issues Welsh students face today, and equipped to deal with them.

I hope all of you have a great weekend. Thank you.

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