The Week That Was...

...definitely the most daunting of my NUS tenure thus far was the week was Regionals followed by Extraordinary Conference.

I am not going to try and say I am loving every minute of my job because to be perfectly honest I am not. I can see why people in the past have (not doing a great deal/spending money we don’t have/not possessing brains therefore can plead ignorance to all issues) but NUS isn’t the experience most seem to assume it is. The main reason I find it hard is because there is a huge amount that needs to be sorted and in all fairness there has been a huge amount that has been sorted through hard work already but we’re not nearly approaching anywhere near where we need to be.

I am sure people have grand dreams of what their term in office will be like. I knew mine was going to be hard principally because I knew what I wanted to do wasn’t going to be popular. Think about how I started my year. NUS Card project needs to happen. I am convinced of it. No one else on the NEC is at all. Some will never be. When you have no support to begin with it is difficult to see any reason why you should continue. But when you see our financial position everyday and that of SU’s you know however hard something is going to be it still has to happen.

Touring the country then, telling students and officers that selling an NUS Extra card for a tenner doesn’t exactly inspire fun nor popularity. I am glad to say though that people in the main listen to arguments and make up their own minds about issues. There are too many people on the NEC who follow lines all the time whether they agree with something or not and will not speak out. The same is true with some sections of our membership. Anyone who was at regionals and extraordinary could see that for themselves.

Overall though I was happy to stand up and talk to people about the NUS Extra card. I got a hostile reception from time to time but I don’t mind that when three quarters of an audience are listening to what you are saying and asking inciteful questions and raising issues in a calm well thought out manner. Many times people asked exactly the same questions which were written down well in advance and asked by the members of the same faction at different conferences. It was annoying but also quite amusing to see people who had been fed inaccurate information kicking off as if it was the end of the world and actually had their facts completely wrong.

I wouldn’t say everyone is sold on the idea of the NUS Extra card just yet but it seems that most people are at least willing to listen. There is no sense in the logic of those who are opposed to researching potential revenue streams when they and the National Union have no money. That is the logic of those who got us in to this mess in the first place. We shouldn’t be where we are but shit happens and we need to shovel our way out of it however hard or unpopular that will be. Unfortunately I am holding one of the biggest shovels!

I was on the west side of the country for Regionals so did London, the South West, West Midlands and North West in that order. I would say that instead of having a membership who know little or nothing about the issue we have one that is fully engaged in debating it which can only be a good thing. Don’t get me wrong, I am not forcing this on anybody. If people don’t go for it then that is the democratic mandate but the amount of people who tried to scupper the project before it even began personified what is wrong with this organisation. Misguided, afraid, unaware of the problems it is facing and above all too preoccupied with election popularity to do the right thing which is unfortunately often the unpopular thing.

Extraordinary conference was next and I must admit that I wasn’t particularly looking forward to it either. It was a big day and a lot cold have gone wrong seriously damaging our organisation but I am happy to say that my faith in the ability of officers to take a step back and look at things pragmatically paid off. We do not need to patronise officers. When I was a President I used to think that we didn’t get told stuff because it was thought that officers might make the wrong decision or not think things through properly. I disagree. I know the vast majority of officers from all over the country do pay attention, do converse with colleagues at a local level and are able to make decisions of huge significance perfectly well and this is what happened at Wolverhampton.

There was clearly some discontent with how the conference was called but it was constitutional and very few people on conference floor did not know what the issues were. In fact I’d go as far as saying more people knew about the proposals and we’re able to speak and debate them than most things we discuss at National Conference. As for no one turning up – I think the left shot themselves in the foot by sending out a massive e-mail saying no one knew about the conference which actually ended up being its best advert as sign ups rocketed immediately after it was sent out! I was glad the ratifications went through. The numbers were obviously too hard to ignore and while I was genuinely taken aback by the reaction to my speech I still felt a bit embarrassed at the old group hug part! Having thought about it after though and thinking of how much time our leader Kat had put into visiting practically everywhere to push the reforms through I could see why she was so happy.

I was annoyed by the attempt to ditch the research by taking the motion to parts and I think that was evident by what I said or rather how I said it. Thought there was a good chance that we would lose all the work we have done this far when no one has had a chance to make an informed choice. I thought we could have lost the potential way back to solvency in an instant but again the membership came through. CM’s are not stupid they will make choices based on fact rather than rhetoric opposition and I am glad to say voted overwhelmingly to research the idea of the NUS Extra card and other ideas. Thanks - and I mean that!

The next day we had a management team meeting in Stoneleigh all day before I headed off to Warwick for the Securing Strong SU’s event that was a huge success and booked out well in advance. The student movement is often at its best when it works together and the event that was run by NUS/NUSSL and AMSU was very well received by all.

In the evening I had my first taste of what ULU Council was like and I in a geekish way really loved going there just to observe and answer any q’s on NUS Extra. After a day in the office on Friday I was looking forward to the weekend – I had tickets to see Man City v Bolton at home and Great Britain V Australia at Wigan. Trying to keep some semblance of a life! After a great rugby game and a not so great City match I was bought back down to earth when I had to get up at the crack of dawn for another summit at Stonleigh! I love Sunday’s!!!!!!!

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