| Show me the way to Aberystwyth |
| 14/12/2005 |
|
Aberystwyth Referendum Two weeks ago saw the first major referendum in Wales of the year. Julian, Gemma and I supported Dylan WIlliams and the rest of NUS Wales in the ‘yes’ campaign over the full week. It wasn’t an easy referendum to win, sabbaticals wanted to stay out of the fight and unfortunately only four NEC members traveled up. I’m sure there are genuine reasons why certain NEC members couldn’t make the referendum but it does frustrate me when only four out of 27 can go and educate the student body about NUS and save us £20,000 in the process. What’s even more frustrating is that it tends to be the same people over and over again. On a lighter note however, it was heartening to see National councilors and area conveners attend and help out, although arguably, they shouldn’t have had too. So thanks to Joe and Gary who braved the trip along with us. It rained, it blew…it was nasty. But we got through it and achieved an 89% YES to NUS. I’m so proud of the Welsh NEC for this victory. It’s been a difficult few months for them but this has really pulled them through and I hope that this will be a catalyst to a stronger Welsh NUS.
LGBT Conference I have to say that although I’ve been to a few in my time, this LGBT conference was by far the best. Passionate speeches, intelligent (well sometimes) arguments and well-observed debate were aplenty. It was nice to see some new faces taking the stand and speaking, although admittedly I did do my fair share (but if people will take parts…!). We still need more political involvement from the ground but hopefully the Officers, Committee and NEC have begun to support such measures that will improve this. The conference covered a broad range of issues from a concerted effort from all to discuss Internationalism to a broad and balanced level of Legislation Vs Communities safety. I believe that this debate is a huge issue for the campaign and I made my feelings known with my opening speech on the Welfare debate. We need a campaign that wins on legislation and one that wins on a communities’ safety. I advocated a political shift in the campaign at that conference and I hope that many of you recognize the importance of ensuring our campaign delivers on both areas not just government lobbying that we have been so focused on over the last few years. This isn’t about making the campaign fluffy, I want a passionate, fighting and political campaign but above all I want a campaign that reflects the issues of our membership. I think it was the funniest conference I’ve been to and although I nearly died from a flying homophobic glass, all in all it was great. Thanks to Coventry SU for providing a great venue for the social and to James and Kat for making it such a successful event. Hopefully my feelings are echoed throughout the movement, I certainly can speak for most NEC members when I say we ‘ad a larf’. Note to self and the National Secretary though – don’t put Wes, Stephen, Flick and Derfel together on an event-we wont stop laughing. 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/stephenbrown/271800.aspx |
