“The death of democracy is not likely to be an assassination from ambush. It will be a slow extinction from apathy, indifference, and undernourishment”
ROBERT M. HUTCHINS:

Just like the Terminator and Lord Mandelson, we knew it wasn’t going away. On 22nd October 2008, 25 Unions called on the National Union of Students to hold an Extraordinary Conference on the subject of NUS reform. That conference is scheduled to be held on the 12th November 2008 in Wolverhampton.

The call has been sent out, the agenda has been set, and Extraordinary Conference is upon us once again. But I’d like to stress that this is not the end. The next step for students’ unions and conference delegates’ involvement is not to simply raise your hand in the air at conference. The core constitution, just like motions at conference, is open to amendments. If there is a particular part of the constitution that you do not agree with, think should be taken out or put in, submit an amendment to it. If you are not sure how, contact me or any of the NEC and I’ll be more than happy to show you how. My wish is that we get a debate at conference, and I mean a proper debate. Not a relay race where you can almost predict whom is going to speak next, and what they are going to say.

I am almost pleading with people to please read the documents before you come to conference, to ask as many people as possible (those pro reform, against reform, and those in between) what reform means to them, to ask as many challenging questions as possible, and to come to conference prepared. We must be brutally honest, the subject of reform is not going to go away and as a movement we are now faced with a choice. We can bury our heads in the sand, pretend that the reform of the national student movement has nothing to do with us and our opinions make no difference. Or we can stand up and speak out, whatever our viewpoint is, even if you don’t understand what the hell is going on but still put your hand up at conference knowing that you have tried to engage with the process to the best of your abilities.

I have my own viewpoints on reform….I encourage you to form yours.

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