Vote YES to the NUS demo

Vote YES to supporting the NUS national demonstration! As a member of the NUS the Guild has a responsibility to support students if they should wish to participate in national student politics. The ‘Educate, Employ, Empower’ protest is an important one, sending a strong message to the coalition that students will not ignore the detrimental impacts of their cuts; that we will not sit in silence when youth unemployment reaches 1 million, that we will not ignore the cuts to higher education funding, that we will not let lies about tuition fees go unnoticed.

But most importantly it shows that students will not stand back when “austerity measures” are being pushed through parliament, measures which no one voted for and which are ideologically driven. The Vote No campaign would have you believe that this is a “pointless partisan march” and it’s true that it’s unlikely to change government policy. But that does not mean it is pointless. Exercising your democratic rights is not pointless. Opposing policies which weren’t present in any party manifesto is not pointless. Making your voices heard, showing the government that it is not unaccountable is not pointless.

This is a demonstration fully supported by the NUS, by voting to not support it the Guild is separating itself from the union of students it claims to represent. The YES campaign is not asking for a lot, simply for the Guild to provide some funding for a coach or two of students who want to get involved to be able to do so. We are only arguing for students who want to support their union, who want to be part of a national movement to be given the support of the Guild.

Whether the Guild agrees with this motion is irrelevant; the student movement was built on the value of democracy and aimed to give students political representation. Instead of preventing us, the Guild should be encouraging students to participate in politics, to stand up for their beliefs and to have their voices heard. So if you believe in democracy and student representation get online and Vote YES on October 22nd.