Students have written open letter calling for UCL to leave NUS

An open letter has been submitted by students to the UCLU council calling for a referendum on whether UCLU should disaffiliate from the NUS.

The letter argues that the NUS is ‘self-serving’ and acting for the interests of a ‘radical and insular political culture’. A motion proposing the referendum will also be presented to the Council on the 24th May.

The campaign behind the open letter, Believe in UCL, argues that the NUS is undemocratic

Students who have signed the letter claim they are “students at UCL who are concerned at the direction of travel of the NUS”. Signatories include Henry Winckle, LGBT+ Network and Conference Coordinator as well as the Secretary for Believe in UCL- the campaign calling for UCLU to disaffiliate, Helen Chandler-Wilde President of the Conservative Society and Adam Schapira, President for the UCLU Jewish Society.

The campaign behind the letter, Believe in UCL argues that the NUS has become unrepresentative and undemocratic, harbouring extreme beliefs meaning that UCLU should no longer be affiliated with the organisation.

Ido Vock and Henry Winckle, members of Believe in UCL have told The Tab:

“The NUS is highly undemocratic, and although attempts to pass ‘One Member, One Vote’ democratising reforms have taken place every year since 2013, the NUS and its centralising executive have consistently voted them down, demonstrating their blatant disregard for the views of the millions of students the NUS allegedly represents. What is most astonishing about this Bouattia saga is that she was elected President with a majority of just 44 votes; only 372 people in total decided on this divisive and controversial leader, who when she takes office will be supposed to represent over 7 million students UK-wide.

“The very real power of the NUS and its capability to effect positive change for students, as it has in the past with Council Tax exemptions being a prime example, is being squandered by its self-serving, insular political culture. Every needless controversy caused by the latest poorly-drafted motion on ISIS or its decreeing that gay men aren’t oppressed enough to deserve their own representatives is an opportunity missed to stand up for the issues students are truly concerned about: cuts to grants, tuition fees, Islamophobia and Prevent, antisemitism, mental health, limited access for disabled students, and so-on.”

Ido Vock, who spoke to The Tab, is one of the main signatories of the open letter

Following the election of Malia Bouattia as NUS President last month, student unions across the country have called referendums determining their future within the NUS. In the past two weeks, students at Newcastle and Lincoln Universities have voted to leave the NUS.

Megan Dunn, the former NUS President told The Independent  that she was “disappointed” about the decision for Newcastle to disaffiliate from the NUS. She added: “We firmly believe the best way to change something is from the inside and NUS is already working on a new democratic structure to be voted in at our National Conference in 2017.”

The open letter calling for UCLU to disaffiliate can be signed here.