Reform or ruin as NUS approves new constitution

The National Union of Students (NUS) is a step closer to adopting a new constitution following a vote at the extraordinary conference requested by over 25 separate universities and colleges.

After over six hours of heated debate, elected delegates from student unions across the nation voted in favour of the proposed reform of the union with a convincing 614 votes to 142. Representatives included those from Edinburgh, Heriot-Watt and Napier universities.

This result means that the new constitution can be carried forward to the annual conference in April 2009. Alternatively if 25 or more college and university unions request it, a second Extraordinary Conference will be held in the near future. At this second conference, the motion will again have to win two thirds of the vote for the new constitution to be ratified.

The NUS has struggled financially over the past few years and confidence in the body has been rocked. One of the biggest contributors towards the Union’s upkeep, Imperial College London, has threatened to withdraw from the institution if the situation does not improve, not yet having paid its 2008-09 affiliation fee.

Former University of Edinburgh NUS delegate, Josh MacAlister told The Journal: “The NUS has had problems focusing on issues of direct relevance to students at conference. It is hoped that the updated constitution will allow this year's meeting to be more targeted.”

Continuing, he said: “Financial management has been a long running problem at the NUS and now most people are agreed that more expert, independent advice must be sought to maintain financial stability.”

NUS president, Wes Streeting, warned the conference at the beginning of proceedings: “Given our precarious financial position, all it takes is for a few big Unions to leave and our financial model is screwed and our national union is in decline.”

Tensions ran high between student representatives, as voting proceeded on possible amendments to the main motion of the new constitution.

Out of the 15 proposed amendments, six were passed. These include new measures to streamline policy making, seek the advice of professional bodies on issues of fiscal planning and reduce the number of debates on issues of international politics.

Fallen amendments tended to contain more controversial and radical changes. For instance, the ban was not lifted on far right political groups, such as BNP, to campaign and meet on university campuses. This topic, however, created extended debate. The conference concluded that the risk of harm coming to students was greater than the risk of silencing these groups.

There were fears, however, that history could repeat itself. Last year, the motion for another version of a constitution was passed at a similar conference but, by the smallest of margins and with great controversy, failed to win support at the second conference.

Only 20 votes were needed and calls for a recount were dismissed since during the access break the doors had been left unlocked, breaking a fundamental rule of conference.

Opinions have changed and the revised constitution for 2008 onwards has been warmly welcomed by most. One student from Leeds Metropolitan Student Union summed up the general state of affairs in a heartfelt speech. She voted against the new constitution last year but was now in support of a revision. She now felt that the NUS was in desperate need of these changes.

Mr Streeting, showing reluctance to start celebrating prematurely, admitted there was still a long way to go and, as was proved last year, anything could happen. He addressed the conference and warned: “The job is not finished... there’s still a lot left to do.

“The leadership is now in your hands... you have two clear choices... The opposition is running out of arguments and NUS is running out of time... We have come too far now to fall at the final hurdle.”

Despite having the furthest distance to travel, Scotland had the highest number of Unions represented per region compared with the other UK nations.