Campaign for a Progressive, Green NUS

Fellow students at universities up and down the country who have been similarly disillusioned by what happened (or rather, didn't happen) at NUS Annual Conference this year have gotten together to trade ideas and develop a coherent agenda for the NUS' future. Work over the past couple of months has finally resulted in a 'manifesto' of sorts for the campaign for a progressive, green NUS, of which excerpts are taken below:

"The student movement is at a crossroads and our generation carries the responsibility of shaping our own future. We can become docile and co-opted, or we can fight and win the campaigns that will bring real benefits to our members and to countless others around the world.

"We have made a choice. We must defend social justice in education by reversing top-up fees; we must take radical action to avert the worst effects of climate change; and we must disarm our education for a peaceful future.

"It's time NUS had a wake up call. Most students shun the national movement, choosing to become involved instead in campaigning societies and movements - from People and Planet and Amnesty to Stop the War - whilst feeling isolated from NUS.

"If NUS is to win the big debates - on fees, on top up fees and the cap, every active student must be a part. By bringing these issues together under the NUS we can harness the energy of our many student activists and strengthen all our campaigns.

"The student movement should take a holistic approach to the issues it faces and not be afraid to make radical calls for change in the education system and wider society. NUS should be avowedly and unashamedly political.

In this vision, the NUS must focus on four central pillars of principle - social justice, sustainability, peace and internationalism, and participatory open democracy. What do these mean in practice? Here are the beginnings of policy change in this direction for the NUS:

*** For a progressive, ambitious, radical education campaign - opposing any kind of charging for education, especially top-up fees which penalise low paid families***

***For action on climate change - promoting Contraction and Convergence as the international political framework for action on climate change, working with the UK Student Climate Justice Campaign***

***For ethical banking - boycotting the Royal Bank of Scotland and switching NUS' account ***

***For a truly influential International Students Campaign, including Home Fees for Asylum Seekers, instead of international fees ***

***For strongly opposing racism and fascism of the BNP, AND opposing the institutional racism of deportations students to war zones***

***For Fairtrade in all universities and the NUS, but also for Trade Justice ***

***For arms control, but also for removing arms dealers from campus and backing the Campaign against the Arms Trades' Clean Investment Campaign against universities and colleges investing in arms companies ***

*** For overcoming the spurious arguments against a free education and universal grants, which can and must be funded as part of a wider scheme for greater equality in our society, and promoting alternatives such as targeted grants based on a students' income rather than the parents', or abolishing poverty altogether through a citizens income***

A good start, but the work to argue, to persuade and to influence fellow students and those beyond is just beginning.