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The collapse of NUS Travel and two other NUS service companies is a body blow to the national union. While the NUS itself will be the major victim, the more immediate casualty is likely tobe its Broad Left leadership. Not simply because they will be held respensible for the collapse; also because as the NUS has, over the last three years, moved deeper into political crisis, its Broad Left leaders have come increasingly to rely on the service sector to attract students into the union.
Initially, the Broad Left came to dominate the NUS executive on the backs of student campaigns against the attacks of Heath's Tory government. As the Labour Party lefts' and Trade Union leaders, to whom they looked for an alliance, moved from opposition to Tory attacks to enforcement oF Labour ones, the Broad Left tumed their backs on political campaigns. Instead of trying to link up with those trade unionists who were prepared to take on the government, the NUS anti-cuts campaign has been reduced to a twice ycarly protest march.
The Broad Left's inability to give a lead in organising resistance to the attacks of the Labour government has been reflected in the growth of the Federation of Conservative Students (FCS) as an organised right wing in the NUS; it has also led to a growing number of colleges. especially in Scotland, disaffiliating from the NUS. Fally, particularly in those sectors worst hit by cutbacks like Teacher Training and Further Education, it has given a boost to those socialists of the far left who have been prepared to give a lead in action against the government.
Lacking any national perspectives against the cuts, many students just threw in the hat. Particularly in the more middle class universities, students turned their back on politics electing "moderates to student union posts. But if you scratched one of these apolitical moderates" underneath lurked a Tory, given free reign by lack of learned student interest. lesson.
As the right grew in strength the Broad Left's reaction was to pursue a "historic compromise" • At the Easter NUS conference, the Broad Left voted a Tory, Steve Moon, onto the Union's executive, The FCS and Broad Left agreed on a voting block against the "extremist" left. Since then the Broad Left has pursued this unholy alliance, with Scottish Chairperson Melntosh, describing Stewart the FCS as a "radicalising influence" in the NUS.
At the same time the Broad Left NUS leaders have toned down their political statements and attempted to build NUS in such a way as to avoid NUS Scottish "alienating" the FCS. To this end the speeches of this year's NUS president, has swung Charles Clarke, have been little more than a catalogue of wonderful NUS services. The collapse of NUS Travel, the cuts. however, has undercut all this. Students who've been told NUS is about cheap travel and rail cards must be asking what's in NUS for them now.
Socialist students should have a clear answer for them. The main purpose of a national union is not cheap travel but a means of organising to defend student living standards and interests. And in the context of the encroachments of the last two goverments this is no small task! Unfortunately the Broad Left don't seem to have from their rather painful
As soon as it became apparent that NUS Travel was going to collapse the executive struck a rather sordid deal with the FCS. In return for what Steve Moon described as "substantial" concession, the Tories agreed to lay off a frontal attack on the Broad Left dominated Executive. These "concessions" can only be construed as some form of power-sharing arrangement with the FCS. Such a manouvre can only strengthen the right and enhance their possibilities of taking the union
On the Friday night of the collapse the Broad Left in Scotland caucused in Edinburgh. Out of that meeting it was with the main force gunning for care another compromise. This time NUS in Scotland, the red-baiting Federation of Student Nationalists, controlled by the SNP. It was agreed to hold an emergency Scottish Conference which could recommend a more highly devolved" Scottish NUS, which one leading figure in the Broad Left described as the first step to a Scottish Union of Students. Once again the Broad Left stoked fires threatening to consume NUS. The drift away from a political campaigning union is clear.
Resistance to these dealings is growing and can be seen in the election of the first revolutionary onto the Executive. In the Glasgow and Edinburgh areas support to the far left away from the Broad Left. Key colleges now have leaderships prepared to mobilise against
The Broad Left's manouvres will only encourage the collapse of NUS SLP students must ensure that the fight over grants and cuts continues even if NUS does collapse or the right take over. To this end, the key task of the moment is to initiate united action of the far left and Broad Left members repelled by their leaders antics against the attacks of the Labour Government.
HUGH STEWART (Secretary Paisley College SRC, Scottish NUS executive).
GAVIN PIXTON (Vice-President Moray House Student Association).