Tagged with Labour Students

Young Labour Members to hold Conference about democracy

Young Labour Labour Students Next GenerationDemocracy and Young Labour have, in recent history, been mutually exclusive. The strange incompatibility of democracy in this organisation and Labour Students has been justified with various excuses: “we should spend the money on campaigning” (as if a political organisation has no politics); “it will disenfranchise women” (as if the majority of women in our movement aren’t already disenfranchised by virtue of being unable to vote); and so on.

So what a pleasant change to discover that many Young Labour national committee members are freshly converted, and now extol the virtues of democracy. For this, we owe our thanks to countless Young Labour activists who have been campaigning for change for years. The motion presented at January’s committee meeting calls for “a wholesale overhaul to help build a more open and democratic Young Labour.” OMOV is indeed very much welcome, and sorely needed to increase the participation of every Young Labour member in our movement. So far, so good. Continue reading →

Young Labour leaders ridicule member for working in a restaurant

Young Labour Labour Students Next GenerationThis is the text of an open letter to Labour Party General Secretary, Iain McNicol

Dear Iain,

My name is Jake. You’ve only met me once so I doubt that you’d remember this particular bespectacled Labour-supporting 19 year old. Anyway, hello. I currently work in a restaurant in Waterloo. I enjoy my job. It’s sociable, fun and enables me to continue living in one of the most vibrant and diverse (and expensive) cities in the world. Like thousands of other people, I have to work hard to survive and thrive here. I’ve been a Labour Party member, volunteer and activist for 5 years.

Continue reading →

A turning point in the National Union of Students?

freeeducation copyThis could be a turning point for the National Union of Students (NUS) and the student left. Delegates at the recent NUS’s national conference ended over a decade of NUS opposition to free education. The result is a triumph for principled student activists, inside and outside of NUS, and it is a further defeat for Blairism. However, it is only meaningful if students and activists on the ground have a clear understanding of what has happened, and what it means.

For years, NUS has been plagued by inaction and spinelessness. It began in 1996 when NUS abandoned its commitment to free education, a cynical manoeuvre by Labour Students – the faction which has historically dominated NUS – to pave the way to New Labour tuition fees, and other than one brief period in 2002-3, NUS has openly opposed free education. They got away with it for years while the student left was occupied elsewhere: anti-globalisation, the Iraq war, climate change. Continue reading →

Labour Students’ OMOV costing casts doubt over consultation process

Many suspected that the decision at last year’s Labour Students Conference to delay a verdict on implementing One Member One Vote (OMOV) until after a consultation was simply a delaying tactic so that OMOV could be voted down at National Council this year. Those fears were confirmed the moment delegates arrived on Saturday as we were handed the results of the ‘consultation’ containing some incredible claims about the effects of changing the voting system- claims that were clearly designed to pre-determine the outcome of the vote. Continue reading →

A feminist in support of OMOV for Labour Students elections

Young Labour Labour Students Next GenerationThis weekend, I was a first-time delegate to the national council of Labour Students, an organisation I have been a member of for two years. One of the main debates of the weekend was moving to a system of “one member one vote” (OMOV) for Labour Students elections. It is my intention to report the facts as far as possible, whilst not neglecting my firmly-held beliefs that moving to OMOV would be highly beneficial to the organisation.

My first concern surrounding the issue of OMOV in Labour Students arose through the survey that was released in advance of the national council meeting. While this survey was open to all members and completely anonymous (+ brownie points), I couldn’t help but be somewhat dismayed that the survey was only open for five days, giving people a very short time in which to respond, and thus limiting the total number of responses that could be gathered. Continue reading →