Comments on Tory Bear - right-wing political gossip: National Union of Labour

The NUS have always been scumbags. Abolish them. ...

2009-10-23T00:20:45.445+01:00

The NUS have always been scumbags. Abolish them. They have no reason to exist.

Did you not check the site when these recent stori...

2009-10-22T19:03:49.105+01:00

Did you not check the site when these recent stories were reported happened:

1) https://www.nus.org.uk/en/News/News/NUS-welcomes-Conservatives-plans-for-extra-university-places/ and

2) https://www.nus.org.uk/News/News/NUS-criticises-Lammy-speech/

3) https://www.nus.org.uk/en/News/News/Streeting-challenges-Lammy-to-define-his-position-on-fees/

Or do you like to miss the news when it first comes out? ;P

The NUS is become more and more partisan towards t...

2009-10-22T00:30:17.471+01:00

The NUS is become more and more partisan towards the Labour Party and hence more and more irrelevent to the vast majority of students. I was asked by one of the NUS vice-presidents (who happens to be a labour member but apparently not a labour student) why the Lib Dems didn't get more involved in the organisation and I replied that it seemed to be a vehicle for Labours point of view. Even when they do recognise positive Tory or Lib Dem achievements in HE/FE they seem to do it grudgingly.

TB, I don't usually bother to respond to your ...

2009-10-21T21:57:27.389+01:00

TB, I don't usually bother to respond to your blog when you choose to have a pop at me, aside from the odd riposte on Twitter, but I do take exception when you launch baseless attacks on NUS itself.

My personal politics are well known because I make them clear when I stand for election for the sake of transparency. I'm not shy about saying what I think on sites like twitter or my own personal blog, but I draw a distinction between my own personal allegiances and the political independence of NUS from any political party.

Indeed, on the fringe at Conservative Party conference John Hayes paid tribute to the face that I always play a straight bat with the Conservatives. The fact that I was there throughout Conservative Party conference, praising what David Willetts has to say on the student experience, some of his tests around the fees review and information, advice and guidance is further evidence of this. I would describe the current relationship between NUS and the Shadow Universities team as warm - and this is a relationship I (and others in NUS) have worked hard to build.

The story you refer to on David's plan for a new website has been announced before, is well known to me, and has been welcomed by myself and others from NUS on a number of platforms. One of the big policies trailed before, and announced during, Conservative Party conference was to fund an additional 10,000 university places. Not only was this a front page story on the NUS website for 6 days (https://tinyurl.com/yhdbouo) but my comments welcoming the proposals were carried in a number of national newspapers because I spoke to David before they were announced and ensured we issued a press release to coincide with CCHQ.

I similarly welcome government proposals that we are able to support but am not shy in slamming the government when it gets things wrong, not least because I expect better of the Labour Party. This is just one of many examples: https://is.gd/4uCka.

In short, I ensure that NUS plays fair with each of the main parties, not least because I care about NUS' ability to influence thinking across the political spectrum and its ability to influence the party of government, whichever party that may be. I realise that lots of Tories will have experience of NUS from years gone by, but I think that NUS' ability to change students' lives and build stronger students' unions is improving dramatically. I also think that's why lots of Conservative Party activists, including those elected to sabbatical office, have been happy to nominate and vote for me over a number of years.

I don't know if you were having a slow news day, but the page you link to shows the most popular news articles on the site at a given time. By all means have a pop at my dangerous communist politics and latest tweets about X Factor, but do also recognise the significant changes that have taken place in NUS in recent years and the constructive, sometimes critical, relationship we have built with the Conservative front bench.

Amusingly, the NUS President was on Radio 4 last n...

2009-10-21T15:57:45.329+01:00

Amusingly, the NUS President was on Radio 4 last night, among a panel of guests asked to choose enduring songs for the ages.

He chose "Things Can Only Get Better" by D:Ream, which was roundly mocked by the rest of the guests, and even the host.

Bless.

er... https://www.officeronline.co.uk/news/276652.a...

2009-10-21T11:57:36.747+01:00

er...
https://www.officeronline.co.uk/news/276652.aspx

The NUS are a total irrelevance. Here, the majorit...

2009-10-21T11:09:01.352+01:00

The NUS are a total irrelevance. Here, the majority of students think "NUS" is some kind of shorthand for a discount card, not a political bargaining organisation.

Apparently it costs our SU £50,000 per annum to affiliate to them. I wonder what the benefits of that are...

That assumes that the NUS have any interest at all...

2009-10-21T11:05:51.398+01:00

That assumes that the NUS have any interest at all in serving students, as opposed to being an opportunistic vehicle for NUS President Wes Streeting's shameless career advancement, in his relentless search for a safe seat.

This man's almost 30, and has never had a job outside of student politics or the Labour party. And he claims to represent us.

Shame!

I knew him at Cambridge. He was an unprincipled, shallow, vacuous New Labour opportunist then, and he hasn't changed since.

Ask Jack Straw

2009-10-21T10:32:07.037+01:00

Ask Jack Straw