Bidding farewell to the National Union of Students conference, retiring deputy president Alistair Stewart finished with a word of welcome for new executive member Steve Moon - a supporter of the Federation of Conservative Students. It was a fitting finish to a conference where the Broad Left won 11 out of its 12 executive positions because of a transfer of votes from the Tory students.
ding factor in the re-election of Broad Leftists Charles Clarke as president and Sue Slipman as national secretary. The election of the latter - by little more than Coultas - was particularly significant because Slipman, formerly responsible for international affairs, Tory support was also the deci100 votes over IMG member Valerie foreign policy.
Vorster regime. so thin.
There was clear dissatisfaction with the performance of executive-selected NUS delegates at the previous meeting its communique was Broad Left lost autom AL STEWART-welcome for Tories overwhelmingly rejected and the delegation, including Clarke, was censured Delegates argued that the communique, initially drafted by the NUS delegation, gave completely uncritical support to the Soviet Union's Strong criticisms were also voiced about the South Africa campaign -particularly in relation to the executive's lack of action over Angola and its failure to take up the Labour Government's collaboration with the Charles Clarke attempted to portray the conference to the press as a huge victory for the Broad Left. But even Broad Left executive members had to admit that while their strength on the executive had never been so great, their support on the floor of conference had never been The FCS stated the situation CHICC more clearly - the BL's victory was dependent on Tory backing. Sue Slipman's disgusting attempt to avoid a censure for not supporting La only among comerence abledate the Bloody Sunday demonstration on Ireland by falsely associating it with the bombing campaign in Britain - and even stating that NUS was not in 'favour of self-determination for the Irish people - showed the depths to which the BL is prepared to stoop to cement this alliance with the right wing and ignore the mandates of conference Fortunately the executive of the NUS doesn't have the TUC's power to break conference mandates and impose restrictions on 'dissident' sections of its membership. Individual student unions are allowed to decide their own attitude to each issue and each campaign. Majority The majority of the NUS executive have in the past used this federal structure as an excuse not to campaign for conference decisions among the mass of the membership Revolutionary students and all socialists must use this leeway to fight for democratic reforms in their local student unions, to campaign for the broadest possible mobili sation on 26 May, and to begin to raise the issues of South Africa, Spain and Ireland before the mass of students - not just in their own college but in all the colleges in their area to consolidate in practice the victories gained at NUS conferOnly such a united fight will win the mass of students to support socialist solutions to their problems. The FCS are waiting in the wings if this opportunity is missed.
CHRIS DAVIES (Repart)