Manifesto

During my time at university, I have participated in student campaigns on issues surrounding sexual violence. Over the past two years as president of It Happens Here I have represented student views on university boards and helped with the development of a sexual violence policy. I have also represented student views on this matter on a national level.

In addition, through my involvement with both college and university welfare, I have dedicated myself to raising awareness of student mental health and made wellbeing a priority. Mental health is a national student crisis. Services are being cut, waiting times are getting longer and an estimated 40% of Durham students are struggling with depression and/or anxiety. I want to represent the lived experiences of our students in discussions around mental wellbeing and ensure that policy passed at national conferences respects the nuances of a collegiate university and create an improved support network for students who are struggling.

As a student activist, I have learnt how important it is that our campaigns align across a national level and within our students unions in order to be effective. I have considerable experience expressing the views of minority students both within Durham and on a national level and I would love for our delegate team to convey the diversity of our student community.

Through my position on the NUS Disabled Students Campaign, I have experience of how conference works and writing, passing and debating policy and the role that one plays as a delegate. National conferences often include lively debate on policy being discussed. In representing Durham, I would ensure that what I say remains relevant to the experiences of students in their respective colleges and to help us get the most out of conference.

During my time here, I have seen the rapid rise in student engagement with issues affecting higher education. However, it is vastly important that we campaign cohesively with our national union. As a delegate I want to ensure that the views and concerns of Durham students are presented clearly. Although I will only be one of our team, I hope to use my experiences as a campaigner and previous delegate to create positive connections between Durham and our NUS to present a clear picture of our community at Durham.

Manifesto

"My pledges:

1. Use NUS street protests to bring down the evil Tory Government.
2. Use NUS boycotts to defeat ISIS.
3. Use NUS lobbying power rid the world of nuclear weapons.
~but seriously~
4. Vote against any self-aggrandising motion that does nothing to directly improve the lives of students.

Hi, I’m Tom. I’m a second year politics student at Mary’s, and last year along with Jade Azim and Sam Bentwood I ran the ‘A Better Durham’ campaign, calling for disaffiliation from the NUS. Obviously the outcome is not what we had hoped but that cannot mean that 40% of Durham students go ignored in this year’s NUS conference delegation.

Too often the NUS simply seems like the student wing of the Labour Party. (Did you know in 2015 they spent £40,000 of our money campaigning against the Liberal Democrats?!)
Each year we seem to send identikit delegates with identical views, all from the SU pro NUS world of Durham student politics.

Of course it’s right that some of the candidates we send should be pro NUS, anti Conservative, pro protest politics. But we mustn’t ignore those who’d rather delegates didn’t spend their time discussing boycotting Coca-Cola and Israel, or passing motions calling for the abolition of prisons (yes, really).

We should focus on issues that actually matter to students.

A vote for me is a vote for someone who will attend (and live tweet) the conference with a critical eye, and who’ll speak up for the 40% of Durham students who voted to disaffiliate.

Last year, the NUS conference saw motions calling on them to lobby the UN Security Council, legalise an internationally recognised terrorist group, stop commemorating Holocaust Memorial Day, and interfere in internal Labour Party affairs.

There needs to be *some* opposition.
Vote Tom Harwood."

Manifesto

I’m a Cuth’s Second Year, studying Politics and History, and Labour Club Publicity Officer. I’m running because I believe that the NUS is currently failing to act on issues that effect us and know Durham students need a Union that works for them.

Running on a Labour Students Platform means I support…

1.) Restoring and increasing Grants
Living costs at University can leave students drowning in debt. The Government’s policy to scrap maintenance grants will make things worse. Grants should be restored, increased, and extended to more students.

2.) Reforming the NUS
The NUS President should be elected by all students, not 700 delegates. The recent infestation of anti-Semitism within the NUS should be aggressively stamped out.

I also want to see…

3.) Mandatory sexual harassment and consent training sessions for incoming freshers.
Sexual assault and abuse at university is all too common. We should be doing as much as we can to condemn acts of sexual harassment or violence. Education is a vital part of changing our culture, and consents workshops are proven to have appositive effect on attitudes to sexual violence.

As an NUS delegate I will fight to make education more accessible to those from the poorest backgrounds – the people who would be put off coming to Durham because they’d leave with £60,000 worth of debt. It’s illogical to exclude talented students who are equally deserving of a place at university.

This is why it’s crucial that the NUS is a credible and effective. The NUS has a specific role to fulfil and it has been inadequate for too long. We need to make the NUS a Union that actively improves the lives of current and future students. A vote for me is a step in the right direction.
Please also support Labour Students candidates Saul, Dan and Rhys.

Manifesto

As LGBT+a President my priority will be ensuring the voices of all minorities are heard nationally. However, although we chose to overwhelmingly remain affiliated with the NUS in June, the 830 individuals who voted to disaffiliate must be considered to ensure that the NUS best represents the students here in Durham.

There are legitimate concerns with how the NUS operates, many vocalised by Jewish societies nationwide. As much as the majority of tabloid coverage around the many disaffiliation campaigns were rooted in misogyny, racism, and xenophobia, it is vital that we take accusations of anti-semitism seriously. As the leader of a minority association I understand the importance of marginalised groups defining their own oppression and this must be extended to Jewish students nationally. I will not defend the severe allegations levelled at the NUS despite campaigning to remain affiliated with them.

I had a plethora of reasons I was adamant we must continue to work with the NUS, but my main motivation for joining the remain team was to ensure that we continue getting the support necessary for minorities here at Durham. Trans individuals are still subject to a staggering rate of hate crime, and our counselling service is performing so poorly that is potentially harming so many. At conference I am eager to push for more assistance for those who truly need it, so university is liberating and accessible for all students, not just the privileged few.

I have been approached by a few political parties in Durham since I made my nomination public, who have wanted to officially endorse me. I’d like to take this opportunity to stress that I will be running independently, as I’m here to represent all of our students, and I will not pledge my allegiance to a political party or lose my pragmatism.