Student leaders drift right | IMGpapers 1976

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HELP BUILD THE LEFT IN THE UNIONS. SEND US A CHEQUE TODAY swept the board in the national executive clections at this year's National Union of Students Conference. Mick Archer of the Socialist Students Alliance made a strong challenge in the presidential election but only two far left elected, both from the Socialist Workers Students Organisalion.

The election look place in an atmosphere which candidates' theatrical talents seemed to matter as much as their politics. And crucially voting took place before the policy debates.

But the left still achieved a Bumber of victorie constitutiona debate which dominated the conference it blocked Tory moves 1o impose secret ballots. The Broad Left proposal, right, to introduce an inflexible system of subscriptions which Socialist Challenge 26 April 1979 page 10 versity sector, also fell.

And conference took an important step in recognising the right of women to self-organisation when it agreed to proposals for women's aggregare.

Nevertheless the union has been weakened by the rightward drift of the national leadership over the past couple of years, the support for all political tendencies in decline an appeal for a new alliance was distributed, signed by leading members of the Broad Left, the Union of Liberal Students and others.

The fact that section of the left such as the SSA and SWSO wete not approached to sign the "Open Letter" reflects che main failure of the appeal.

Any new ailiance, if it is to prove capable of leading the NUS but of its present crisis. must nave a clear response to and WOrkErS contradictions of a capitalise conomy.

It must reject notions of a "limited national cake' and pur national forward progranune that can unite the lett in the fight for an open and democratic education system The very ambiguity of the "Open Letter' on these quesorganised tions indicates that even its ment on what kind of alliance is needed. Indeed they call for a full debate on the nature, structure and organisation of a now alliance, ai a conference ar the Polytechnic London on 26-27 May.

We will be continuing the discussion on what is required of a new alliance betwoen pow and then and socialists to take discussion cobference pay socialist reach agreeof Central urge all this and attend the