It's funny to think that a little less than two years ago I was in the middle of a bitter battle with the NUS to 'save' Edinburgh from becoming one of its faceless members, and now I'm writing an article in support of a YES vote. I feel a little bad to be honest, a bit like I’m somehow betraying someone or something, but what really drives me is the knowledge, as a sabbatical, that joining NUS is the right thing to do.
Don't get me wrong; I'm not saying that NUS is a perfect organisation. There are still faults within the juggernaut that is the National Union. Decision-making can still be dominated by factions, procedures and processes are still bizarrely complex, organisation is still unfeasibly poor, and communication is still not up to scratch. These are all the things that I, as the head of a NO campaign cannily entitled 'Students Against the NUS at Edinburgh' (SANE!), campaigned on.
But what I wasn't really thinking about (or rather, what I was shying away from at the time) was the fact that you can't reform something from the outside. You have to get into something to criticise it. There's absolutely no point in standing on the sidelines shouting about how rubbish something is unless you're prepared to roll up your sleeves and get involved. Yes NUS can be (at times) inefficient and a touch shady. No that doesn't mean we should dump it and move on. NUS is reforming itself. We can only influence that, and make sure it happens, if we are there. If Imperial joins now, you can all play a massive role in reforming our national union. That, of all things, should be a draw.
When I was running the NO camp in Edinburgh we spent a lot of time talking about beer and discounts. I am convinced that the things that really mattered to students during the referendum were beer and discounts. If we joined, would they get cheaper beer? Would they be able to get student rate in clubs back home? Would they get the blessed NUS discount card? But if you ask me now, none of those things really matter.
What does matter is what we are doing as a student movement. The government has scrapped grants and introduced loans, fees and variable fees. This is a hard time for higher education and we must all work together to fight for what is right. It's old, it's cliched, but it’s true: together we are stronger than when we are apart. If we all come together to fight for our rights then we stand a much better chance of winning. If we remain fractured we will get nowhere. That is how the government has trodden on us for so long. We need a national voice, and NUS really is the only show in town.
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