@sister_of_mercy Said
Apparently a couple of MPs are on the verge of resigning over this issue and many others are going to abstain or vote against the vote on Thursday.
I cannot believe Aaron Porter's silence at a time like this. There hasn't been this much support and passion from students in a long time, it's unwise for him to not gain their trust at such a crucial time.
I like how most unis are completely ignoring the calls to stop the demonstrations. Bristol uni has just gone into occupation as well which is nice to see.
What confused me about Aaron Porter was that he eventually spoke out in support of the peaceful occupations and offered NUS backing, then when legal aid and advice was required the Aaron Porter once again distanced himself from the occupations.
It's easy to be cynical but I do get the impression he is looking towards becoming a Labour MP and he doesn't want to burn any political bridges with the Labour Party by backing anything which could be construed as being controversial.
Same thing happened with the NUS under Jim Murphy who refused to go against the grain of what the Labour party said, weirdly enough he ended up becoming a Labour MP. It just seems like the NUS is more of a training ground for future Labour politicians rather than a body there to protect the interests of students and Aaron Porter's stance seems to represent this.
As it happens I think most people in the upper echelons of the NUS probably have the same attitude, as can be seen by their vote to not back any demonstrations on Thursday against tuition fees and to continue their silence against the 'direct action' of the occupations.
The Labour Party itself I can sort of understand as they essentially want to get elected and can't risk alienating voters but the NUS should be protecting our interests and that includes the peaceful protests which themselves are gaining a lot of popular support amongst students. I think hopefully the age of apathy in students is beginning to end, though in saying that friends of mine have very little interest in politics and it almost seems as if they don't care which is sad. A friend of mine said he wasn't going to get involved because 'It won't effect us'. Which technically is true, we are both fourth years and in Scotland so any cuts to education or raise in tuition fees won't effect us personally but I just thought it was such a sad attitude that he didn't seem to care because it didn't have a direct consequence on him as a person.