Laurie Smith, Communist Students candidate for President of Sheffield University Student’s Union, reports on the elections now the results are in

This year’s election yielded few surprises. The campaigns of the right wing and the genuinely apolitical have consisted of the usual mixture of uncontroversial, token policies, appalling slogans and embarrassing gimmicks. Nods toward the environment and the starving millions have been supplemented with promises to negate the effects of the financial crisis on students at Sheffield. How this is to be achieved was naturally left open, apart from one candidate’s aim of expanding postgraduate programmes, so if there are no jobs we can just keep on studying forever. Candidates of the Student Broad Left and Worker’s Liberty ran on the usual minimalist platforms. The Hustings events were even more thinly attended than previous years, although turnout was much higher, at least partly because of the use of online voting. Over 5,000 votes were cast, this being more than twice the turnout of last year. Right wing or apolitical (so in NUS, right wing by default) candidates won every post.

Under the alternative voting system, I received 298 first preference votes or 6%. This is equivalent to the results CS candidates have achieved in previous years when we stood for several positions. During my campaign we distributed hundreds of leaflets, flyposted around campus several times and held a stall where we distributed the new issue of Communist Student. I also addressed lectures where professors allowed it, which was a new move this year and definitely worth doing, as you have a captive audience and a good speech can be more effective than a hundred leaflets. It has been evident that the crisis of capitalism is making some students think about alternatives, but there has not been a significant change in the generally cynical and apolitical mood we have encountered in previous years. This is not all that surprising given the failure of the left to unite and fight for a radical alternative to bourgeois politics. But we have had many interesting discussions with students, including new comrades in Socialist Students and unaligned leftists. The other left candidates in the elections, however, have not taken well to our criticism of their minimalist platforms. And the right, unsurprisingly, weren’t best pleased about me exposing their duplicity during the campaign.

There were two right candidates for President. Angharad C Evans (‘Play your ACE’- geddit?) is known for being very close to the Conservatives. The clear leader from the start and eventual winner ‘Tall’ Paul Tobin has been confirmed as Labour Students. This has naturally been denied by every member I’ve spoken to, though the Brownite yoof are not yet able to lie as effectively as their political masters. Discussing politics with them could be quite interesting at the moment actually; last year CS candidates were told that the furthest left you could go in the present time was to support a ‘neo-Keynesian’ economic model. No doubt Labour students who were once fervently Blairite have quickly adapted to the new ideological regime of the end of the ‘free’ market, following massive state intervention necessitated by the economic crisis. Well citizens- who are Keynesians now? Just try and get that job in Whitehall sorted before the next general election!

The other left candidates have been running themselves ragged campaigning and look years older; both their personal ambitions and their whole political outlook rested on winning these bureaucratic posts after all. The third Presidential candidate, Aqib Jamil, is a former member of Respect (the now defunct electoral coalition set up by the Socialist Worker’s Party- you remember, think George Galloway in a lycra catsuit). His manifesto was far weaker than even the populist mish-mash of his old organisation. The ‘Ethical’ section included token calls for lobbying on arms investments and a greener campus, and a vague commitment to ‘voice justice and equality at national level’.

The Student Broad Left (Socialist Action front) ran two candidates. For those not in the know about the student left (and who’d want to be?), SBL is a seemingly harmless left-Labourite network which campaigns for like, peace and stuff man, and has quaintly naïve views of Cuba and Venezuela. Beneath the surface, it is tightly controlled by the wannabe ninjas of Socialist Action, the tiny, secretive, and ruthlessly sectarian ‘Marxist’ group. Not very broad at all then, and Sheffield SBL is unusual in having a fair smattering of supporters. James Williamson stood for Education Officer, on a centrist platform of ‘Fair’ rather than ‘Free’ education, amongst other bland platitudes demanding equality and ‘strengthened representation’. International Officer candidate Al-Hussein Abutaleb ran on a platform of bourgeois multiculturalism, which called for a democratic Union but did not point as to how this could be achieved, or mention the governance review which has made NUS a dead duck. Unsurprisingly, these sub-mediocre platforms failed to spark the interest of students and Williamson & Abutaleb, despite a largish support base, failed to get elected.

Chief mention must go to Gemma Short, member of Worker’s Liberty and Education Not for Sale; but not running under either banner, natch (after CS pointed this out, links to the ENS and AWL websites were hastily added to Gemma’s online manifesto!). We have criticised her campaign most because she is a Marxist but her manifesto was dishonest and entirely minimalist. It was headlined ‘Socialist : Feminist : Activist’, just in case you thought she was a socialist who despised women and didn’t believe in any of that action nonsense. What demands and politics there are would fit quite nicely on the spectrum of liberal and radical feminism, despite the comrade’s identification as a ‘socialist-feminist’. The call for reproductive freedoms is entirely supportable, though it does not come out clearly for free abortion on demand. But this, and a generic call for equality, is as far as it goes; there is no class content.

And does Gemma Short the Marxist really believe that being ‘Serious about liberation’ is holding ‘cross-liberation’ meetings where representatives of women, LGBT, black and disabled students gather to learn from each other? This may be useful for those activists but it is as far as Gemma goes in joining the dots.

Nowhere is capitalism mentioned (even the Archbishop of Canterbury managed that!), let alone identified as the system which perpetuates these oppressions and must be consigned to the dustbin of history. Nor is there mention of the necessity of women joining men in the fight for a communist party to struggle for communism – human emancipation without distinction of race or sex, to paraphrase Charlie Marx. Similarly the demand for free education exists without any analysis of the ability of the left to fight for it. Is this the logical culmination of the ‘broad front’ approach to politics? Leon Trotsky would be turning in his grave.

Let’s lay out the conditions of students in Britain. The NUS has collapsed completely and openly into bureaucratism. The decline of global capitalism is affecting students massively with rising tuition fees and privatisation of education. Indeed this crisis threatens our whole future if the working class is not able to defend its interests. Inter-imperialist war once again looks possible. In the present time, such a manifesto is next to meaningless. It is the political equivalent of throwing paper planes at the approaching tsunami – ducking the necessity of Marxism as the guiding light of our fightback. As it was comrade Short failed to get elected, though she garnered a substantial vote.

The attitude of Sheffield AWL members to Communist Students has always been hostile. But an exchange I had with one member on the Union concourse really took the biscuit. The comrade was clearly agitated about my criticisms on Gemma’s Facebook group, and accused me of cowardice for not having it out with them face to face. What followed was, unfortunately, a rather typical exchange and showed who was really ducking the debate.

Me: ‘Let’s do this. Right here, right now’

AWLer: ‘Actually, it’s not worth debating with you. You can f**k off.’

Clearly an organisation that inculcates a healthy attitude to ideas, not to mention politeness. One reason for the increase in defensiveness is that the young AWL are politically adrift now the NUS governance review has passed and they can no longer play ball in a union that was always dominated by bureaucracy and the right wing. The national electoral races had become the raison d’etre of much of the student left, but the few elected bodies where these tiny groups could get a foothold are gone. Now the AWL leaders of Education Not for Sale are at a dead loss for a strategy, beyond a vague plea for ‘left’ unions to split and start over again. There are at most a handful of ‘left’ unions that could do so, but this is unlikely. Besides, this is a bureaucrat’s solution offering nothing to students outside those universities which may split. It comes across as a cynical and desperate attempt to preserve some full time posts for members of the AWL and ENS to maintain a profile in the student ‘movement’.

Given the period we are entering into and the historical challenges we are facing, it is high time that the left ceases to treat the politics of Marxism as some kind of conspiracy, break with the failed projects of narrow ‘broad frontism’ and organise around the politics they purportedly uphold: revolutionary Marxism! CS are quite clear that calling for disaffiliation from the NUS would amount to political suicide. It is not that we are against a new centre in the abstract sense, merely that we recognise that with a left so weak and fractured the question is not even directly posed.

What is posed however, is the cohering of forces around the radical politics of Marxism in order to form genuine centres of Marxism. These could overcome the organisational and theoretical weaknesses of the left by promoting the teaching, discussion and study of Marxism, by forging genuine unity of Marxists currently dispersed into a myriad of groups on campus, and patiently build roots for the party our class needs to point the way forward out of the collapse of the capitalist system. We must be clear that these ideas are in a distinct minority on campus and in society. I appeal to students interested in leading a class fightback to join us and to educate, agitate and organise for the politics of Marxism in all spheres of life – the only viable political alternative to the rotting system of capitalism.

Below I reprint Gemma’s and Al Hussein’s manifestos in order to contrast soft-left pledges and appeals to the revolutionary politics of Marxism which I stood on.

Gemma Short:

Full Manifesto
*Reclaim the Union*
Our Students’ Union is one of the most commercialised in the country, the days of Students Unions leading fightbacks on student struggles like free education and wider social issues, like abortion rights, seem far behind us. Our Union needs a facelift, and not a superficial one; we need to rebuild a fighting, political, democratic Students’ Union. I am standing as a socialist-feminist and as a student activist, however I don’t think you need to agree with every dot and comma of my politics to vote for someone who puts student unionism and women’s liberation at the forefront of their politics. From anti-sweatshop campaigning to fighting to keep our Women’s Officer position, I have been active on campus and intend to carry on being so.

*Why a Women’s Officer?*
The autonomous self-organisation of any group that suffers oppression and discrimination in society is essential both in order to consolidate hard-won gains and push for greater progress. Right-wingers often bleat that because women now have legal equality, the struggle for women’s rights is somehow over. But legal equality does not mean real equality for all: for example, abortion is formally legal in the UK, but if privatisation of the NHS continues abortion will only be available to those who can afford it. For reasons like this and many more, officers representing specific struggles for liberation and equality in society still have a vital role to play.

*Rebuild our Women’s Campaign and Committee*
Over the two years I’ve been on Women’s Committee, I’ve struggled alongside other activists to prevent it from becoming little more than a talk shop. But no matter how committed members of the committee are, the campaign can only do so much with a restricted structure, limited resources and little autonomy. Women’s Committee should be autonomous, capable of supporting the work of the Women’s Officer but also of critiquing it and acting independently of it. The Women’s Campaign needs to be visible to the women students it represents; I would rework the existing Women’s Campaign newsletter into a more regular bulletin, to which committee members and women students could contribute. More resources will be channeled to the committee and its elected members given greater influence over the campaign, including budgets.

*For Our Reproductive Freedoms*
Abortion rights campaigning in this country has sunk into a rut of letter writing and parliamentary lobbying. Although actions like this have their place, they can be alienating for students that want campaigning to be dynamic and engage them on the day-to-day struggles they face.Campaigning for our reproductive freedoms does not have to be confined to parliamentary lobbying for legal changes over which students feel they have very little influence. Reproductive freedoms are compromised by the student loans system which prevents many student parents from being able to afford university, by a lack of nursery places and inflexible university timetables and by overworked University and local Health Services that may not always be available when students need them. I aim to both work closely with the University and local Health Services and campaign for improvements to abortion services in the area. I’d also make sure the women’s campaign took the lead in fighting for free education and better childcare provision at the university.

*Serious about Liberation*
Unfortunately the right wing crusade of last year to remove the position of the Women’s Officer ended up pitting liberation campaigns against each other, it is my belief that this was a tactic used by those wish to see four full time Liberation Officers even less than they wish to see the Women’s Officer remain. Co-ordination between the liberation campaigns is severely lacking and it is this that allowed us to be divided when we should be united. Sexism is implicit in LGBT discrimination, black women were the last to receive the vote in many places and doubt often cast on a disabled woman’s decision to have an abortion; we should be jointly campaigning on issues that effect all of us. I will push for ‘cross-liberation’ meetings to share best practice and organise joint campaigns; and for no compromise on four full time liberation officers, our Union should represent all students and not make excuses when it comes to liberation.

*Free Education*
The battle against fees is not over. On the February 25, hundreds of
students will gather in London for a national demonstration that I have been prominently involved in organising, based on the slogans ‘Scrap all fees – Living grants for all – Education not profit’. Fees effect women students disproportionately, as we often have to deal with added burdens such as childcare and face the pay gay once graduating from university. I’ll put free education campaigning at the forefront of my work as Women’s Officer, reminding the government and university bosses that education is a right, not a privilege.

*International Solidarity*
Oppression of women is international, and our actions can be international too. Marking International Women’s Day at our Union should mean creating direct solidarity, whether raising money for women from Northern Ireland to be able to travel to England for an abortion, or supporting our sisters in countries like Iran and Saudi Arabia fighting oppressive, misogynistic regimes.

*Staff and Students Unite*
University management’s drive to run our univeristy in the interests of
profit hits staff as well as students. Campus workers, from academic staff to ancillary staff like cleaners and catering workers, are the people that make our university function and they should be the people, along with us as students, who make decisions about how it’s run. Campus workers fighting for better pay and conditions are our natural allies. The lack of adequate childcare facilities on campus hits both student parents and working parents at the university; I’d fight alongside trade unions to win greater university subsidies for childcare service on campus to benefit students and staff alike.

Al-Hussein Abutaleb:

ONE UNION, MANY CULTURES!

“I want to see a Union that brings together our diverse student community and meets the needs of all international students.”

*Uniting different cultures by expanding our series of fun & vibrant international events, including Intro Fiesta & International Women’s Day

*More expert advice from the Union: on housing, finance,welfare and immigration

*One Union, Many Cultures: celebrating diversity, promoting integration, challenging racism & xenophobia

*Improve Orientation: practical sessions to help overcome accomodation and financial problems
*Active campaigns against excessive international fee rises & for affordable university accommodation

*A safe campus for all: promoting inclusion and tackling harassment

*For an eco-friendly Union; for a democratic Union where all students can have their say

Experience:

International Students’ Rights Campaigner

Chair, Black Students’ Committee

Course Rep

Active Campaigner Against Student Debt & Hardship

Ethical & Environmental Committee

Chair, Student Assembly Against Racism society

NUS delegate