15.01.2004
Back to the future
Blair is looking increasingly unstable and is on the right track to alienate all but his most ardent acolytes, says Phil Hamilton
Poor Tony Blair is on the ropes yet again. The Kelly affair has seen him looking even shiftier than Michael Howard at prime minister's questions, and now he faces his biggest backbench rebellion over tuition fees. 'Desperate times require desperate measures,' goes the old saying, and there is definitely an element of desperation in his increasingly hysterical attacks on the rebels. By likening a vote against variable fees to "treachery", Blair is looking increasingly unstable and is on the right track to alienate all but his most ardent acolytes.
This would be a mistake when it comes to the National Union of Students. For decades the upper echelons of its bureaucracy have churned out loyally unthinking voting fodder for the Labour Party. Illustrating the depth of the rot, the original introduction of fees did not even register as far as this relationship was concerned. But times have changed. The faceless Blairite hacks of the late 90s have given way to 2004's tough-talking Mandy Telford. This reflects the growing anger on the campuses. NUS online has the smart, corporate look common to most union websites, and is a marked improvement over the 'yoof' look it attempted to pass off last time I visited. The main field is split into three topic listings. The first, 'Advice', highlights its 'Safe as houses' site and, as you might guess, this is dedicated to the perennial problem of student accommodation. Students are requested to submit anecdotes of hideous housing and loathsome landlords, and there is more generalised information, including what students can expect from the forthcoming Housing Bill. (But all this does not explain why the home page uses a picture of Roland Rat to publicise the site. My old digs were never infested by unwieldy glove puppets.) Moving along, further items listed include safe sex messages, a thinly-veiled plug for the NUS-owned Endsleigh Insurance, a chance to win 300 quid, and an article on job agencies. The 'Campaigns' column begins with a scathing attack on variable fees by Mandy Telford. She fears the £3,000 charge is merely the thin end of a £10,000 wedge that universities would really like to demand. Once the government introduces the market into higher education, the pressure to raise the ceiling will prove irresistible, she argues. It is obvious to all but the prime minister that this would create a two-tier system where some institutions will be devalued, and whole swathes of working class students put off by the vast debts they would accrue. But of course, Tony always knows best.
Moving on, the column acknowledges Holocaust Memorial Day on January 25, and provides more material on housing and health. January 20 marks 'Democracy Day', and the NUS shows its commitment to democratic transparency by denying access to these pages to all but registered members. Other items include the 'Save Wednesday afternoon' campaign, a report from the December 5 lobby of MPs, a campaign against violence toward women, footage of demonstrations and conference documents.
The third column speaks to the increasingly accurate stereotype of students as hard up, and offers a number of discounts on a variety of goods and services. Unfortunately my union card expired years ago, so I was forced to do my bargain hunting elsewhere. The navigation bar at the top of the screen offers a series of drop-down menus, giving even more advice, campaigning links and discounts. The news link offers press releases, a Westminster watch, upcoming stunts, and a small round-up of recent happenings. 'NUS card' extols the consumerist benefits of such a desirable possession, but is it really necessary to separate it from the 'About NUS' pages? By giving the card a stand-alone page, it implies that the main selling points of the union are the discounts membership offers. Nevertheless 'About NUS' offers a fair overview of the size, structure, function and history of the organisation. The Wales and Scotland pages provide some bilingual links and short introductions concerning their activities - though in my opinion these could do with more work. This, however, is complemented nicely by 'The guide', a map index of affiliated college and university unions throughout the UK. Lastly, the bar is completed by a resource page that promises "briefings, events guides, publications ..." to union officers, but once again you have to be a member to see it.
The NUS is to be congratulated for packing in as much information as possible, while avoiding the boring design and plodding content not uncommon among trade union websites. Their monochromatic IT departments could do with taking a look. Phil Hamilton