the Government's cuts in wages, jobs and public services was the 770,000 strong National Union of Llandudno last month.
from the 27 March Assembly on UnemThis conference conference the opposition to it came from...the CP and 'left' bureaucrats! nem ooposinon to it may nave nad something to do with the fact that the esoton, Jomuy pur forward by mem bers of IS and IMG, made concrete proosals for student strikes, ocupations, Students, meeting in conference at The call for the Day of Action came ployment, dominated by the Communist retary and treasurer Party and 'left' bureaucrats. But at NUS the Executive.
by the Broad Left. and other forms of direct action on 26 May, coupling this with defence of the 44 arrested Right to Work marchers.
The passing of this resolution agains Executive opposition was just one sign eats. of the increasingly insecure postuon or the Broad Left leadership an alliance er sign was the loss of their absolute majority in the elections. Indeed, Broad Left candidates for two positions - sec- would have lost to revolutionary candidates but for backing from the Tories.
The growing strength of the Tories in NUS was shown by the election of one of their candidates. Steve Moon. onto Moon stated that he only wanted to be a monu me see orme Broad Left, but would work at driving out' the far left from the Executive. No wonder his election was warmly greeted MACHINE The latter are reaping the fruits of policy. their machine politics, on which they have relied for nearly a decade as an alternative to campaigning among the mass of students for their policies. With the financial backing of Tory Central Office, the Federation of Conservative Student: is out to construct an equally well-oiled macume ma De to DoosE LOry sLudenI votes m maioma ana oca elections. as CHICC force on the right in NUS.
But if it was the Tories who profited in the elections, it was the left who gained in the debates, with sections of the Broad Left's supporters deserting it on major questions of policy.
This was most clearly revealed on the quesnon or democracy in the studen movement. Ine rignt s argument lot sco Ter elecuons wach woule aromse ure student body was overwhelmingly detSupplement commented that the conference.seemed to bury once and for all the issue of electing the members of the Executive by secret ballot'. But it was-not defeated by the abstentionist position of the Broad Left, who merely argued that each college should be tre to decide its own system.
amport controis and tne like, And or international questions the Broad Left leadership also suffered important def DETENTE Delegates protested as the Broad Left tried to cover up their lack of support for the demonstrations on International Women's Day and the anniversary of Bloody Sunday. Further condemnation of the Broad Left's lack of an internationalist perspective in practice came with the referral back of that section of their report dealing with Angola and southern Africa The roots of this lack of internationalismn were dug up in the debate on the 'unanimous" communique issued from the |3th European meeting of Student Unions in Bucharest. This justified many aspects o tnc bonces or mne oureaucrat in the Kremlin which run counter to NUS In a clear rejection of Stalinist detente policies and the ignoring of the suppression of democratic rights in Eastern Eur obe. me coo as a whoe was TOwa our ano me delerares to me sucnarest conference censured. Conference went on to adopt a proposal that future dele•gations should be elected from conferPOTENTIAL On almost every issue under debate the NUS conference showed that students ae look me tor an atemauve to me bank rupt policies of the Broad Left. One sign of the potential for a left alternative came with the big support in the presidential elections for independent socialist Hugh Lanning, who attracted a number of votes from the Broad Left's traditionley crew who hung onto this electoral coal-talls Such an alternative will not be provided by the aptiv named NOISS (Nation al Organisation of International Socialist Societies), loudly though they may try to claim that mantle. Their ultra-left sectarianism (particularly towards the Labour Party, where they refuse to dis-
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The first national union to take up the call for action on 26 May against