Students vote to split from hard-Left NUS

LINCoLN University has voted to split from the National Union of students following a row over its hard-Left policies.

The university’s student union was the first to hold a vote to disaffiliate after the national body elected controversial activist malia Bouattia as its president last month.

other universities could follow suit as exeter is currently holding a referendum, while oxford and Cambridge are expected to do so later this month. others are running campaigns to disaffiliate, including Hull, Warwick and Nottingham.

The NUs came under fire over the election of miss Bouattia, 28, who angered Jewish students by calling Birmingham University a ‘Zionist outpost’ and decrying the ‘Zionistled media’. she is also a key figure in the NUs ‘students Not suspects’ campaign opposing counter-terror measures. The NUs has also been criticised for turning away speakers it considers offensive and banning ‘intimidating’ clapping at meetings.

Yesterday Lincoln union’s president Hayley Jayne Wilkinson said they ‘no longer felt confident that the NUs represented the views of our students’ or focused on the issues important to them. The group said they held the vote because of the ‘general direction’ the NUs was headed rather than specifically miss Bouattia’s appointment.

Losing more regional branches would be a major blow to the NUs, which relies on its 600 member unions for funding. outgoing NUs president megan dunn said: ‘NUs has always campaigned tirelessly on issues that affect students every day. The student movement is stronger when we stand together.’