NUS Conference 2018 closed after student protests

The National Union of Students (NUS) 2018 conference was closed and delegates were evacuated from the venue after students occupied the stage, protesting against insufficient time to debate motions.

The protests started because the conference ran out of time to vote on some motions in the Welfare section. Hope Worsdale, Warwick Students’ Union president, was one of the students occupying the stage.

Reports say that only one of the 16 welfare motion was debated, causing anger amongst delegates. Some motions missed due to lack of time were on the decriminalisation of sex work and abortion rights in Northern Ireland.

Flyers were being given out, calling for solidarity with the NUS stage occupation. The points of concern outlined in the flyer were “bureaucratic manoeuvres”, democratising the NUS, decriminalising sex work, and abortion rights in Northern Ireland.

The conference will re-open at 7pm today, with a “revised agenda”, according to NUS Connect. The National Executive Council has been called on to organise voting for the two aforementioned motions in the coming weeks.

Calum Paton, a Warwick NUS delegate, commented for The Boar: “I think that the issues they wanted to vote on are extremely important, however the conference voted against having more time to debate the motions so it’s rather ironic to say that it’s a democratic occupation.”

This story will be updated as more information becomes available.