The World of JR

MMUnion Goes Governance

2008-05-30T14:08:00.002+01:00

MMUnion's sovereign body, Student Council, unanimously voted on Tuesday to accept the proposals of the union's governance review.

In the two and a half hour meeting, proposals for amendments were also voted on, including to include a no platform policy banning people holding fascist or racist views from standing for election, or speak at meetings of the union.

The new constitution has to be agreed by the university's Board of Governors in October before it is able to be put into operation, however if they do pass the proposals then Tuesday's meeting of Student Council will have been the last ever at MMUnion.

The members of Student Council (including myself) who haven't got a position in the union in the next academic year, and who will still be students of the university, can remain active in the union by participating in the Student Forums and sub-groups created by the new structure, as can every other student in the university.

What a momentous occasion and I was proud to be in the chair of the meeting that it happened.

JR

Bye By-Election

2008-05-26T23:17:00.003+01:00

Oh dear!

It was widely expected that the Conservatives would win the Crewe & Nantwich by-election last week, but few were predicting that the 7,078 vote majority would be reversed, and indeed extended.

I don't think Labour can recover from here. I don't think Gordon Brown can recover from here. Suddenly the question isn't if the Tories can win the next general election, but by how much!

Election in 2010 anyone?

JR

It's Just Not Cricket

2008-05-13T21:34:00.003+01:00

I'm sure that most of you know that Cricket is a game for gentlemen, but you would have been shocked if you were in Alsager today for the match between MMU (Manchester) and MMU Cheshire.

I would firstly like to point out that the behaviour of 21 of the players on the field was absolutely fine. Sure there was some banter, but nothing out of the ordinary. However, the captain of MMU Cheshire (Captain Jack) was unbelievably rude and obnoxious. He routinely swore at and sledged the batsmen while at the crease.

I was umpiring at square leg (well, point really) when I hear a tonne of swear words directed at the batsman on strike from Captain Jack, who was fielding at short cover. I approached him and informed him that if I heard any more swearing at the batsman then he'd be on report, to which he responded with, "Go on then, f***ing report me then."

I will be reporting the matter to the team executive and hopefully they will take action.

JR

Boris Wins, Brown Loses

2008-05-03T01:00:00.004+01:00

Boris Johnson has won the race to be Mayor of London with 1,168,738 total votes. Just under 140,000 more than that of the incumbent, Ken Livingstone.

But the real loser in the May Day polls was Gordon Brown. His Labour Party was beaten into third place in a projected national share of the vote, from the English and Welsh local elections. The Conservative Party picked up (a projected) 44% of the vote, 20 points ahead of the governing party.

It has been reported on the BBC, and elsewhere, that Brown was comparing himself to John Major, in Major's local election losses in 1991 and coming back to retain a majority in the 1992 general election. However these results look more like the 1995 local election results for Major, just two years before Labour took a landslide majority in Westminster.

There could be more embarrassment for Brown before the month is out, with the by-election for Crewe and Nantwich being held on 22 May. It is very possible for the Tories to win this seat as they require a swing of just 6%. We'll obviously have to wait and see what happens in the vote.

JR

Polling Day

2008-05-01T13:58:00.002+01:00

I know I'm not the BBC, but I shall endeavour not to break the rules on reporting on election day.

I'm going to my local polling station in Withington ward to cast my vote. The weather is sunny with a few showers. Polls are open until 2200 BST. The results will be announced overnight, except for Wales and London which will be announced later on Friday.

Laters!

JR

Labour U-Turn as Tories Take 18 Point Lead

2008-04-25T01:03:00.002+01:00

Two bits of big news.

The government has taken a U-turn on the 10p tax rate as pressure mounted from backbench Labour MPs. Darling announced measures to compensate those hit worst by the abolition of the 10% rate on Wednesday, although he didn't mention anything specific. Labour MPs were informed by flyers handed out just before Prime Minister's Questions, presumabley to stop backbenchers from asking embarrassing questions of Gordon Brown in the chamber.

In today's Telegraph, the Conservatives are shown to have extended their lead over Labour to 18 percentage points. The Tories are polled on 44%, with Labour on 26 and the Lib Dems on 17. You'll notice that the sum of Labour and Lib Dem support is now lower than that of the Conservatives, giving them the majority of the popular vote of the three main parties. If repeated in a general election, the Conservatives would win a landslide majority of 154 seats.

The English and Welsh local elections take place on Thursday 1 May. Remember to get out and vote, whoever you are voting for.

JR

Today's Weather - Rain and Showers!

2008-04-21T00:36:00.002+01:00

As you might have guessed, the first match of the season was called off because of the wet weather.

The problem with Cricket is the comparatively small amount of rain that has to fall before play is suspended. The only game I can think of that requires more protection from the weather is Tennis.

The forecast isn't looking so good either, so it could be a week or so before I get to play.

When I do get a match, you'll find out here!

JR

Is Brown Less Popular Than Hitler?

2008-04-20T02:51:00.003+01:00

Gordon Brown's approval ratings have dropped faster and further than Neville Chamberlain's when Hitler invaded Norway in 1940.

Chamberlain's ratings dropped 48 points (+21 to -27) in six months in early 1940, while Brown has fallen a huge 85 points (+48 to -37) in the same period of time this year. The joke being that he is now even less popular than Hitler was at the time of Chamberlain's nose dive.

Now I suspect that had the British public been asked about Hitler's popularity in 1940 then he would have polled much lower than -37, however what is clear is the reason behind this sharp drop for Brown.

If there was one thing that Brown was credited for in the ten years he was Chancellor, then it was the stability of the economy. But after the Northern Rock crisis and the current global credit crunch, Brown has been found to have failed to save for the rainy days.

It's the equivalent of being promoted to a higher paid position ten years ago, going out every weekend and spending the extra cash and even taking an expensive holiday and paying for it on your credit card. You then find that you've been made redundant on the same day that your credit card bill arrives and just to cap it off, your house is found to have a major structural defect that means it will fall down within six months, unless thousands of pounds are spent on putting it right.

There's no money left in the taxpayer's wallet, and government borrowing is at 39% of GDP (just short of the 40% limit Gordon set for himself in 1997). So taxes are having to rise just at the time when the people haven't got the money to pay for it.

Come back Tony, all is forgiven!

JR

India's Premier Twenty20 Competition

2008-04-18T23:00:00.003+01:00

The Indian Premier League began today with a sell out 55,000 crowd at Bangalore and millions more on television.

I can see all one-day Cricket being 20 overs a side in the not too distant future. The only problem with that is the possibility that Test Cricket might go into decline. Of course it might have the opposite effect, with more people being introduced to the game with Twenty20, going on to follow the test matches also.

Time only will tell.

JR

Conference Report

2008-04-09T00:29:00.004+01:00

Sorry for the delay, however the first item in my report is the sore throat that was effecting me throughout conference, and ever since.

OK, lets get the big one out of the way; The Governance Review.

Unfortunately the ratification of the core constitution, which required a two-thirds majority, fell by 23 votes. That's twelve delegates short (assuming those delegates changed their votes; from no, to yes).

Sixty-six percent of delegates voted for change (remember, 66.7% was required to pass), but this didn't stop the hard left from claiming that the review had been "rejected".

Those of you that study, or are interested in, language, will already know that something that isn't one thing doesn't mean that it's automaticly the opposite. For example, if something is not white then it isn't necessarily black! So using the same theory, the governance review didn't pass, but it doesn't mean it was rejected. Mind you, the far left have never quite got that Labour are not right wing. Honestly, the Tories (mostly) aren't even right wing ... but that's an argument for another post!

Moving on now; I had a speech to do (even with the sore throat), that was on sport coaching in the community. Good enough for a maiden speech I thought. The motion passed anyway!

Other than that, I had a lot of fun when I wasn't coughing myself to death (and probably annoying the other delegates around me). Highlights have to include Wednesday night's comedy routine, and Wes in the chair (truely amazing)!

Those of you who know me will already be aware that I am a member of the Conservative Party. However, that shouldn't preclude me from voting for members of Labour Students (and it didn't) in the NEC and committee elections. I also know that the Organized Independents tend to be members of the Labour Party (although not always Labour Students). However I was still asked why I was voting for them!

Simply, student politics has two basic camps, the far left (Respect, SWP et al.) and the moderates (Labour, Lib Dem, most true independents, and probably a surprisingly high amount of Tories). Obviously I place myself in the latter camp, so even though I'm not in the Labour faction, I will quite happily vote for their candidates.

If you still don't understand, tough!

Cricket season starts this weekend. Here's hoping for a dry summer.

JR

Tour Over, Conference Begins

2008-03-31T20:47:00.003+01:00

As I said in my previous blog entry; what goes on tour, stays on tour. So I won't be giving you many details of tour, other than to say it was very messy indeed!

But as one event finishes, another starts. NUS Annual Conference begins tomorrow and there's one or two issues to discuss. The big one, of course, is the NUS Governance Review.

I'm choosing change!

I'll give you all the details of the Conference on Friday!

JR

JR On Tour

2008-03-23T23:47:00.003Z

I'll be on the Athletic Union Tour until Saturday, so obviously this blog will not be updated until I'm back.

The good news is there will be plenty of tour banter for the blog, although all tour related posts will have to be approved to conform with the first rule of tour ...

What goes on tour, stays on tour!

... and that's that!

See you on Saturday.

JR

Commissions Drafted and Higher Education Funding Debate

2008-03-18T03:02:00.003Z

Just two days ago, I was in London for NUS Compositing. I was in the Strong and Active Unions zone, which only took about an hour to do the lot.

The basket I was in (Student Activities) had the motion and amendments done in ten minutes, with the cut and pasting done in another five. The other baskets were done within half an hour, and then ten minutes to allocate the speeches.

The big thing was the order that the baskets would be debated at conference. A proposed order was provisionally supported by 12 unions (including Man Met), and three unions, with hard left delegates, were dead against it. The order was amended slightly to bring on board three more (moderate) unions and others joined the ranks in agreement. These three other unions were sill not budging, because they believed that their motion on the NUS Extra card was important, and should be first, not last.

The problem was they missed the point. The NUS Extra motion was controversial, so therefore would induce a lot of debate. The other motions would pass in no time whatsoever. If the NUS Extra motion was debated first, then it's quite possible that the guillotine would fall before any other motions reach the stand; whereas if it's debated last then we get policy on the other motions and NUS Extra will still reach the stand as there'll be plenty of time left in the zone!

Understand? Well probably not, unless you're an NUS hack!

Anyway, the proposed order, as amended, was accepted by steering after trying to get the hard left delegates to understand why we wanted the order how it was, and failing. The good news is there was enough of a consensus in the room.

Other zones were not so lucky. I don't know the details, but I'd basicly heard that the hard left groups had been told to keep fighting for their motions to be prioritized, until steering took the order off the unions (or indeed until they won). A classic example of the left supporting democracy until it doesn't suit them!

Moving on, I'm back in London today for the Higher Education Funding Debate. Should be interesting, and I suspect the left will again be shouting for free education, and I agree in principle. The problem is that the realistic options in the Higher Education Funding Review that is taking place next year will be;

Keeping the cap on tuition fees at the current level (just over £3,000)
Raising the cap to £5,000
Lifting the cap altogether to create a market in Higher Education

So basicly the stance we should be taking as a national union is for the cap to stay at the current level. Obviously there will be other viewpoints but that's mine.

More news from London later.

JR

Drafting Commissions

2008-03-15T13:24:00.002Z

I'm off to London today to attend NUS Conference's Drafting Commissions. Having never been to the event before, does anyone know what I've got to do?

I know the basic concept. All the motions on the same subject get put together and made into one all-in motion, so we don't debate the same thing on conference floor over and over again. There are recommendations that steering put forward that we can accept, but I suppose that some people won't and propose something different. Yes?

Don't worry, I'll ask the other delegates going with me for their advice. I think they've been before.

JR

The End of Student Respect?

2008-03-08T12:54:00.002Z

Respect have been wiped out in their flagship union of Manchester, and failed to stand in many elections across the country, as their support has dried up. Why is this? Have students decided to support the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan? Probably not. More likely it's Student Respect's domestic policy (if you can call it that).

Apart from their position against the NUS Governance Review, they have general disagreement with the NUS leadership, probably because they want it, where they oppose anything they say. It's opposition for opposition's sake.

But the worst crime against representation of the students, must be forgetting to fight for the rights of students as students. Things like library opening times, exam conditions and student finance. Where's the campaigns on certain universities failing to award bursaries to students who need them?

Student Respect will be finished within a year unless they change their direction to include "normal" students in who they represent.

JR

Election Week

2008-03-03T01:37:00.003Z

It's the week of the MMUnion elections and I think I've just caught the election bug.

Hustings are today and voting starts tomorrow! (Remember to vote Students First)

I'm re-standing for Chair of Student Council, so wish me luck!

More info at the Students First website.

See ya

JR

Pro-evo Tourney

2008-02-26T18:24:00.003Z

Should be fun tonight!

Plenty of alcohol available whist playing football on a games console.

Great!

JR

Brown on Student Politics

2008-02-22T00:02:00.005Z

Did Gordon Brown try to put David Cameron down by saying he was playing Student Politics? I thought it was a bit of a watered down jibe. Maybe Gordon doesn't like students at the moment since they are costing him money (and he doesn't like spending money unless he can put it on his credit card).

For those that don't know what I'm on about, watch Wednesday's PMQs. You can find it on BBC iPlayer.

JR

Comedy All The Way

2008-02-17T18:37:00.002Z

The Comedy Store was the winner last night. None of my housemates wanted to go to the Ritz (or the Comedy Store, but that's not so much of a problem).

Exciting week coming up! Check back for more news.

JR

On The Way Out

2008-02-16T21:49:00.003Z

Going out tonight! But should I go to the Comedy Store or the Ritz?

Before you ask, the Comedy Store show starts at 23:30. One's just down the road from the other. I might get into town intending to go to the Comedy Store and have to walk past the Ritz, but don't quite make it past and queue up for the Ritz instead!

If you're interested in where I went, I'll post it here tomorrow!

Cheers

JR

Election Dates Announced

2008-02-13T17:04:00.004Z

Yes, they're out! The 2008 MMUnion Executive Committee Elections will be held from 4th to 6th March.

Check out the poster (it should be noted that the dates on this version of the poster are wrong)!

Nominations close 25th February.

JR

Governance

2008-02-12T17:00:00.000Z

I've got Student Council tonight. We are having a discussion about the union's governance review, which should be very interesting. I obviously have ideas of my own, but I'm interested to hear what others think.

A question I'd like to pose is whether we should have a full time Sports & Societies Officer, or two part time officers? Should non-sabbaticals be elected from within their own liberation groups, rather than cross-campus ballot? Should we even have an executive committee any more!?

These questions and more will be asked (although maybe not answered).

More soon.

JR

Why do we call the far left crazy?

2008-02-09T22:01:00.000Z

Simple really. They are so partisan that when faced with very simple, and seemingly uncontroversial, proposals from anyone other than themselves, they argue and vote against them.

Now I'm not talking about the NUS governance review here, but a motion submitted to the University of Manchester Students' Union's own Union Council about arrangements for the forthcoming executive elections.

The proposals were; a polling station in Owens Park (the major halls of residence of the university), allowing online campaigning, and video recording hustings and putting them online. They were all defeated.

Even before the meeting, the opponents were calling the proposals "undemocratic". What a load of bull crap! How can widening participation in elections possibly be undemocratic (short of violence or threat).

So who are the opponents to this sensible set of proposals? You've guessed it, it's the crazy far left idiots, Student Respect! Just for the record, if there was a bus headed for the real world, I'd happily pay the fare for each and every one of them!

Thank goodness there's not so many crazy people down the road!

JR

Live Cricket

2008-02-09T00:44:00.000Z

I'm listening to BBC Five Live Sports Extra at the moment for New Zealand verses England, in their first One Day International being played in Wellington.

I hope it's worth staying awake for. I was disappointed with Super Bowl XLII on Sunday night, but that's probably because I wanted to see the Patriots go 19 and 0 for the season. They lost by the way.

Obviously I'm supporting England this morning. They won the two Twenty20s played in the week, and I can't see New Zealand get anywhere near England in both the ODIs and the Test Series that comes up afterwards. Geoffrey Boycott agrees with me!

Pieterson is batting at four! He was moved up to three for the 20 over matches, and I thought this was his new (and rightful) position.

Enough moaning though, the game's about to start.

I'll blog you later!

JR

Elected

2008-02-07T12:27:00.000Z

You will be glad to know I have been elected to be a delegate to NUS Annual Conference in April. I managed to break quota in the first round!

So if you voted for me, thanks. If you're going to Conference with another union then I'll see you there.

See you later.

JR