Over 100 delegates came to Student Respect's first full conference last weekend. They represented Student Respect groups from around the country and the event was a fantastic opportunity to discuss the way forward for Student Respect. In the opening session John Rees, Respect National Secretary and Tower Hamlets councillor Rania Khan spoke on 'Britain after Blair'. They highlighted the redundancy of the New Labour leadership and the importance of continuing to build the Respect alternative on the campuses and beyond. In the closing rally, George Galloway MP, Lindsey German (Stop the War Coalition convenor) and Respect mayoral candidate for Newham, Abdurahman Jafar discussed the issues around "War and Imperialism".
But perhaps the most important part of the day was the workshops. These provided a real opportunity for activists to share experiences and ideas, and to chart the way forward for Student Respect in the coming months in each of these areas. Yvonne Ridley's workshop on Islamophobia was particularly well attended, as were the student-led discussions on Climate Change and Palestine. In the latter workshop, Student Respect member Hanif Leylabi described the recent victory in twinning Leeds University students' union with a university in Birzeit, Palestine.
The conference also elected a twelve-member National Committee, which will sit for a year and oversee the running of Student Respect at a national level. Committee meetings will also be open to two delegates per university Student Respect group. The results of the committee elections are shown below. Heather Humphreys from the outgoing provisional committee gave a brief report of the outgoing committee's work, which included the drawing up of Student Respect's NUS motions that have now been passed through many students' unions, and the publication of several important national statements and leaflets.
The newly elected Chair of Student Respect, Noreen Fatima, a Vice-President of London Metropolitan University's students' union, closed the conference. She welcomed the impressive turnout and highlighted the importance of students returning to their campuses and putting the day's discussion into practice. The conference provided an excellent opportunity to focus everyone's minds on the coming months and the need to continue the fantastic work Student Respect has been doing, both in the ground and in the students' unions and NUS.
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Student Respect National Committee – election results
Noreen Fatima, London Metropolitan University (Chair)
Rob Owen, Manchester University (Secretary)
Dominic Kavakeb, Essex University (Treasurer)
Colin Smith, SWP student organiser (Communications Officer)
Non-Portfolio Officers:
Assed Baig, Staffordshire University
Malika Barakat, Queen Mary, University of London
Bill Boon, University of the West of England
Jennifer Jones, Goldsmiths College
Sian Ruddick, Swansea University
Alison Smith, Plymouth University
Clare Solomon, SOAS
Harri Sutherland-Kay, Portsmouth University
