§ 3.38 p.m.
§ Mr. Nicholas Winterton (Macclesfield)I beg to move,
That leave be given to bring in a Bill to make provision for the voluntary membership of student unions, student associations and student representative councils; to make consequential provisions with respect to the membership fees and charges of those bodies; and for connected purposes.The purpose of my Bill is to increase and enhance the image and stature of all students in the United Kingdom. Many hon. Members pay lip service to young people being given genuine responsibility and independence, but when it comes to a proposal to do something definite about this, they find themselves unable to honour their principles for all sorts of extraordinary and irrelevant reasons.At present all students at universities, polytechnics and most other institutions of higher education are compelled to join their local student unions. That is repugnant to anyone who believes in the genuine freedom of the individual. But the purpose of my Bill is not merely to moralise on the rights and wrongs of the closed shop as it affects students but to draw the attention of the House to the misuse of some of the £14 million of ratepayers' and taxpayers' money spent annually by a minority of students who manipulate and control Britain's student unions.
Every student at university must pay an annual fee of up to £50 to the university authority, which passes it on to the student union. The fees of most students who receive maintenance grants are paid by the local education authority where their parents reside. The purpose of these funds, theoretically, is to enable services, clubs and societies to provide for the students' leisure, welfare, recreational and social activities. For example, if a student plays rugby football, the rugby club should be provided with a student union grant to provide facilities for the students to play the game.
Let me examine the reality in a university with about 5,000 undergraduates. The student union receives indirectly from the taxpayer and the ratepayer 5,000 times, say, £40 a year. This money is 1509 distributed to various clubs and societies by the vote of the student union general meeting. These meetings claim to decide what 5,000 students collectively desire, but they are usually attended, by political activists numbering no more than 150 to 200. Such student politicians rarely, in my experience, represent the silent majority of student opinion and, politically, they make certain hon. Members below the Gangway opposite appear like members of the landed gentry.
I have examined in some detail the student union budget at the University of Reading, and I thank the undergraduates at that university for supplying me with figures which would make the Chancellor of the Exchequer's eyebrows flutter with incredulity.
Is the House and the country aware that at Reading University this year, £7,705 is being given to 64 clubs and societies? Let me tell the House about some of these societies. For example, £85 of ratepayers' and taxpayers' money is being given to a society to promote homosexuality. Are there so many homosexual students at Reading University that public funds must be spent to sustain such activities? Another £200 is being paid to a group of students to allow them to play war games with toy soldiers and a further £95 has been given to GAFIA. Perhaps, Mr. Speaker, you think, as I thought, that GAFIA is a society that promotes classical learning, but you would be wrong. It is the Get Away From It All society.
§ Mr. Douglas Henderson (Aberdeenshire, East)Why does the hon. Gentleman not join?
§ Mr. WintertonThe activities of this society, unlike my own, remain a mystery, but there is no mystery about who pays the £85 for these students to get away from it all. The taxpayer and ratepayer cannot get away from this expenditure. In addition, £95 is given to a group of stduents to keep bees. It may be milk and honey for some of the students at Reading University, but it is the taxpayer and ratepayer who get stung for the bill.
I have been in touch indirectly with the university authorities at Reading and they claim that they maintain a close control of the student union books and 1510 say that they regard the union officers as highly responsible. The registrar said that he was satisfied with the system of student union finance at the university. That should be put on the record, because that is the view of the authorities, but I am not satisfied and nor are the taxpayers and many of the students at the university.
Hon. Members may think that Reading is not typical of all universities, so let us go to Essex, as I did on 11th May to address a public meeting. When I arrived, I was confronted with my image plastered all over the campus. Across the posters that showed photographs of me was doubed in red the word "Eliminate". That was not all. Underneath the photograph were words that I would not care to repeat, even in the House. This sort of material was provided by funds given to an organisation at the university by the National Union of Students and, therefore, came from the taxpayers and ratepayers of this country. While some are driven to do unpleasant things to prevent me from promoting my principles, I leave it to hon. Members to judge whether it is right for public funds to finance the poster that I am now holding and other similiar activities.
I have intentionally not given details of the NUS handouts of public money to guerrilla and terrorist organisations and liberation movements because that raises, perhaps, too many emotions. My Bill seeks to end the sort of abuses that I have outlined to the House, not by withdrawing or withholding funds but by adding the students' union fee to the students' maintenance grant. In this way, it will be possible for the individual student to decide how to spend the money on his or her leisure pursuits. The student will be free to join or not to join the NUS, the rugby club, the Conservative, Labour or Liberal clubs or the bee-keeping society, but no student will be compelled to pay for something that he opposes or does not support.
The House can take heart from the lead given by the Prime Minister of Australia, Mr. Malcolm Fraser, who has written to all State governments instructing them to prepare legislation to make the membership of student unions voluntary. Many hon. Members have indicated to me that they share my views on this matter and I know there are some in other parties who may join me in the Division Lobby if necessary.
1511 It is not only the taxpayers and ratepayers who are looking to the House to take a stand on behalf of students—it is the students themselves. They are crying out for an end to the abuse of public money spent in their name. They want proper accountability and genuine democratic control. The undergraduate population of this country does not have the time or the inclination to keep a check on student unions. Undergraduates wish to pursue their studies and they have a lot of work to do. They are as anxious as we are to eliminate wastage, but they do not have the time to indulge in the intrigues of student politics which are dominated by lifelong students on sabbatical—and how sabbaticals have increased in recent years:
If we cannot trust students, who, as adults, we deem capable of electing governments or fighting for their country, to spend their union fees as they, individually, would wish, there is little hope for the future of our country, which depends on these young people.
§ 3.48 p.m.
§ Mr. SpeakerDoes the hon. Gentleman wish to oppose the Bill?
§ Mr. BeithYes, Mr. Speaker. I wish to oppose this Bill, which misguidedly seeks to destroy the basis on which student unions in most universities provide a wide range of facilities for students. Catering, sporting, welfare, health and academic facilities are provided by student unions, all of which are open to all students and are under the direct control of the students themselves. That, primarily, is what a student union is all about.
If the hon. Member for Macclesfield (Mr. Winterton) spent less time visiting political societies in order to make the speeches which attract the interest he described and paid a few visits instead to the more normal activities of most student unions, whether to the bar of Newcastle University students' union or the chapel of the Birmingham University students' guild, he would find the student unions to be a much more workaday affair than his colourful description suggested.
1512 Student unions have always been based on automatic membership. In most instances fees are paid by local authorities through the grant. Even in universities where there are voluntary unions, such as the union societies of Oxford and Cambridge, the college common rooms and sports clubs claim an automatic subscription, which in most universities goes to the student union.
It would be impossible to provide facilities on the scale available in most student unions on the basis of voluntary membership suggested by the hon. Member for Macclesfield. The student turnover is too rapid to make that possible. It would not be possible to offer any reasonable security to the large numbers of staff employed by student unions to provide services. Any year-to-year planning would be impossible. In many universities charters would have to be changed, or statutes changed, to allow students to be excluded from unions of which they are automatically deemed to be members when they enrol on a course.
Universities regard student facilities as an essential part of student life. If the automatic membership system were destroyed, or had never existed, the whole matter would have to be dealt with in a different way. The same facilities would have to be provided by the universities themselves, and funded directly from public funds without any student involvement in running them. That would have been a great loss. It is far preferable that a large area of student activity is under direct student control. There are hon. Members in all parties in the House who know that such experience can be good training in responsible committee and leadership work. That element should not be left out of consideration.
The vast proportion of union expenditure gmes on welfare services, sport, cultural activities, social facilities provided by universities and on necessary equipment, staff and administration. In many universities funds for political activities are ultra vires. In universities that have such funds they represent only a tiny proportion of the whole. The expenditure that student unions channel through the NUS for representation purposes mostly finds its way into campaigns undertaken by the NUS on such issues as students' grants and the position 1513 of overseas students. They are extremely responsibly carried out.
I hope that Conservative Front-Bench Members and Ministers will agree with me that the presentations that have been made by the NUS on behalf of student unions on grants, overseas students and the issue before us have been responsibly carried out and handled properly and sensibly.
Students determine the manner of the expenditure. It is their right to use the procedures of their unions to determine such decisions. The accounts involved are professionally audited. In many instances they go to university courts or councils, on which there are many outside representatives who may ask questions.
I was fascinated to hear some of the details of the accounts of the University of Reading. I was surprised that the hon. Gentleman did not pay more tribute to the funds that are directed by that union to pay speakers' expenses at carefully judged rates and to pay meeting room expenses for meetings of societies apart from those that he mentioned—for example, the expenses of the Anglican Society, the Catholic Society, the Change Ringers, the Methodist Society, the Scout and Guide Club and, of course, the Conservative Association, which benefits to the tune of £66.
The most curious feature of the hon. Gentleman's move is that there is a review in progress of the financing of student unions that was instituted by the Government. A discussion paper has been issued which has been the subject of comment by the NUS and other student bodies. It seems that the Bill is attempting to pre-empt that consultation and to impose an unsatisfactory method of dealing with the matter without the consultation that is already taking place. It is an extremely undesirable way in which to proceed.
The proposal is opposed by the NUS, by the Union of Liberal Students and by other student bodies, including the Federation of Conservative Students. I am in possession of a pamphlet published by none other organisation than Conservative Central Office of 32 Smith
§
Square. It sets out in a reasoned and careful way the disadvantages of the proposal that is being put forward. It states:
The whole issue of union financing has been marked by vagueness, prejudice and sheer ignorance of the facts.
In a kindly and helpful way it is said:
This is not the fault of any particular individual but merely the accumulation of years of reaction to extreme left-wing controlled unions by MPs and students alike, who have found it convenient to pick on one or two abuses and thus condemn the system as a whole rather than investigate the whole scene with a view to constructive criticism.
The Federation of Conservative Students comes out strongly against the hon. Gentleman's proposal. It points out that one of its effects could be to hand over some student unions directly to the extremists of the Left, which the hon. Gentleman, counterpart of them though he seems to be, is setting out to oppose. His proposal would place student unions into the hands of those who have money and their own resources or the political enthusiasm to take up voluntary membership, rather than ensuring that the union is the property of all university students.
§ On an issue such as this we must have the opportunity afforded by the Division, which will take place shortly, to know lust who is speaking for the Conservative Party. Is it the voice of higher education represented by the hon. Members for Ripon (Dr. Hampson) and Chelmsford (Mr. St. John-Stevas), or is it the voice of the hon. Member for Macclesfield? Is the hon. Gentleman's proposal to carry the stamp of support of Conservative Members? I expect to have the support of not only Conservative Members but those in other parts of the House in maintaining a system that has worked extremely well in universities over many years and of which I have never heard criticism from any other quarter.
§ Question put, pursuant to Standing Order No. 13 (Motions for leave to bring in Bills and Nominations of Select Committees at Commencement of Public Business):—
§ The House divided: Ayes 79, Noes 227.
1517| Division No. 259] | AYES | [3.55 p.m. |
| Atkinson, David (B'mouth, East) | Boscawen, Hon Robert | Bulmer, Esmond |
| Bell, Ronald | Brown, Sir Edward (Bath) | Burden, F. A. |
| Bennett, Sir Frederic (Torbay) | Budgen, Nick | Clark, William (Croydon S) |
| Cockcroft, John | Kershaw, Anthony | Ridley, Hon Nicholas |
| Cope,John | Kimball, Marcus | Rost, Peter (SE Derbyshire) |
| Dodsworth, Geoffrey | Knight, Mrs Jill | Shaw, Giles (Pudsey) |
| Farr, John | Lamont, Norman | Shaw, Michael (Scarborough) |
| Fell, Anthony | Langford-Holt, Sir John | Shepherd, Colin |
| Fletcher-Cooke, Charles | Lawrence, Ivan | Skeet, T. H. H. |
| Fox, Marcus | Lawson, Nigel | Smith, Dudley (Warwick) |
| Fraser, Rt Hon H. (Stafford & St) | Lloyd, Ian | Spence, John |
| Gardiner, George (Reigate) | McCrindle, Robert | Spicer, Jim (W Dorset) |
| Gardner, Edward (S Fylde) | McNair-Wilson, M. (Newbury) | Spicer, Michael (S Worcester) |
| Gilmour, Sir John (East Fife) | Marshall, Michael (Arundel) | Stanbrook, Ivor |
| Glyn, Dr Alan | Marten, Neil | Tebbit, Norman |
| Goodhew, Victor | Maxwell-Hyslop, Robin | Temple-Morris, Peter |
| Gow, Ian (Eastbourne) | Mayhew, Patrick | Trotter, Neville |
| Griffiths, Eldon | Meyer, Sir Anthony | Walker-Smith, Rt Hon Sir Derek |
| Grimond, Rt Hon J. | More, Jasper (Ludlow) | Wall, Patrick |
| Hamilton, Archibald (Epsom & Ewell) | Morgan, Geraint | Warren, Kenneth |
| Hamilton, Michael (Salisbury) | Morgan-Giles, Rear-Admiral | Whitney, Raymond |
| Harrison, Col Sir Harwood (Eye) | Nelson, Anthony | Wiggin, Jerry |
| Hodgson, Robin | Neubert, Michael | Younger, Hon George |
| Holland, Philip | Normanton, Tom | |
| Hutchison, Michael Clark | Osborn, John | TELLERS FOR THE AYES: |
| Irving, Charles (Cheltenham) | Page, Rt Hon R. Graham (Crosby) | Mr. Nicholas Winterton and |
| Jessel, Toby | Powell, Rt Hon J. Enoch | Mr. Michael Brotherton. |
| Kellett-Bowman, Mrs Elaine | Renton, Rt Hon Sir D. (Hunts) | |
| NOES | ||
| Allaun, Frank | Evans, Gwynfor (Carmarthen) | MacCormick, Iain |
| Archer, Rt Hon Peter | Evans, Ioan (Aberdare) | McDonald, Dr Oonagh |
| Ashley, Jack | Evans, John (Newton) | McElhone, Frank |
| Atkins, Ronald (Preston N) | Ewing, Harry (Stirling) | MacFarquhar, Roderick |
| Bagier, Gordon A. T. | Ewing, Mrs Winifred (Moray) | MacKenzie, Rt Hon Gregor |
| Bain, Mrs Margaret | Fernyhough, Rt Hon E. | Maclennan, Robert |
| Barnett, Rt Hon Joel (Heywood) | Fitch, Alan (Wigan) | McMillan, Tom (Glasgow C) |
| Bates, Alf | Flannery, Martin | Madden, Max |
| Beith, A. J. | Fletcher, Ted (Darlington) | Magee, Bryan |
| Benn, Rt Hon Anthony Wedgwood | Foot, Rt Hon Michael | Mallalieu, J. P. W. |
| Bidwell, Sydney | Forman, Nigel | Marshall, Dr Edmund (Goole) |
| Blenkinsop, Arthur | Fowler, Gerald (The Wrekin) | Marshall, Jim (Leicester S) |
| Booth, Rt Hon Albert | Freeson, Rt Hon Reginald | Maynard, Miss Joan |
| Boothroyd, Miss Betty | Garrett, John (Norwich S) | Mellish, Rt Hon Robert |
| Bottomley, Rt Hon Arthur | Garrett, W. E. (Wallsend) | Mikardo, Ian |
| Bradley, Tom | Golding, John | Millan, Rt Hon Bruce |
| Bray, Dr Jeremy | Gould, Bryan | Mitchell, Austin (Grimsby) |
| Brocklebank-Fowler, C. | Graham, Ted | Mitchell, R. C. (Soton, Itchen) |
| Brown, Hugh D. (Provan) | Grant, John (Islington C) | Molloy, William |
| Brown, Robert C. (Newcastle W) | Grocott, Bruce | Moonman, Eric |
| Brown, Ronald (Hackney S) | Hamilton, James (Bothwell) | Morris, Alfred (Wythenshawe) |
| Buchan, Norman | Hamilton, W. W. (Central Fife) | Morris, Rt Hon Charles R. |
| Buchanan, Richard | Hardy, Peter | Moyle, Rt Hon Roland |
| Callaghan, Jim (Middleton & P) | Harrison, Rt Hon Walter | Newens, Stanley |
| Canavan, Dennis | Hart, Rt Hon Judith | Noble, Mike |
| Carmichael, Neil | Hattersley, Rt Hon Roy | Oakes, Gordon |
| Carter-Jones, Lewis | Hayman, Mrs Helene | O'Halloran, Michael |
| Clemitson, Ivor | Healey, Rt Hon Denis | Onslow, Cranley |
| Cocks, Rt Hon Michael (Bristol S) | Heffer, Eric S. | Orbach, Maurice |
| Cohen, Stanley | Henderson, Douglas | Orme, Rt Hon Stanley |
| Coleman, Donald | Horam, John | Pardoe, John |
| Cook, Robin F. (Edin C) | Howell, Rt Hon Denis (B'ham, Sm H) | Park, George |
| Cormack, Patrick | Hoyle, Doug (Nelson) | Parker, John |
| Cowans, Harry | Huckfield, Les | Parry, Robert |
| Cox, Thomas (Tooting) | Hughes, Mark (Durham) | Pavitt, Laurie |
| Craigen, Jim (Maryhill) | Hughes, Robert (Aberdeen N) | Pendry, Tom |
| Crawford, Douglas | Hunt, David (Wirral) | Perry, Ernest |
| Cronin, John | Hunter, Adam | Phipps, Dr Colin |
| Crowther, Stan (Rotherham) | Jackson, Miss Margaret (Lincoln) | Prescott, John |
| Cryer, Bob | Jenkins, Hugh (Putney) | Price, C. (Lewisham W) |
| Davidson, Arthur | John Brynmor | Price, William (Rugby) |
| Deakins, Eric | Johnson, Walter (Derby S) | Radice, Giles |
| Dean, Joseph (Leeds West) | Jones, Alec (Rhondda) | Rees, Rt Hon Merlyn (Leeds S) |
| de Freitas, Rt Hon Sir Geoffrey | Jones, Dan (Burnley) | Reid, George |
| Dempsey, James | Judd, Frank | Richardson, Miss Jo |
| Dewar, Donald | Kelley, Richard | Rifkind, Malcolm |
| Doig, Peter | Kilroy-Silk, Robert | Roberts, Albert (Normanton) |
| Dormand, J. D. | Knox, David | Roberts, Gwilym (Cannock) |
| Douglas-Mann, Bruce | Lambie, David | Robertson, George (Hamilton) |
| Dunn, James A. | Lamond, James | Robinson, Geoffrey |
| Dunnett, Jack | Latham, Arthur (Paddington) | Roderick, Caerwyn |
| Edge, Geoff | Lestor, Miss John (Eton & Slough) | Podgers, George (Chorley) |
| Edwards, Robert (Wolv SE) | Lewis, Ron (Carlisle) | Rooker, J. W. |
| Ellis, John (Brigg & Scun) | Litterick, Tom | Roper, John |
| Ellis, Tom (Wrexham) | Loyden, Eddie | Rose, Paul B. |
| English, Michael | Luard, Evan | Ryman, John |
| Evans, Fred (Caerphilly) | McCartney, Hugh | Sandelson, Neville |
| Sedgemore, Brian | Strang, Gavin | Watkinson, John |
| Selby, Harry | Summerskill, Hon Dr Shirley | Watt, Hamish |
| Sever, John | Swain, Thomas | Weetch, Ken |
| Shaw, Arnold (llford South) | Thomas, Dafydd (Merioneth) | Weitzman, David |
| Sheldon, Rt Hon Robert | Thomas, Ron (Bristol NW) | White, Frank R. (Bury) |
| Short, Mrs Renée (Wolv NE) | Thompson, George | Whitehead, Phillip |
| Silkin, Rt Hon John (Deptford) | Thorne, Stan (Preston South) | Whitlock, William |
| Silverman, Julius | Tierney, Sydney | Wigley, Dafydd |
| Silvester, Fred | Tinn, James | Willey, Rt Hon Frederick |
| Skinner, Dennis | Tomlinson, John | Williams, Sir Thomas (Warrington) |
| Smith, Rt. Hon. John (N Lanarkshire) | Torney, Tom | Wilson, Gordon (Dundee E) |
| Smith, Timothy John (Ashfield) | Tuck, Raphael | Wilson, William (Coventry SE) |
| Snape, Peter | Urwin, T. W. | Woodall, Alec |
| Spearing, Nigel | van Straubenzee, W. R. | Woof, Robert |
| Spriggs, Leslie | Varley, Rt Hon Eric G. | Wrigglesworth, Ian |
| Stallard, A. W. | Wainwright, Richard (Colne V) | |
| Steel, Rt Hon David | Walker, Harold (Doncaster) | |
| Stewart, Rt Hon Donald | Walker, Rt Hon P. (Worcester) | TELLERS FOR THE NOES: |
| Stewart, Rt Hon M. (Fulham) | Walker, Terry (Kingswood) | Mr. Kevin McNamara and |
| Stoddart, David | Watkins, David | Mr, Bryan Davies. |
§ Question accordingly negatived.