Plymouth University Students’ Union have officially voted to leave the NUS in what could be the first of many taking action to escape that sinking ship. A major theme of the disaffiliation campaign was how the NUS is hurtling towards bankruptcy with a £3 million deficit. That certainly won’t be helped by losing Plymouth’s annual £60,000 membership fee…

Guido hears that the policy of Sam Gyimah going out to talk to individual Students’ Unions directly has also played a big part in this. SUs being able to go to the Minister directly makes them wonder what the point of the NUS middleman is at all…

Since 2016 the NUS has lost Hull, Newcastle, Loughborough, Essex, Surrey, and now Plymouth. This amounts to collective affiliation fees of around £300,000, and much more additional income beyond, through NUS provided services and supplies. Students’ Unions are escaping before their fees are hiked up even higher…