Since passing the motion at Union Council to oppose the bill (1), and agreeing to spearhead the campaign, a group of us met with Daniel Stevens (International Officer for the NUS (2)) to discuss how we could join in with the national campaign as well as make our own voice heard. Our campaign page can be found here https://www.imperialcollegeunion.org/news/oppose-immigration-bill. I encourage anyone reading this blog to click onto this and campaign as hard as they can! The page directs you to e-mail your MP and to sign the NUS petition. I have worked with Charmain (OSC (3) Chair) to send out an e-mail to all OSC society presidents asking them to e-mail all their society members to encourage them to use the page and to organise visits to local embassies to put pressure on them to stand up against the bill.
I am in the process of drafting an open letter to members of the House of Lords associated with the College to be published on our website, in Felix and possibly elsewhere. Marissa (Deputy President Welfare) presented our Council paper on the matter to the Vice-provosts Advisory Group for Education (4) with approval from the members on our stance- it is also to be discussed at Provost’s board (5). I also alerted the Provost of the matter at our monthly meeting. I am hoping to get the College to co-sign the open letter however, as the College does not usually take a stance on political issues, there is a chance that this won’t happen.
I contacted the Lords to notify them that we will be publishing this letter and received a response from Lady Manningham-Buller and Lord Winston with whom I discussed the matter at the Science Challenge (6) Launch drinks last night. I will be meeting Lord Winston for lunch to discuss the matter further once it reaches the House of Lords. Both appear keen to oppose the Bill.
Our campaign featured on the front page of Felix in an article written by Marissa and as the headline of the Weekly Union newsletter from me.
Get as involved as you can and keep your ears pricked for more information- I’ll keep you updated.
(1) The Union stance on the matter which passed unanimously https://www.imperialcollegeunion.org/your-union/how-were-run/committees/13-14/Union_Council/file/2223
(2) NUS: the National Union of Students
(3) OSC: Overseas Societies Committee: The management group for all Overseas Societies (E.g. Romanian Society)
(4) Vice-Provost’s Advisory Group for Education: The committee, chaired by the Vice Provost (Education), Debra Humphris, which advises on the overall direction of the College’s Education and Student strategy
(5) Provost’s Board: The Board, chaired by the Provost, James Stirling, which is responsible for the delivery of the College’s core academic mission.
(6) http://rcsu.org.uk/sciencechallenge/
