I wanted to write to say a heartfelt thanks for all your support so far in the campaign against the Trade Union Bill. We had a big result in the House of Commons last night, with confirmation of further government climbdowns to add to wins over the last 10 months.

​Last night, minister Nick Boles announced to the House that the government would:

• ABANDON plans to ban union subscriptions via pyroll (check-off), provided the union pays payment processing costs (as many already do).
• CONCEDE safeguards against politicisation of the union regulator (Certification Officer) and reduce its costs to unions.
• WATER DOWN plans to restrict union political funds. Changes will no longer apply to existing members, and costs and effort will be much reduced.
• AGREE TO a review of online methods for strike ballots. This would help increase turnouts.
• ADD SAFEGUARDS to a new power to cap union facility time. This could happen now only after at least 3 years research and negotiation.

​This adds to concessions already made to:

• DROP extreme measures to restrict protest, pickets and social media campaigns.
• ABANDON plans to make everyone on a picket show personal data to the police, employers or anyone who asks for it.
• SCALE BACK the double threshold for strike ballots in “important public services”, to avoid capturing hundreds of thousands of ancillary workers.

Make no mistake, there are still some very harmful proposals that could become law, but the bill that passed the Commons today was hugely reduced from what the government originally proposed – an amazing turnabout for a flagship bill at the start of a new parliament.

Next step is to see if the Lords will insist on points the government refused last night. And then there will be arguments to come on the mass of secondary regulations and codes of practice still to be published.

But today is a day to be proud. None of these positive changes would have happened without trade unionists and supporters uniting to mount a huge campaign. You and tens of thousands of others marched, emailed, signed petitions, held local events, joined consultations, told personal stories in a billboard campaign, and took part in the biggest ever mass lobby of MPs.

There’s more to do, but trade unionists and campaigners everywhere can feel justly proud today in what we’ve achieved so far.

In solidarity,
Frances O'Grady, TUC General Secretary
PS: If you'd like to know more, I've written about the campaign and where the bill now stands in a blog, which you can read here.
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Malia Bouattia CREDIT: FACEBOOK

Dear Malia,

As Presidents of Jewish Societies on campuses across the UK we have become extremely concerned by some of your past rhetoric. We feel that this is an issue that requires immediate answers considering your candidacy for NUS President in next week’s election.

We were recently made aware of an article you co-wrote in 2011 where you explained your experiences in Birmingham. You referred to the University of Birmingham as a "Zionist outpost" and referenced that it has the "largest [Jewish Society] in the country" when describing the challenges you were facing at the time.

There are roughly 8,500 Jewish students in the UK which is 0.12% of the seven million students that are represented by NUS. We are shocked that someone who is seeking to represent this organisation could possibly see a large Jewish student population as a challenge and not something to be welcomed.

Our question for you is clear: why do you see a large Jewish Society as a problem?

We fear that comments such as these will only hamper the amazing interfaith relations present on campuses across the country.  Describing large Jewish societies as a challenge is the politics of division and not solidarity which should be the case.

We are also aware that these comments are not isolated.  Just recently you explained at an event at SOAS that the government Prevent strategy is the result of a so called 'Zionist lobby'.  By peddling these conspiracy theories to student audiences we are concerned that you are creating an element of suspicion towards Jewish students on campus.

Lastly we are concerned by your relationship with Raza Nadim and the Muslim Public Affairs Committee (MPACUK).  MPACUK have been no-platformed by NUS since 2004 after publishing material on its website promoting the idea of a worldwide Zionist conspiracy, including the reproduction of articles originally published on neo-Nazi and Holocaust Denial websites. MPACUK even posted "Take your holocaust, roll it nice and tight and shove it up your (be creative)!" on their Facebook page in 2013.

We were also worried to see that MPACUK spokesperson, Raza Nadim, used his public Facebook profile (which is almost completely devoted to MPACUK) to endorse your bid to become President of NUS.  We were hoping that this was something that you would distance yourself from but the opposite happened when you replied "Thank you :-))".

As representatives of Jewish students across the UK, we call on you to clarify your relationship with MPACUK and its spokesperson Raza Nadim. If you are elected as NUS President, will you continue to interact with an organisation NUS has no-platformed due to antisemitism?

The answers to the questions raised in this letter are vital to our understanding of your approach to Jewish students and Jewish societies, and your commitment to creating cohesive campus communities if elected NUS President.  We hope you will be able to shed some light on these issues in order to reassure our membership.