Porter made the remarks as he opened NUS National Conference 2011 in NewcastleGateshead today. The conference will elect Aaron Porter's successor tomorrow.
In his combative opening speech to the conference, he thanked the work of student activists and the trade union movement, Aaron Porter said:
“I want to thank our allies in the trade union movement for standing alongside us in the fight for a better education system...I want to thank the National Executive Council, all the members of NUS committees, and every student officer and activist for the work they have done this year.”
Talking about the building of new activism against government cuts he said:
“This is a hugely exciting time, of new movements and new tactics, of groups coming together spontaneously to campaign and we have to find a way to be part of that.
On his decision not to re-stand for the NUS presidency, Aaron Porter said:
“I realised that if I was a candidate it would have turned this conference into chaos, and if I won, we would have been unable for a year to talk about the issues because the biggest issue would be my leadership. And so it goes. The student movement is much, much bigger than one man.
In an attack on Ministers responsible for the cuts, he said:
“At least the Tories are doing what we expect them to do, however ineptly. The real villains are elsewhere. And we know who they are. We call them the Liberal Democrats, because they are liberal with the truth and democratic with the blame, spreading it around and hoping they don't get caught. But they have been caught.”
“And then there is Michael Gove. The EMA slasher-in-chief. The schools secretary who doesn't know how many schools he has, or how many he's going to have.”
The conference attracts over 1000 students and student representatives from around the country to the Sage Centre in NewcastleGateshead to decide policy for the coming year and elect national representatives.