The TaxPayers’ Alliance has looked at payments that the National Union of Students received from students’ unions, universities, government departments, devolved administrations and funding councils. Between July 2012 and January 2018, at least £50,145,280 was given to the NUS.
Rather than focusing on students’ concerns about tuition fees or the quality of housing, the NUS has now become a quasi-corporation, with subsidiaries producing Fairtrade clothing and media sales operations (the latter at a substantial loss). Much of this unnecessary expansion has been made possible because of taxpayers’ footing the bill.
The NUS now has a worryingly close relationship to the state.