http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ukne...d-the-NUS.html
Student protests: The Marxist revolutionary aiming to lead the NUS
A militant German Marxist who wants to use strikes, occupations and street protests to bring down the Government is in the running to become the new leader of Britain's students
09 Apr 2011
By Patrick Sawer
Mark Bergfeld, a member of the hard-left Socialist Workers Party, could capture the leadership of the National Union of Students this week in an election described as "too close to call".
The result of a ballot of delegates representing five million university, college and sixth form students is being announced at the NUS's annual conference in Gateshead on Wednesday.
There are now fears the radicalisation of students over the imposition of higher tuition fees and the subsequent mass protests which brought chaos to central London, could hand victory to the 24-year-old revolutionary socialist.
With a manifesto calling for students and trade unionists to work together to topple the Cameron-Clegg 'regime' – one of his self-penned slogans is "400 students can block a road, 400 train drivers can bring a country to a halt" – Mr Bergfeld has tapped into a mood of growing anger.
Mr Bergfeld is the most extreme of the four candidates seeking to replace the outgoing NUS President Aaron Porter, a Labour supporter who unexpectedly announced last February that he was standing down after being widely criticised for being too moderate.
With observers describing the contest as impossible to predict Mr Bergfeld himself acknowledges he could "slip through the middle".
Mr Porter's resignation opened the door for Mr Bergfeld, a member of the NUS national executive council, to try and capture the leadership and swing the union to the left.
His manifesto states: "Our union needs a sharp change of direction. Under the spineless, dithering leadership of Aaron Porter, NUS has called for students to give up on the fight against fees.
"But both the poll tax in Britain and the CPE in France were overturned by mass protests after they had been voted into law."
Mr Bergfeld was one of those behind the occupation of Trafalgar Square by hundreds of protesters following the 400,000-strong TUC march against public spending cuts in central London last month.
It came at the end of a day in which black-clad anarchists rampaged along Oxford Street and Piccadilly, throwing paint bombs, smashing windows and targeting police officers with ammonia filled light bulbs and fireworks stuffed with coins.
Mr Bergfeld said that the occupation was a totally peaceful 'celebration' and he accuses the Metropolitan Police of using violence against protesters to clear the square.
His tactics have chimed with the new appetite for street protests.
Only last Thursday students, including supporters of Mr Bergfeld, were continuing their campaign of direct action.
Around 20 activists splattered themselves with fake blood during a peaceful sit-in outside the Westminster offices of the right wing think tank, Policy Exchange, which has published studies backing the Government's controversial reforms of the NHS.
Ben Beach, 21, one of those taking part, said: "We need someone like Mark Bergfeld as president because the NUS needs to be a street movement.
"Aaron Porter was willing to capitulate before the fight was even started. Everything that has ever been won in this country has been through strikes, occupations and street protests."
Mr Bergfeld, who studied Philosophy, Politics and Economics at the University of Essex, where he was elected International Students Officer, is a founding member of the Education Activists Network, one of a number of organisations instrumental in planning the sit-ins, occupations and demonstrations which have rocked university campuses and town centres over the past six months.
He has described the invasion of Millbank tower, during which thousands of students besieged the HQ of the Conservative Party last November, as "brilliant".
Despite disturbing scenes which saw windows smashed and a fire extinguisher thrown from the roof of the building, Mr Bergfeld refused to condemn the students' actions, stating: "There was no violence taking place and I don't condemn any action that was taken on that protest."
In a recent interview he advocated the use of force to defeat the Government, stating: "The Con-Dems are the real vandals so force is legitimate to bring them down.
"What we want to see in this country is workers and students taking mass action. We want a general strike in this country. We want barricaded schools."
Mr Bergfeld was born near the German city of Cologne. His German father Michael, a management consultant, and his American mother Heather, a dentist, are liberal left-wingers who, in common with many of the '68 generation – raised their son to question authority and fight against society's ills.
Mr Bergfeld threw himself into activism from an early age. He attended his first demonstration in 1999, against the G7 summit in his home town, at the age of 12, after which he joined anti-racist campaigns in defence of Cologne's Turkish community.
Moving to Britain in 2006 he joined the SWP and, while living in Colchester and studying at the University of Essex, threw himself into the struggle.
He joined striking Essex bus workers on the picket line, was tear gassed at climate change protests in Copenhagen, campaigned against a BNP candidate in Colchester and helped win up to £500 in rent reduction for students whose sleep was disturbed by early morning building work.
In 2009 Mr Bergfeld returned briefly to Germany to stand as candidate for the far-left Die Linke party in Cologne's council elections, polling 4.5 per cent of the vote.
His ambitious manifesto links the anti-fees campaign with the unions' fight against spending cuts and even the rebellions sweeping the Arab world and the struggle of Puerto Rican students.
He says: "Student action against cuts and fees pushed the coalition government into a crisis less than six months into its life. This was the start of resistance to austerity in Britain. Together we could build a movement to bring this government down."
But NUS moderates are worried that a Bergfeld presidency will place the movement further on the path of confrontation with the Government.
They fear his revolutionary agenda will not only lead to more street clashes, but also rob the NUS of any influence in Whitehall.
Liam Burns, the president of NUS Scotland, who is standing against Mr Bergfeld, said: "Mark wants to bring down the Government, but unless you are willing to sit down and talk to Ministers we're not going to achieve anything."
Ben Howlett, the national chairman on Conservative Future said: "The election of Mark Bergfeld would be a total step backwards; his politics are militant, naive and completely discreditable"
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