Jon Pike, UCU Executive Committee member and founder of Engage,  reports on Friday’s meeting:

Towards the end of a long day, there was an important discussion and decision about the union’s international policy. It’s complicated…

Read Jon’s full report for an explanation of what happened. Briefly though, in the course of the meeting, the committee refused to endorse a statement by a subcommittee which falsely claimed the Union had begun a process that could end in a boycott of some Israeli universities.

Last year, the Executive Committee itself submitted a boycott motion to UCU Congress. This year, the Executive is refusing to endorse pro-boycott pronouncements from other committees.

Additionally Sue Blackwell, who proposed the 2005 AUT boycott, has lost her seat on the Executive Committee at the latest elections. This is another sign of the weakening grip of the boycotters on UCU’s structures.