![England](https://a7.org/files/pictures/781x439/1054378.jpg)
The British government is severing ties with the National Union of Students (NUS) in response to longstanding allegations of antisemitism.
Universities Minister Michele Donelan instructed her department and its agencies to refrain from working with the union, and reported the NUS to the Charity Commission. The government is also cutting its funding, the Jewish Chronicle reported.
The NUS, the organization that represents 95 percent of all higher education student unions in the UK, will now not be allowed to sit on government panels overseen by the Department for Education, the Office for Students and the Student Loans Company.
The Department for Education described the decision as being necessary due to “allegations of antisemitism, which have been well-documented and span several years” and which have caused “a feeling of insecurity amongst Jewish students across the country and a worry systemic antisemitism within the organization is not being properly addressed.”
In April, the NUS was referred to the government agency that oversees British charities after numerous complaints about its treatment and attitude toward Jewish students.
MP Robert Halfon, chairman of the Commons Education Select Committee, sent a formal referral to the Charity Commission, with the Jewish lawmaker accusing the NUS of creating a “culture of discrimination” when it comes to Jewish students.
Michelle Donelan, the minister of state for universities, said that she was “actively considering” sending a complaint against the union to the Charity Commission or instead engaging with “alternative student voices,” the Times reported.
Donelan described being “deeply concerned by antisemitism within the NUS, including the remarks of the new president.”
Donelan’s move to distance the government from the NUS, came shortly after Lord John Mann, the UK government’s independent adviser on antisemitism, called for the National Union of Students (NUS) to be sanctioned over its “poor treatment” of Jewish students.
Mann made the recommendation days after the NUS’s new president Shaima Dallali was forced to publicly apologize for past tweets offensive to the Jewish community, including tweeting the Islamic chant calling for “the army of Mohammed” to attack the Jews.
Dallali was also severely criticized for having the slogan "Death for the sake of Allah is our most exalted wish" in the bio of an old account. The phrase is used by Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood.
The NUS also came under fire in March after it reportedly said that Jewish students who were outraged that anti-Israel rapper Lowkey was the headline musical act at its conference could have the option of being placed in a separate room while he performed.