Student support for a Yes vote was given a boost this weekend with declarations coming from three prominent figures within campus politics.

The President, the Women’s Officer and Vice President of Education at the National Union of Students Scotland (NUS Scotland) have all given their backing for independence at the Ballot Box.
 
Gordon Maloney, the President of NUS Scotland explained that he is voting Yes to keep education ‘free, fair and funded for everyone’.
 
Mr Maloney said: ‘The arguments are well rehearsed; but what's clinched it for me is looking at who's lining up to tell us we're too stupid and uppity to manage it. When oil execs and big bankers make pathetic threats, I have no doubt which side I'm on.
 
‘I want education to be free, fair and funded for everyone and I want Scotland to be a country built on social justice, on solidarity, on internationalism and on equality. I don't think any of the parties are really meaningfully offering that, but that is the narrative of the Yes side; in schemes, on the streets and on campuses all over Scotland.
 
‘Crucially, partly as the son of immigrants but mostly as just someone who's not a racist, I can't sit back and let the UK government keep treating international students and immigrants the way they are. An independent Scotland offers us the chance to build a country that welcomes people, from all over the world, with open arms.
 
‘I'm voting Yes - not out of confidence in the SNP - but out of confidence in the people on the streets making it happen. It's time, let's do it.’
 
Vonnie Sandlan, Women's Officer at NUS Scotland says that a Yes vote offers so much more than a No, and that she expects an independent Scotland to treat immigrants with respect, prioritise funded accessible childcare and guarantee ‘free, fair and funded further & higher education’ and the ‘removing trident from Scotland’.
 
Ms Sandlan said: ‘In the run up to the referendum I have spent countless hours registering people to vote, I’ve facilitated debates and information sessions to ensure that people are armed to make the biggest political decision of our lifetime. As we come closer to the referendum and all I hear everywhere I go is people talking about this decision, I have never been prouder to be Scottish.
 
‘With four young children to think of, I have not taken this decision lightly. Like most parents and carers, I want my children to have everything better and easier than I had it. I want them to thrive at school with a world-leading education system which allows them to direct their learning in a manner which suits their interests, needs and learning styles. I want them to have security and stability, that should we ever be without jobs our welfare state will protect us. I want them to know they will always have somewhere to live. I want them to be able to train for their future careers without having to think about paying thousands of pounds for the privilege. I want them to always have access to a well-funded NHS which is the envy of the world.
 
‘All of the political issues which are close to my heart are being best addressed in the vision set out by those campaigning for a Yes vote: treating immigrants with respect, prioritising funded accessible childcare, guaranteeing free fair and funded further & higher education, removing trident from Scotland, investing in renewable energy and making Scotland the best place in the world to grow up to name but a few.'
 
Robert Foster, the Vice President of Education at NUS Scotland declared that he is voting Yes to prevent the dismantling of the NHS by a ‘system through gradual privatisation’ and that the biggest incentive for voting Yes is education.
 
Mr Foster said: ‘This is likely to be the most important vote I will cast in my lifetime and one which I have given huge amounts of thought to.
 
‘I haven't taken the decision to vote yes lightly, but it is a decision that feels completely comfortable to me and it feels right for my country. I believe an independent Scotland can deliver a better future for my family and my four year old son.
 
‘I have researched all of the reasons for and against Independence, and listened patiently to both sides on the various arguments for Scotland staying within the UK or becoming an independent country, and I have been excited by the political awakening in Scotland that is the antithesis of the political apathy of the past.
 
‘I have come to the decision to vote yes to Scottish Independence for a whole host of reasons.
I despise nuclear weapons and having Trident based an hour from my home is terrifying – and also, I believe, completely unnecessary.
 
‘One of the things the people of Britain can be most proud of is the creation of the NHS which delivers the care we all deserve at the point of need and regardless of wealth or status, but over the past 15 years I have seen both Labour and Conservative governments dismantle that system through gradual privatisation. It’s clear to me that to protect the welfare state in Scotland, we have to vote Yes.
 
‘I have heard the arguments from Better Together, that education is already devolved, and that tuition for further and higher education is already free in Scotland. I can’t accept any of this argument as a reason for remaining in the UK. Education may be free at the moment, but I believe the only way to guarantee free tuition in the future for Scotland is to vote for Independence.’