The ongoing saga of CUSU’s open letter, which called for National Union of Students (NUS) to address allegations of internal anti-Semitism, has taken a bizarre new twist, Varsity has learned.

Following a press enquiry to discover if a response had been sent to CUSU’s letter, dated 17th May and posted online on May 23rd, an NUS spokesperson told Varsity that the letter had only arrived late last month, postmarked 20th June. As of Wednesday, the letter was in the possession of Simon Blake, NUS’s CEO, who has previously promised a response.

“NUS received the letter from CUSU, which was postmarked June 20, later that week and it was sent immediately to Simon Blake’s office”, said an NUS spokesperson. “He was on leave at the time but was made aware of the letter and received the physical copy when he was back in the office the following week. A response will be sent by the end of this week.”

A press officer said that, “as far as [they] are aware”, NUS were not made aware of the letter being published online, and that CUSU had not made any attempt to contact them before the letter arrived.

In June, former CUSU President Priscilla Mensah confirmed that she was having meetings with NUS officers, but would not reply to repeated questions as to whether a response had been received.

Varsity initially contacted Mensah on the 21st June to find out if NUS had replied. It now appears, based on NUS’s statement, that the physical letter may actually have only been posted as late as the day before.

If NUS was in fact only made aware of the letter in late June, it has now taken several weeks to respond.

It has now been nearly two months since CUSU posted the letter online, and 80 days since the letter was mandated by CUSU Council.

In May, University of Cambridge students narrowly voted for CUSU to remain affiliated to the NUS, following allegations that NUS President Malia Bouattia had made anti-Semitic remarks.

CUSU had drafted in pro-disaffiliation campaigner Adam Crafton to write the initial letter. Last month, Crafton described the lack of response by NUS as “shameful”.

New CUSU President Amatey Doku, who took up his position last week, did not respond to requests for comment.