Monkey Business in Oxford

The 'Old Boys Network' certainly appears to be working overtime in Oxford these days. Lies, deceit and corruption are the order of the day for the institutions and organisations supposedly meant to uphold democracy and the law in this country. But what is behind these new developments in Oxford?

During the campaign against Cambridge University, which had been earmarked to become Europe's primate vivisection capital, the Labour Government circumvented the democratic process and ignored local opposition in order to help their friends in the Biotechnology and Pharmaceutical Industries push through their agenda. Having learned from their defeat to animal rights campaigners at Cambridge, the Government and Oxford University propaganda machines have swung into full action.

Firstly, misinformation released by Oxford University and promoted by the Oxford Mail claimed that the new centre being built on South Parks Road was to be a holding centre for animals where no experiments were to take place. The University stuck with this story for a number of weeks until SPEAK came on the scene armed with information from a source within the University which exploded the lies being disseminated to the Oxford public.

Well that first one, we're told, was due to a misunderstanding. Surely only the most gullible of us would have fallen for that and - oh - maybe those smart reporters at the Oxford Mail, though its difficult to understand how, even given the best case scenario, a genuine misunderstanding of this magnitude could have gone unresolved for several weeks. Obviously the top brass at the University don't read what their friends at the Oxford Mail write and can you blame them?

But let's not to do a disservice to the Oxford Mail. It seems they're not alone in their undistinguished professional conduct, for other, more powerful media outlets also seem to be dancing to someone else's tune. Media organisations have contacted SPEAK and promised to send a reporter to cover a story, but no one ever materialises which begs the question: Who's got to them first? It worth noting that despite the fact that the campaign against Oxford University has been going for months, the Oxford Mail have never once sent a reporter to cover this topical and important news story. Clearly, they feel that their Oxford readers are more interested in the closure of a small sub post office than the reasons behind a 200-strong demonstration marching through their city centre.

Not to be outdone by the media, Oxford City Council are competing for the coveted prize of "How deep in your pocket am I". Mysteriously, the planning application detailing the plans for the new centre has disappeared off their website, and despite numerous calls to the Planning Department it has failed to be reinstated because - allegedly - they are having problems with their website. Believe that one if you will! Strange how it's the only application with which they are experiencing problems; no others have been withdrawn and yet the mysterious technical problem of invisibility seems to have already affected the South Park Rd plans for the last 3 months! Would it be naïve to suggest they switch to a more proficient Webmaster?

But Council and Media collusion with the "higher powers" is just the tip of the proverbial iceberg. Loyal lackeys to Government bosom buddies Blair and Sainsbury are the one and very possibly only Thames Valley Police, who's biased policing has added a new dimension to the word "biased". The role of the Police in a democracy is - we have been led to believe - to uphold the Law and protect the People; of course, those minor facts aren't going to worry Thames Valley Police - they have far more important things to be worrying about - for example, doing the bidding of Oxford University and the Government.

It's hard to know where to begin on this one: should it be with the arrest of people giving out leaflets at the University? Or maybe the intimidation of peaceful demonstrators? Such incidents have been numerous. On one occasion, police forced a demonstrator out of her car despite the occupant's pleas to at least be allowed to shut the car window so that her dog would not jump out into the busy main road, which would have resulted in the almost certain fatality of her dog and very possibly a passing motorist.

At site demos, Thames Valley Police are so conscientious in upholding the law they will think of nothing of putting a helicopter in the air for a few hours to be able to keep order at the demo where 15 protesters are staging a peaceful protest. Its heart warming to know that despite recent pleas from Thames Valley Police that they need more money to offset their financial deficit, they can still find thousands to spend on policing a tiny demonstration. The people of Oxford would no doubt like to know how their hard earned taxes are being spent. Credit where credit is due then, for the Oxford Mail's consistent failure to get worthwhile facts out to their readership! A sub post office closure merits headline status while Thames Valley policing and fund mismanagement don't even get a mention!

Probably the worse case of their most biased policing to date was at Thursday's site demo where Police were seen laughing as construction workers stood next to them and gesticulated at the demonstrators. In a sickening exhibition by a morally repugnant Police force, one of the demonstrators - a woman with severe health problems and a deformity on her back - was arrested after responding to baits from the builders. She had dared to show them the hump on her back in response to their accusations that she benefited from the use of allopathic drugs. She pointed out that it was in fact because of vivisection and the fraud behind it that had caused her health problems in the first place. She was arrested for showing her deformed back in public. Due to the trauma of her arrest an ambulance had to be called and the police, fearing a possible lawsuit, quickly de-arrested her.

The corruption and deceit endemic at the very highest level in the institutions and organisations associated with Oxford University highlights the fact that the Labour Government and the vivisection industry have learnt from their defeat at Cambridge, where an unbiased press were allowed to operate, as well as a relatively neutral police force. They realise that the only way to promote vivisection and encourage its expansion is to control the information allowed to reach the public and to have a Police force doing their bidding and not allow campaigners to exercise their democratic rights.

But a word of warning to those in authority that attempt to curtail our democratic rights: We in the animal rights movement will not be bullied by you - we are not going away and we intend to fight you every inch of the way. The animal rights movement stands for compassion and the rights of all living things to live a life free of pain and suffering. We will continue to fight those who believe profit is more important than the lives of either humans who are being conned into believing vivisection is a necessary evil or the animals who are being killed for the sake of a fraudulent money-grabbing science.

We will fight to the bitter end, or in the words of Winston Churchill, we will "never give in--never, never, never, never, in nothing great or small, large or petty, never give in except to convictions of honour and good sense. Never yield to force; never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy."

Together We Can and Must Win.