Oxford Business Alumni New Year Dinner 2010

Demo Report - Saturday 6 January 2010

For two and a half hours SPEAK supporters were loud and highly visible outside the main entrance to the Oxford and Cambridge Club in Pall Mall to welcome the Oxford Alumni  to their New Year dinner.

Oxford Alumni are those who were once students at the university. They often donate large amounts of money to this institution that torments and kills thousands of animals every year in its laboratories. This demo was held outside their dinner to remind them that while they are associated with, and give money to Oxford University, they are giving their thumbs up to the horrendous animal experiments the university researchers perform. This was the first demo held outside the premises in thirty years, and it clearly horrified the managers. Unfortunately for them, the Security guard supplied by Oxford University could only stand by the doors, jotting away in his notepad as no laws or injunctions were being broken. When the Police turned up they seemed highly miffed that the demo was just outside the one mile exclusion zone around parliament, and therefore meant that permission was not needed for the demo to take place - and that they counldn't end the demo there and then under the SOCPA law. SO while the police, the security and the managers went inside the club to confer, the SPEAK supporters continued chanting on the megaphone and were in no doubt that the message was heard loudly and clearly by all those gathering for the dinner. At eight o'clock the protesters left, leaving the Oxford Business Alumni to try to enjoy the rest of their £70 per head dinner, but in no doubt that SPEAK supporters will continue to fight for the animals imprisoned and tortured by Oxford University.