The Freedom March and Rally proved to be a day that marked a milestone in
the fight to stop the new Oxford animal lab. Despite ongoing difficulties in
negotiations with Oxford City Council over the use of Oxpens park and the
attacks on our movement from certain sections of the media, well over 1,000
people from all over the UK and Europe travelled to Oxford to SPEAK OUT against
animal abuse and scientific fraud.
The demonstration was part of the continuing campaign against Oxford
University's avowed intention to finish building the partially-built animal
torture centre on South Parks Rd. The early dark clouds over Oxford gave way to
bright sunshine as groups of people began to arrive in the park for the start
of the Freedom March & Rally. The police who had been monitoring the situation
from early morning made themselves very visible in the park, unfortunately
reneging on their previous promises that no officers would be present in the
park during the rally. It was also noted that a camera had been positioned on a
cherrypicker at the entrance to Oxpens. Clearly the fact that all previous
SPEAK events had gone off peacefully was lost on those who are charged with
policing public protests. However, at SPEAK we are use to such behaviour from
Thames Valley Police and we were determined that a peaceful demonstration
should take place, despite the best attempts of Thames Valley Police to provoke
a confrontation.
It was encouraging to see so many new faces and hear from people that had never
attended a demonstration before but felt that they now wanted to be involved in
the animal rights movement. As coaches arrived, the park began to fill up and it
was clear that despite all the pressure from the authorities in Oxford, we were
at the start of a very positive day for the campaign and another wake-up call
for the arrogant and h
