On Saturday 27th November, around 600 Oxford workers, pensioners and students protested against the cuts. It looked set to be a routine A to B march, but the mood was lively, and some surprises were in store!
Article taken from Issue 2 of The Ox-Fly - Oxford's radical newsletter:
http://oxfly.theoarc.org.uk
Article taken from Issue 2 of The Ox-Fly - Oxford's radical newsletter:
http://oxfly.theoarc.org.uk
As the march ended and speakers from the Green Party and the Labour Party made hypocritical speeches, people started to lose interest. A speaker from Cheney School bucked this trend by promising mass walkouts and occupations.
Instead of heading home, bored and frustrated, people broke out of the usual demo format. A group of about 30 occupied Barclays; others joined soon after. Music pumped out of a soundsystem brought by university students, and schoolkids were among the more up-for-it elements in the crowd. Some started to roam for other targets; Santander Bank and others closed in response.
This militancy gives great hope for the future. Tentative links are being built between school and university students and workers. Perhaps we are now waking up to the fact that these cuts are an attack on us all and we need to work together to defeat them and build something better.
Instead of heading home, bored and frustrated, people broke out of the usual demo format. A group of about 30 occupied Barclays; others joined soon after. Music pumped out of a soundsystem brought by university students, and schoolkids were among the more up-for-it elements in the crowd. Some started to roam for other targets; Santander Bank and others closed in response.
This militancy gives great hope for the future. Tentative links are being built between school and university students and workers. Perhaps we are now waking up to the fact that these cuts are an attack on us all and we need to work together to defeat them and build something better.