Around two hundred people attended an “anti-fascist protest” today near Oxford’s Carfax Tower amid national far-right protests sparked by the fatal stabbing of three girls in Southport. The rally was organised by Oxford Stand Up To Racism and Oxfordshire and District Trades Union Council.
The rally began at 4pm in Cornmarket Street. There is no far-right protest yet, but there remains a police presence.
Chants include “throw the fascists into the sea” and “there are many many more of us than you”. Protesters carried signs calling to “stop the far right” and to “smash fascism & racism by any means necessary”. Several Palestinian flags and one Communist Party flag were also flown.
Shermar Pryce, an Oxford student who attended the rally, told Cherwell that “troublemakers decided to stay home” and the rally was a “passionate demonstration denouncing racism, fascism and other related ideologies.”
An Oxford student who advertised the rally told Cherwell: “Our very own Oxford University has led to these riots. We Oxford students must examine our predecessors’ complicity in this before we replicate their shameful bigoted propaganda.”
Various University of Oxford bodies, including the Philosophy Faculty, Classics Faculty, Queens College, and Magdalen College, have sent out emails warning students to exercise caution when travelling in the Oxford area.
Another rally is planned for Wednesday outside the Asylum Welcome offices on Magdalen Road, organised in response to a national far-right callout for protest in the same location.
The Oxford rally is among a series of national counter protests to far-right demonstrations, which saw hundreds of arrests after riots. Prime Minister Keir Starmer today called an emergency Cobra meeting to address the anti-migrant demonstrations.
Cherwell has contacted Oxford Stand Up To Racism, Thames Valley Police, and the University for comments.
