jess franklin

The anti-UKIP protest has gone ahead as planned outside Corpus Christi college.

A group of around 15 to 20 protesters gathered in front of a large ‘Cambridge and Districts Union’ banner, waving ‘Stop UKIP’ signs. One man was also wielding a large Unite flag. They also chanted “what do we want? No more UKIP”.

The protest, was originally planned to take place in front of Mill Lane Lecture Rooms before Nigel Farage, the leader of UKIP, was to speak as part of the Department of Politics and International Studies’ talks schedule.

However, the professor who organized the event unexpectedly cancelled just two days ago. Corpus Christi fellow Professor Jonathan Haslam gave no reason for the cancellation.

Although the CUSU Women’s Campaign planned protest did not go ahead in light of Farage’s cancellation, Cambridge residents protested outside of Corpus Christi.

When asked why the protest went ahead despite Farage’s absence, protest organiser and Cambridge resident Tatiana Tuzet said that people were protesting against Farage’s “invitation [to speak], against his policies” and exercising their right to protest.

She also claimed that Farage would “take away [her] right to protest within five minutes” and that she did “not want to go back to the dark ages”, saying that UKIP threatens women’s, minorities’, LGBT and workers’ rights.

On the question of why the event was cancelled, Tuzet said she “hoped” the protests had led to the decision. Although it is unclear whether Haslam or Farage chose to cancel, another Cambridge resident, Andrew Osborne, accused Farage of being “a chicken”.

“I mean, if Farage really believed in what he says, then surely he’s prepared to run the gauntlet of us lot to get into his lecture,” Osborne said.

He also stressed that the protest was made up mainly of residents as opposed to student activists, noting that “if some academic or a couple of students invite him along, that’s fine, but they’ve got to expect the people of Cambridge are not going to stand for this shit. You guys are visiting, we live here.”

Tuzet reported that the protest had not experienced any difficulty from either the college or the Cambridge Constabulary. She claimed, however, that there would be another protest if Farage’s talk was rescheduled.

Two members of college staff were positioned outside the main door, although they said the college had no official comment to make. 

Cambridge was a hotbed of activism as animal rights activists protested outside the Varsity Hotel and Spa with placards bearing the message 'Lobster Slaughterhouse'.

Reportedly the activists were accusing the hotel of mistreating lobsters by boiling them as part of the cooking process, and claimed they would next target college formal halls. 

They were arrested by police shortly after their protest began.