Student protest against Portuguese dictatorship
John Kiddey, Sociology BSc (1974); University of Bath Students’ Union President (1973/74)
Listen as John Kiddey remembers organising a student protest in response to a controversial visit or read the transcript provided below.
'In 1974 Bath was a fairly conservative place compared with many other universities, so I was surprised and delighted when so many students turned up to a demonstration in the city.
We were there to protest against the Portuguese Minister of Education. He had been invited to the University by our Vice-Chancellor. The Portuguese dictatorship, meanwhile, had been in power since 1933 and in the ‘70s was involved in a bitter colonial war in Mozambique. The Students’ Union refused to allow an emergency debate protesting against the visit, so I simply announced to the meeting that I was going to try and stop the Minister entering the campus and I invited others to join me, unofficially of course.
With makeshift banners we blockaded what’s now called Quarry Road only to learn that the Vice-Chancellor had switched the meeting to location in the city centre. Undeterred we set off and held a noisy demon in the middle of Bath much to the surprise of the police. It all passed peacefully and we went on our way back to our studies.
Just two months later a Portuguese general led a coup against the regime and democracy was restored in Portugal. Coincide? You decide … '