National Front leader Marine Le Pen greeted by angry protestors at Oxford Union

A CONTROVERSIAL talk by far-right leader Marine Le Pen was delayed by more than an hour last night after hundreds of angry anti-fascist protesters barricaded the Oxford Union and then attempted to force their way into the historic institution.

More than 200 demonstrators assembled in freezing conditions at the famously independent Union from 4:00 pm yesterday afternoon. Placards, flags and sound systems were erected next to students waiting to hear the National Front leader speak.

Members in  the queue were called “Nazi scum” and “fascists” for entering the talk and protesters chanted “Marine Le Pen, we know you, Daddy was a fascist too” on St Michael’s Street next to the Union.

The situation became unsettled when protesters blocked entrance to the Union’s grounds and then attempted to scale walls in a bid to halt the talk.

The two-thirds full debating chamber was put on lock-down when the situation outside the union deteriorated. President Lisa Wehden warned students they wouldn’t be allowed to leave the chamber for their own safety.

Increasingly restless students inside the debating chamber called an emergency debate whilst they waited for Le Pen’s arrival. The motion, “This house has sympathy with the protesters outside”, was met with rapturous applause and laughter by the students confined inside the chilly auditorium.

Le Pen finally arrived to warm applause a little after 7:00pm after being escorted into the building by police. Speaking in French, the leader of France’s third largest party spoke passionately and uninterrupted about the importance of freedom of speech.

She said: “I like coming to England because apart from some hotheads I’ve always been welcome here. It’s a pleasure to speak at this prestigious institution.

“Freedom is to think what you think and walk where you want to walk. France and the United Kingdom are the children of freedom.

“Today in 2015 our hard won freedom is being threatened by Islamic fundamentalism. The world knows that when France is attacked freedom itself is attacked”

Le Pen spoke for around 30 minutes on terrorism, the perils of mass immigration and her party’s immigration policy.

“Today’s terrorism is based on an ideology and a totalitarianism that is going back to the Middle Ages”, she said.

“These people do not fight to protect their state but they come to attack our values. They have declared war on our way of life. They want to destroy our values by dividing us.

“All that matters to me is the protection of my country and the protection of my people.”

Ms. Le Pen proposed abolishing open borders and halting mass immigration in order to abate the rise of Islamic fundamentalism. She argued that “multicultural societies are often multi-conflicted societies”.

She was also critical of the European Union and called President Francois Hollande “a lackey of the European Union”.

She said: “This Europe is anti-democratic. This Europe wants to control our lives. European people have now had enough of bowing their heads and they want to decide what is best for their people.

“We no longer want to be the puppets of Brussels technocrats or Frankfurt bankers. The Greek election was the first part of a wave of breakthroughs in democracy.

“Our two countries are prisoners of European treaties. We are no longer a free people. The European Union has made my life hell”

Ms. Le Pen also faced heated questioning from the Union’s President Lisa Wehden and other members of the Union. Ms. Wehden questioned Le Pen repeatedly on links with her father’s ideology and other controversial aspects of the National Front’s policies.

Ms. Le Pen jokingly referred to Ms. Wehden as “Magistrate” and “Madame judge”.

She remained defiant throughout and gave scathing retorts to members who questioned her on supposedly racist or fascist principles.

She said: “I am asking you to listen to me not to like me. I don’t know how many of your guests are welcomed in the streets in the way I was.

“I have never tried to stop a meeting of my political foes. Perhaps it is the difference between us and them.”

The initial lack of police presence at the protests drew immediate controversy after the event. A police source said that it was the union’s responsibility to provide adequate security when it decided to invite controversial figures.

The police only arrived at the Union after protesters tried to force their way into the union. Ms. Le Pen eventually left the Union in a police van.

The union, whose past presidents include Boris Johnson and Michael Gove, has a history of inviting controversial speakers to the Union. Previous appearances by former EDL leader Tommy Robinson and then BNP leader Nick Griffin have attracted similar protests.

Oxford Union defended its right to invite controversial speakers like Ms. Le Pen. In a statement they said: “The Oxford Union is a politically-neutral institution. Our members have a variety of views as do our views as do our speakers, officers and staff.

“An invitation from the union is not an endorsement of any particular agenda.

“The union believes in the principle of freedom of speech and we would encourage all members who disagree with an invited speaker’s view to attend the event and question the speaker.

“We allow our members to meet people face-to-face and make up their own minds.”

Former US Vic President candidate Sarah Palin will speak at the union later in the term.