Protesters channel Marie Antoinette at Murdoch’s London HQ

Activists staged a Marie Antoinette-themed performance at the office of Rupert Murdoch’s News UK today, 30 January. They disrupted staff and visitors with theatrical calls to address deep power inequality throughout UK society.

“Stop printing Murdoch’s lies”

“Stop printing Murdoch’s lies” and “They are eating all the cake, take the power back” echoed across the foyer, as activists performed a scripted stunt. It left passers-by stunned and intrigued, with others unable to return to their desks post-lunch.

Playing on Marie Antoinette’s famous and ill-fated quote “Let them eat cake” in the lead-up to the French Revolution, the campaigners called for the re-establishment of real democracy through redistribution of power across our society.

Rose Hopkins, a spokesperson for the Let’s Eat Cake campaign said:

For too long, we have allowed a super-rich minority to control the narrative, dictate our economy, and manipulate democracy. While they eat all the cake, they villainise people who are desperately trying to pick up the crumbs and pit them against each other.

The action came after Oxfam released its annual survey of global inequality. It highlights that the super-rich have grown their collective wealth by 81% since 2020. And they’re increasingly using their wealth and power to influence politics and society.

Max Lawson, co-author of the report, said:

The economically rich are becoming politically rich the world over, able to shape and influence politics, societies and economies.

In the past, rich people were perhaps more coy about pulling the levers of power, but it’s becoming more and more brazen, this kind of marriage between money and politics.

Just three corporations (DMG, News UK and Reach) are responsible for 90% of UK national newspaper circulation. Meanwhile, our online pathways to news are dominated by a handful of American tech giants – predominately Facebook, X and Google.

Featured image and video via Let’s Eat Cake