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G8 '05 at Gleneagles

"the scotsman" article | 17.11.2003 10:11 | Anti-militarism | Globalisation | Indymedia | Sheffield

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MSP fears riots and transport chaos if Gleneagles chosen to host G8 summit

BRIAN BRADY WESTMINSTER EDITOR
 bdbrady@scotlandonsunday.com


ONE of Scotland’s most famous hotels could be plunged into a nightmare of riots and transport chaos if it is chosen to host a prestigious international summit, a nationalist MSP warned last night.

Roseanna Cunningham sounded the early warning against the plan to "foist" the G8 summit on to Gleneagles Hotel when the high-profile event is next staged in Britain in 2005.

Government officials last night confirmed that the hotel is the early favourite to stage the meeting of the world’s eight richest nations, largely because its remote location is seen as a vital weapon in keeping hundreds of thousands of anti-capitalist protesters away from the event.

The chance to host the prestigious gathering of the leaders of the UK, the United States, Germany, France, Japan, Canada, Italy and Russia has been seen as a mixed blessing in recent years. The protests that have dogged the annual event have often exploded into rioting, notoriously leading to the death of one demonstrator in Genoa in 2001.

Foreign Office officials admit Gleneagles’ location, in rural Perthshire, is as much of a draw as the scenery and golfing.

But Perth MSP Cunningham, the SNP deputy leader, said: "Whitehall mandarins may think Perthshire is remote, but all that shows is that they know precious little about Scotland.

"Crucial strategic transport links are right on Gleneagles’ doorstep. The A9, Scotland’s northern artery, together with both major road and rail routes to the North-east, run right through the area.

"If these were to be closed or even simply disrupted in the name of security the effect not just on the local economy but on everywhere north of the Tay would be immense."

The authorities in France and Switzerland were forced to deploy 25,000 police and troops around the spa town of Evian when the summit was held there in June. Experts estimate that a similar security operation would require the Scots to send 9,000 police officers - almost two-thirds of the nation’s police strength - to Gleneagles if the summit were held there.

But government officials have already carried out reconnaissance visits to the hotel and returned impressed. G8 organisers have decided to favour out-of-town locations for future summits because a similar move in Canada last year was seen as key to limiting the number of protesters. The area’s historic links with golfing is also seen as a major attribute.

Senior Tayside police officers were last night reported to have confirmed speculation that Gleneagles was one of a number of locations under consideration. Superintendent Brian Powrie, head of operational support at Tayside Police, said:

"Without a doubt it will be a significant operation. We are aware that an event of that scale is likely to require mutual aid. It is not the first time there have been big conferences at Gleneagles and we have relied on mutual support."


 http://www.news.scotsman.com/politics.cfm?id=1266792003

"the scotsman" article

Comments

Hide the following 10 comments

rural locations

17.11.2003 10:28

yes and canada is just a little bigger than this little island...

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The g8 shouldnt worry

17.11.2003 19:14

Gleneagles would be a great place for the g8 summit ,the ranther parocial,
Inward looking scottish coaltion for justice not peas will most likely call
for a candle lit supper in george square(glasgow) as its leaders might not like going outside glasgow!.

Papa smurf


Need for more information

18.11.2003 01:04

Please can someone start working on a site to deal with this problem. I would, but I'm a tiny bit busy right now.

We must also get details of the locations of suitable fields for camping (ouch, its gonna be cold, or mozzy inflicted, or don't I know Scotland?). We must work out if we can take more than one field, can we "attack" from 2 or even 3 sides, allowing for an "anarchist field", "social justice field" and maybe an "anti-capitalist field", so as to ensure those not wishing to associate with violence can be put in other fields? Can we establish good food / water / camping gaz supplies?

I already have this from multimap.com:
Railway Station Gleneagles Railway Station 1.4 miles (2.3 km)
Motorway Junction M90 jnct 7 10.7 miles (17.1 km)
Airport Edinburgh 25.6 miles (41.1 km)
This is as the crow flies, road trips in Scotland involve bends, and lots of them, so it won't be such a nice drive I don't think. We must expect to provide coaches from Edinburgh Airport, we must also expect to ferry people from the station, though this would be a good location for a field and convergence centre.

If we look at how G8 Evian was planned for, it was a difficult time, and it took patience and it required a certain amount of autonomous thinking from various groups. We need to establish those groups, and we must ensure that this is an NVDA based campaign with a main march and hundreds of actions, not a single demo like STWC would have us organise.

We can make this a truelly amazing time in the life of the British anti-capitalist movement, or we can let this be a jubilee coalition event of niceness and prayer times (which I wouldn't want to prevent, but it mustn't be the whole deal). And we don't want it to be coach tour organised by STWC, do we? I recommend we get millions of golf balls and use drivers to get them over the security fence into the no-go zone.

And if you wonder why I'm thinking in so much detail so soon, the sooner we work on this, the sooner the government will have to go somewhere else. And they will run out of venues pretty soon, trust me. If they want Gleneagles, they're almost out of suggestions, cause they don't want a guest house in the lake district!

Yours,
An Excited Rebel W

Rebel W


Train times

18.11.2003 01:25

Here come the train times...
It seems to take about 6hrs30 from London, 4hrs30 from York, 5hrs from Leeds, 5hrs30 from Sheffield, Birmingham 6hrs, Manchester 5hrs30, Newcastle 3hrs40, Edinburgh 1hr30, Glasgow 1hr. Not the worst possible timings.

There are trains arriving every half hour from Edinburgh, change at Stirling, and from Glasgow Queen Street direct at the same frequency. So as long as they don't close the station, we shan't have arrival problems, just a nightmare with shifting people upto 15 miles to camps.

Hope that inspires you all, I thought Gleneagles station was 1 train every 3 hours, I was wrong. Yes, trains will be a good enough form of tranpost. Lets get ready for a week of action. Plan camps, think up actions, and network!

Rebel W


EF! summer gathering at Gleneagles?

18.11.2003 14:05

Best idea I can think of!

or shut down Edinburgh airport?
or an RTS on the forth road bridge?
or a virtual sit-in on G8s website to block their organising?
or a counter conference/social forum?

Edinburgh crusty


what is violence?

18.11.2003 16:39

""anarchist field", "social justice field" and maybe an "anti-capitalist field", so as to ensure those not wishing to associate with violence can be put in other fields"

what the hell?

i cant see either of those getting violent, if to be non-violent is to have respect for life then they should all be non-violent. Secondly why seperate the socialists from the anarchists and the anti-capitalists from the social justice people?. Can we not mingle and do as we wish or do we need to be put inot a box for the organisers?

translator


nice one

18.12.2003 19:09

I am from Switzerland and was in the anti-G8 / anti-capitalist protests there last summer. I also helped preparing some stuff (logistical stuff...). It is a fucking big work and gets extremly difficult if there is not much local activism (and in Lausanne and Geneva there is surely much more activism than in Perth...). We were badly prepared in Switzerland because we started too late with our preperations. I'm actually quite pleased to see you guys (and girls) starting with so much enthousiasm at such an early stage (I mean: it's not even sure that the fuckin' G8 is gonna be there). So, all I wanted to say: you're on the right way and keep the candle on...

Unwanted person (for the moment???)


nice one

18.12.2003 19:12

I am from Switzerland and was in the anti-G8 / anti-capitalist protests there last summer. I also helped preparing some stuff (logistical stuff...). It is a fucking big work and gets extremly difficult if there is not much local activism (and in Lausanne and Geneva there is surely much more activism than in Perth...). We were badly prepared in Switzerland because we started too late with our preperations. I'm actually quite pleased to see you guys (and girls) starting with so much enthousiasm at such an early stage (I mean: it's not even sure that the fuckin' G8 is gonna be there). So, all I wanted to say: you're on the right way and keep the candle on...

unwanted person (not yet...)


lets do it

22.02.2004 19:50

Well i would go for the east to west stop all cars etc from going north or south. we have 2 brighes and 2 or 3 main roads in the west. it can be dune.

jamie


Fairly certain now....

17.05.2004 14:47

GLENEAGLES is about to be confirmed as the venue for next year's G8 summit, but opposition parties are crying foul because the high-profile announcement will be made on polling day for the European election.The final day of this year's G8 summit in the United States falls on that date, June 10, and Tony Blair is expected to make the announcement then, The Herald understands.But the SNP claims staging a major international event such as the announcement of a global summit while people are still going to the polls is a breach of the spirit, and possibly the letter, of electoral law.At one stage there was a proposal for Jack McConnell, the first minister, to attend the summit at Sea Island, Georgia, along with Scotland's top police officer, John Vine, when Mr Blair names Gleneagles as the venue for 2005. However, a spokesman for the first minister said there were no plans for Mr McConnell to be in the US next month.The aide said: "Who hosts a G8 summit meeting is not something that features in anyone's European election manifesto. If it is the case that Gleneagles is the venue, and I am not aware that the arrangements have been confirmed, it is nonsense to say that is for electoral advantage."Roseanna Cunningham, deputy SNP leader and MSP for Perth, said last night: "This announcement is nothing short of a blatant attempt to influence the outcome of the European elections. To make an announcement of such significance on the day of a national election is an abuse of government power and a serious breach of the normal rules and conduct of elections in this country."I am writing today to Sam Younger, the chair of the Electoral Commission, asking him to intervene. If he is unsuccessful I will be contacting the BBC, ITN, Scottish and Grampian TV to ensure that the normal rules of balance and fairness will apply to all broadcast news that day."David McLetchie, leader of the Scottish Conservatives, said: "If the decision has been made then I am surprised that the government would want to keep it under wraps. It is for them to answer why they are delaying confirmation until polling day."The summit, often targeted by protests, assembles leaders of the world's major industrial democracies: Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, the UK and the US. From Herald, 17th May 04

mike
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