I arrived back in Grimsby yesterday after a week in Edinburgh protesting at the G8 summit. I have read several articles written in your paper and also kept up to date with the BBC's coverage of events whilst in Scotland. I felt the need to write this letter because I do not feel that us, as protesters, have been given fair coverage. The main focus seems to have been on the trouble caused by a small minority of people and already I have been criticised for my participation in what was supposed to have been a series of peaceful protests.

Many thousands of people from around the world arrived in Edinburgh for a series of events focusing around the G8 summit. There has been no mention about a series of debates that were attended by several thousand people on Sunday with speakers including Scott Ritter (ex UN weapons inspector), Haidi Guilliani (mother of Carlo murdered by police in Genoa G8 2001), Lindsay German (Stop the War Coalition), Caroline Lucas (Green Party MEP) and many other influential speakers.

On Monday I joined 2000 people at the blockade of the Faslane Nuclear Submarine Base to protest about Britain’s flouting of international law with regards to nuclear weapons. The demonstration successfully shut down the base for a day.

On Tuesday a protest march was organised around the Dungavel Immigration and Removal Centre to protest at the lack of human rights offered to asylum seekers fleeing persecution from their homelands. I was shocked on arrival to find what can only be described as a prison, and also by the number of police officers present. On arrival our buses and bags were searched, every individual was searched and we had to give our names and addresses. Under Section 60 we are now all obliged to do so without any suspicion or reason. And as Labour MSP Elaine Smith found that day, we can be arrested if we refuse to comply. We were unable to march around the centre and were surrounded by Metropolitan riot police and horses from the moment we left the bus to the time of leaving. This was a complete over reaction by the police towards 700 protesters. The detainees had even been removed earlier that week for "fear of their safety". Who from? The people campaigning for their human rights?

Then there was Wednesdays protests at Gleneagles. We were initially told that we could not march on Gleneagles but after months of lobbying by MSP's, the G8 Alternatives group and others our write to protest was granted and a route agreed with the police and council. 50 coaches from Edinburgh alone were booked and we were all confident of a good day. Then on the morning of the march the police went back on their word "for safety reasons". Every bus that had already left was pulled over into service stations and each person was again searched under Section 60. Those that hadn't already left their campsite in Stirling were surrounded by riot police and given the same treatment. Despite their promises and agreements when it came to the day the police tried their hardest to stop the protest taking place. Some of the media focused on the trouble that erupted but did not give the background to it. Those of us involved in sit-down protests and illegal marches in Edinburgh were forced to do so in a fight for our right to protest. We are supposed to live in a democratic society and have the right to free speech. It would appear that is only true if there are not too many of you and so long as it is not within hearing distance or sight of those towards whom your protest is made.

I do not condone the violence by a minority of people, but out of 10,000 protesters on Wednesday there were only 70 arrests and the majority of these were for minor offences.
There are too many individual reasons for the protests at Gleneagles but they all had one theme, an alternative to the G8 is required. How 8 men can sit in a hotel for 3 days and decide the future of 8 billion people for me is hard to comprehend. The government of a country is elected by the people and should listen to the people but our voices are gradually becoming quieter without most of us realising it. All I ask is that before you shake your heads in disgust or criticise all of those involved with the G8 protests you ask yourselves "do we want to keep our right to protest?", "do we want to keep our civil liberties?" and "do we want to live in a true democracy?". If you answer yes to any of these questions then I would ask that you look past the minority of incidents that the national media have focused on, and look behind the promises and headline grabbing sound bites of the leaders.

Martin Hurton