The noises coming from Scotland sound more inspiring than those emnating from London. Is there gonna be an anti-cap bloc in London, perhaps meet autonomously at a different location, like the critical mass bike ride, except on foot?

The Scots have a history of rebellion and innovative guerrilla warfare techniques (stanes) and the Glasgow filth (police) are ill-prepared for crowd control, except the skirmishes at auld firm matches. Take a leaf out of our book, ye Sassanachs... we have one common enemy now – CAPITALISM and one united aim - FREEDOM!

Re Baw Heid's comments:

I think you're being overly optimistic. We've got a few dozen anarchists, that's to say some philosopher types who dream of a better society but do nothing particularly relevant in that regard, some activist types who run from project to project getting arrested or hassled and suchlike and some older folk who were once one of the former. There'll be about 50-100 of us at best, because by virtue of Scotland's small population and England's larger one most people who have anti-authoritarian views will find themselves in London. There'll be several thousand polis. Unless something happens to change this things will not be all that insurrectionary, altho I'd love it if they were.

The whole bloc thing, while in theory it sounds a good idea, unless things kick off will be more about looking cool than bringing about the demise of capitalism and imperialist wars. We know there'll be six foot fences. We know there'll be at least 20,000 people packed around them. We know the spectacular guilty parties of the forthcoming genocide will be inside, and we know that we're not going to get a revolution unless we start acting like we mean business; we should at this point be thinking two and two. We should be concentrating our efforts upon both storming the SECC complex and upon maximizing the media potential that such an act would have upon the world. Would the best way to do that be about looking like crazy fuckers dressed like "terrorists" (God the way the world is these days half of the population of Scotland would read 'Muslim' or 'asylum seeker' there), or just to emerge like angry ordinary people from the crowd. If we truly wanted to see a better world we'd be fighting for it, not just making ourselves look good to feel better about ourselves.

Glasgow Anarchists storming the SCC, you might need a larger turnout than normal guys.

Perhaps you might consider a suggestion from someone who was at Genoa, help us build the demo before dreaming about what you are goiung to do when it happens.

Putting up posters and giving out leaflets may not be as much fun as posing with your litle flags, but without it we aint going to have much of a demo.

Glasgow Anarchists storming the SCC, you might need a larger turnout than normal guys.

Perhaps you might consider a suggestion from someone who was at Genoa, help us build the demo before dreaming about what you are goiung to do when it happens. Without all the local Genovese showing up we would have got a real kicking.

Putting up posters and giving out leaflets may not be as much fun as posing with your little flags, but without it we aint going to have much of a demo.

If you read the original post you may notice that the Scottish anarchists calling for a united red and black contingent mention nothing about storming the SECC, or anywhere else for that matter.

It does mention various points of interest in the town as contingency rallying points should it all go pear shaped at the conference centre, what with all this stuff about curfews, exclusion zones, blocked bridges etc. A leaflet will be available on the day, I hear, with a map of the area.

I would also like to comment on a few other points made above. Anarchists in Scotland are not interested in looking cool, at least not the ones I know. We are not interested in anarchism as a lifestyle choice. The anarchists who called for this visible presence on the demo are class struggle anarchists.

Various groups in Scotland such as anarchist federation, class war federation, solidarity federation, and unaligned groups and individuals recently got together and organised a dayschool in Glasgow where anarchists from across Scotland (and beyond) discussed politics and tactics for building the movement. A follow-up will take place in Edinburgh in mid-May.

We have produced leaflets on racism and refugees; leaflets have been distributed in support of the firefighters’ struggle (support groups have been initiated by anarchists in cities like Dundee); and we have just printed 20,000 anti-war leaflets. There have been workshops to produce materials for the Feb 15 demo. Posters have been made and pasted. Banners and placards too. There will be a visible anarchist presence there to spread the ideas of anarchism. We don’t try to look cool, we just happen to look cooler than you. And we do the boring propaganda stuff too.

We are in the main not attracted to violent direct action for it’s own sake, fun as it can be. We are sometimes partial to a wee bit of non-violent direct action in our streets and workplaces, if it suits the situation and it feels like it may be useful.

We are working together to spread the idea that there are connections between war, industrial exploitation, racism, sexism etc. We are not just opposed to this attack on the people of Iraq, we are against all wars but the class war. We are against the misery and oppression of the capitalist peace. We are against all forms of the nation state. (we happen to live on a lump of rock often referred to as Scotland, and as such use the name to identify ourselves geographically).

We are for a world based on the principles of mutual aid and voluntary co-operation. We don’t believe that such a world can be brought about by protesting, or by selling papers or by acting as some kind of vanguard front on behalf of the proletariat. Only non-hierarchical organisation can produce effective resistance and eventually lead to a world free from authority.

We did not call for this contingent in order to look cool. We called for it as part of our continuing mission to seek out new civilizations and, no, hang on, that isn’t it. Oh yes, in order to sell lots of papers, no, no that’s the other lot. Shit, I’ve forgot. Was it to get our pictures in the papers in order to get elected? Surely not. Was it to attract new members to collect their subs to mass-produce branded placards? Set up a front organisation or two to attract impressionable students?

Well, whatever the reason. I’m sure there will be lots of interesting options available on the day, and we will just have to see what turns up.

FIGHT THE RICH - NOT THEIR WARS!

Not a bd response until this:

"We did not call for this contingent in order to look cool. We called for it as part of our continuing mission to seek out new civilizations and, no, hang on, that isn’t it. Oh yes, in order to sell lots of papers, no, no that’s the other lot. Shit, I’ve forgot. Was it to get our pictures in the papers in order to get elected? Surely not. Was it to attract new members to collect their subs to mass-produce branded placards? Set up a front organisation or two to attract impressionable students?"

The usual red-baiting comtinues I see.

Without us there wouldnt be a demo, or any of the other campains you show up on.

But lets leave it there, unity being strenth and all. genoa (which no Scottish anarchists attended strangly enough) left me with a bit of a problem of posuer anarchists starting bother then running off and leaving us with the consequences.

I would advise anyone thinking of doing the same on saturday that they better watch out.

Blair's speech is now at 11am instead of 2pm. Let's all get down to the SECC when he's there, and show him he can't dodge our protests!