Stop The War Coalition Get Go Ahead for 2 Edinburgh G8 Protests

The Stop The War Coalition have progressed in getting approval for their two protests in Edinburgh around the G8 Summit in July.

This is despite The Scotsman Newspaper briefing against them and initial objections from Lothian and Borders police.

The Edinburgh protests are:

A Rally on Saturday 2nd July following the Make Poverty History march.

A March and Rally late afternoon / early evening on Sunday 3rd July.

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See:

http://www.stopwar.org.uk

Police attempt to ban anti war event at the G8

http://www.stopwar.org.uk/new/news/mediarelease/PolicebanG8protest.htm

Police in u-turn over G8 protest
27th May 05
Edinburgh has been the venue for war protests in the past
Police in Edinburgh have withdrawn objections to a planned protest rally against military action in Iraq.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/4584887.stm

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Previous Indymedia Report: 21st May 05

The Stop The War Coalition has announced its intention to hold a mass demonstration in Edinburgh on Sunday 3rd July.

They have applied for permission to march from Bruntsfield Links, through the centre of town, down Princes Street to Calton Hill for 6pm where a Naming the Dead Ceremony and anti-war rally will be held.

The Scotsman newspaper is briefing against the demonstration, encouraging the council to refuse permission for the protest, saying it would cost too much extra money to police and would cause too much disruption following the expected massive Make Poverty History demonstration the day before. "Edinburgh council tax payers have rights too" ends their editorial on the matter. One can't help feeling that maybe they should have opposed the G8 ever coming to Scotland if that's the way they feel about demonstrations.

See:

http://www.stopwar.org.uk

Our police officers will be stretched too far

http://news.scotsman.com/opinion.cfm?id=557332005

Double trouble on G8 weekend

http://news.scotsman.com/edinburgh.cfm?id=557842005

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Comments

Hide the following 4 comments

The Police are SO wrong

30.05.2005 11:22

The police objected to the STWC protest on the grounds that their resources are stretched to thin.

But the police don't need to supervise STWC marches because the marches are professionally run by STWC stewards who do a perfectly adequate job of keeping the peace on their own.

Stop the War? About time

30.05.2005 14:29

It is good that there is now some people trying to organize anti-war stuff. Prior to the elections nobody within the left seemed to be concerned with anti-war protest, some folk were stating that they didn't want to make the war an issue in case the conservatives got in the back door, which would never have happened. Unfortunately, in a indirect way, the STW by not protesting the war prior to the election they were in alliance with the New Labour Imperialists.
But why moan over the past, I just hope the STW and SWP shed their statist idealogy and put some real effort into creating a genuine grassroots anti-war movement which is not centred around the London autocracy.

Bobby

I wanted peace but not with Saddam!

09.06.2005 09:55

I would have supportted an anti-war movement in most other circumstances but not when the enemy we were facing was an insane, brutal, genocidal, evil, tyrant like Saddam Hussain. Declaring war on that monster and his evil regime of hate was a just war. OK so he wasn't a threat to us but he was certainly a threat to the Iraqi people like the Kurds, Shias and Marsh Arabs and to neighbouring arab countries due to his previous invasions of Iran and Kuwait. Just because Saddam wasn't on our doorstep like Hilter was doesn't mean that we should have ignored him.

In questioning whether we in Britain should have taken on Saddam people should realise that Hitler was no threat to America as America was thousands of miles away and across the Atlantic ocean from Germany, so should America have ignored Hilter and stayed out of World War II? By the same token Britain, America, Australia and other allies were right to take on Saddam Hussein.

Tom

Saddam?

16.06.2005 18:37

Tom, I respect your right to comment, but aslo respectfully suggest you read a bit more about Saddam and Iraq before finally making up your mind.

Have a look for John Pilger's book "The new rulers of the world" - it is a fascinating read into the background of the Ba'ath party, Saddam, Iraq and the war itself. You will understand from that why I disagree absolutely with your comments.

Saddam was not a nice guy by any stretch, but we killed FAR more of his citizens than he ever did.

John