Camping out in Edinburgh.
From The Scotsman:
ANTI-G8 protesters have turned down the chance to camp at Meadowbank Stadium this summer - after discovering they would have to share it with police.
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But that prospect has been dismissed as "laughable" by the protesters, who have warned of "tented cities" springing up across the Capital unless suitable temporary campsites are agreed.
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Willie Black, spokesman for G8 Alternatives, said: "This needs to be sorted out by the council and the police.
If they are serious about avoiding having people camping around the city then they need to come up with a sensible plan. The idea that we should share Meadowbank with the police is ridiculous. Can you imagine what would happen if things spark off?"
Looks to me more like an opportunity to demonstrate the peaceful intent of the protest. After all, unless you view the police as the ‘enemy’, why should a little bit of common ground be an issue? And anybody who tries to paint the police as the enemy is a fool who’s just trying to stir up trouble.
I’d rather be assured by the various protesters coming to this city that things won’t ‘spark off’.
(And while I’m here, what’s with all the protesters demanding that the council sort out somewhere for them to sleep? I’ve read plenty in the papers that sounds like only-slightly-veiled threats. But I wouldn’t want to be a protester camping on the Meadows when Friends of the Meadows come a-calling :-)
I would like to attend the makepovertyhistory rally in July, and would quite like to go along with the secondary intention of photographing it.
But (and here I must question the local youth rep for one of the organisations involved, who rumour has it has been encouraging young people to attend) G8 protests have a significant recent history of going bad. Going really very bad, actually.
And I’m sorry to say that that makes me think twice about going along. Perhaps that demonstrates that I haven’t got the nerve to follow through on what I say. I don’t know.
But I won’t be encouraging the young people I work with to attend - quite the opposite.