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CND in the News
CND in the News: 16 Jun-22 June 2005
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1 G8 protest camp organisers outline plans
20 June 2005
http://scotlandtoday.scottishtv.co.uk/content/default.asp?page=s1_1_1&newsid=8066
The organisers of a massive G8 protest camp near Stirling spoke about
their plans for the first time today. As Scotland Today revealed last
week, an alliance of groups is trying to set up a site with enough room
for 5,000 people, 20 miles away from the summit at Gleaneagles. The protesters
say the camp beside the River Forth will offer a glimpse of a better world
- an environmentally friendly eco-village. The site at an old farm could
take up to 5,000 people.
Camp organiser Phil Batchelor said: "We consider ourselves to be
very responsible organisations, we're trying to build a very peaceful
site here to demonstrate positive alternatives to the G8. We really don't
expect any trouble or anything that would disrupt the lives of people
in Stirling."
The camp will also be a base. On its website, one of the main protest
groups says: "Dissent! feels it is possible to gain a major and inspiring
victory against global capitalism by directly shutting the G8 down by
blockading the roads...while other groups go over the hills to enter Gleneagles."
The same site says the final tactics would be worked out within the camp.
This site would bring thousands of G8 protesters within 20 miles of Gleneagles.
The hotel is over the Ochil hills there to the northeast. To the police,
it also has the distinct advantage of there being only one way in and
out of the sight. They will be able to monitor the protesters as they
come and go.
The organisers Scotland Today spoke to today played that down, saying
they did not know about what else was being planned. They do have an ally
- the chairman of the nearest community council is a former member of
CND.
Alistair Raeburn from Cambuskenneth Community Council said: "I think
it's going to be in somebody's yard, and why not? In a personal level
I have some sympathy with what they're doing, so I don't see any reason
why it shouldn't be here. What strikes me though that if Bush comes into
Prestwick airport, he's on the flight path to Gleneagles from here, so
so he might very well see the village from the air and appreciate what
he's coming to."
The local council will decide whether to give the camp the go-ahead on
Friday.
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2 Eco-village camp licence could be scrapped over security row
http://www.theherald.co.uk/politics/41771.html
ANARCHIST G8 protesters have "banned" police from the closest
official campsite to Gleneagles – a move which could lead to plans
for the facility being scrapped. About 5000 people are expected to camp
at a specially designed "eco-village" south of Stirling if a
licence is approved by councillors tomorrow.
The Convergence 2005 Collective campsite is expected to accommodate the
most radical elements in the protest movement, some of whom are planning
road blockades and other events to disrupt the meeting of world leaders
beginning at the Gleneagles Hotel on July 6.
But a "no police on site" policy proposed by Dissent!, an anarchist
network which is helping to establish the facility, has caused alarm among
police and thrown the licence application into doubt.
Organisers have warned that thousands of people travelling to Scotland
will resort to camping illegally in farmers' fields if the official campsite
falls through. The facility is due to be located on land owned by Stirling
Council.
The Dissent! plan to prevent police access was discussed at a meeting
in Glasgow earlier this month. Members discussed having a police presence
and said they would try to persuade any victims of crime to meet police
officers off-site.
However, a "last resort" proposal to escort police on to the
site met with fierce resistance and was not adopted.
Phil Jones, a campaigns worker with CND Scotland, accused
police of having a "macho" attitude in their discussions with
protesters.
He said: "It would be incredibly provocative for police to enter
the campsite uninvited. The nature of the groups who will be there is
very hostile to police, so we're saying it's not sensible (for police)
to expect to walk on and off the site."
An agreement that police and local authority environmental inspectors
would be met and accompanied by stewards at the site was reached with
Stirling Council, Mr Jones said. However, police are unhappy they would
not be given unfettered access.
It is understood that Central Scotland Police have not ruled out an official
objection at tomorrow's licensing meeting. Also yesterday, Aberdeen City
Council agreed to show the Murrayfield Live8 concert on screens at Seaton
Park on July 6, despite earlier claiming it would be too expensive
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