G8 cordon 'too weak' to keep out protesters

[struggle4progress]

KATE FOSTER
HOME AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT
[e-mail]

A MASSIVE cordon around Gleneagles during the G8 summit of world leaders will not be enough to stop protesters breaking through and wreaking havoc, one of Scotland’s leading security consultants has warned.

Clive Fairweather, who was second in command of the SAS at the time of the 1980 Iranian embassy siege, has raised the concerns following an assessment of the area.

Thousands of officers on duty during the July summit will be used to form a barrier around the 850-acre grounds and a fence will be thrown up around some parts of the estate, amid concerns that protesters will attempt to breach the site to disrupt the meeting of world leaders including Tony Blair, Vladimir Putin and George Bush.

But Fairweather said that despite the security measures small groups of protestors are likely to break in and disrupt events. <snip>

http://news.scotsman.com/scotland.cfm?id=352392005

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1. Stadium is in the running to be G8 camp

BRIAN FERGUSON
CITY COUNCIL REPORTER

<snip> Now Meadowbank Stadium could be set to play host to thousands of anti-G8 protesters set to descend on the city. <snip>

Campaigners planning a string of alternative events in the Capital have warned the city council it must take steps to provide official "campsites" for people who opt not to stay in hostels, B&Bs, guest houses or hotels.

They have told the authority that it faces "tented cities" sprouting up in beauty spots such as Princes Street Gardens and the Meadows unless accommodation is laid on.

G8 Alternatives, a network of groups planning anti-G8 activity in Edinburgh, is also asking the council to help pay for buses to ferry protesters in and out of the city centre. <snip>

http://edinburghnews.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=350572005