Dissent International Guide for G8 Summit

Disclaimer:

This guide is available for editing on the Wiki:

http://www.ourmayday.org/cgi-bin/wiki.pl?action=edit&id=G8InternationalGuide

This guide was created by some members of the Dissent International Networking group, merging several documents and e-mails produced over the last year.

Essential Introduction:

If you coming to protest and resist the G8 be as self sufficient as
possible. Bring a tent, sleeping bag, waterproofs, warm clothes, shoes to walk/run in, plate, cup and cutlery and an imagination! In general head for ‘convergence spaces' - places where people can find information, meet, socialise, organise actions and get cheap food. Some convergence spaces offer accommodation. There will be rural convergence centre opening  on the 1^st of July near Stirling.

Enquiries can be sent to dissent-enquiries@riseup.net or telephone
07913 263 515. But always check the website and ‘google' your enquiry first. You can also call the following numbers Edinburgh numbers: 0131 477 2954 (London Road InfoPoint).

There will be a free newspaper for the protests, with all the practical
information you need. Look out for this.

1. Dissent! and the Scottish Situation:

The G8 (Group of Eight, the eight most industrialised nations) Summits are hosted, on rotation, by the group's member states. In 2005, the Summit is to be held in the UK at Gleneagles in Perthshire, Scotland (less than an hour north-west of Edinburgh). The G8 mobilisation will be the largest anti-capitalist mobilisation this summer. There are three main groups mobilising: Dissent!, G8 Alternatives, and Make Poverty History, and many smaller groups.

The Dissent! Network: has formed to provide a networking tool to co-ordinate radical anti-capitalist and anti-authoritarian resistance to the Summit. The network was formed in the autumn of 2003 by a group of people who have previously been involved in radical ecological direct action, Peoples' Global Action, the anti-war movement and the global anti-capitalist movement which has emerged around meetings of those that rule over us.

Dissent! has no central office, no spokespeople, no membership list and no paid staff. It's a mechanism for communication and co-ordination between local groups and working groups involved in building resistance to the G8, and capitalism in general. It hopes to exist long after the world leaders have returned home. There are currently over twenty-five local groups across Britain from Aberdeen to Brighton. The local groups in Edinburgh and Glasgow go by the name Reshape! There are also working groups that focus on logistics, action, and much more.

Dissent! is open to anybody willing to work within the Hallmarks of Peoples' Global Action (PGA).

The PGA Hallmarks are as follows:

1. A very clear rejection of capitalism, imperialism and feudalism; all trade agreements, institutions and governments that promote destructive globalisation.
2. We reject all forms and systems of domination and discrimination including, but not limited to, patriarchy, racism and religious fundamentalism of all creeds. We embrace the full dignity of all human beings.
3.  A confrontational attitude, since we do not think that lobbying can have a major impact in such biased and undemocratic organisations, in which transnational capital is the only real policy-maker.
4. A call to direct action and civil disobedience, support for social movements' struggles, advocating forms of resistance which maximise respect for life and oppressed peoples' rights, as well as the construction of local alternatives to global capitalism
5. An organisational philosophy based on decentralisation and autonomy.

Dissent has held bimonthly meetings. There will be ones in Scotland regularly in the month up to the summit, that will likely transform itself into a near daily information sharing and consensus meeting process as days before the summit.

All Dissent!-wide decisions must be made at Dissent! Gatherings, however, local groups and working groups can make decisions and even speak to the media if they wish as local groups. Reshape will be making various maps and a guide for radicals visiting Scotland, to be available before the summit. There is another large network called the South East Assembly that will be mobilising around the G8, based primarily around London, and shares many local groups with Dissent!

Dissent!: www.dissent.org.uk

Reshape (Scotland Local Group in Dissent Network): www.reshape.org.uk

Southeast Assembly: www.resistg8.org.uk

G8 Alternatives: (G8A): is a predominantly socialist coalition which is organising is Scotland. They hold monthly, open meetings and have succeeded in getting people from parts of Scotland involved that Dissent! has not. Despite their numbers being small, the Trotskyist Socialist Worker's Party (SWP), primarily through their front group Globalise Resistance, have dominated the process. Many within the British left, not only anarchists and those involved in the direct action movement, are reluctant to work together with the SWP who have a history of manipulating political processes to their own ends through their work in coalitions. The organising process surrounding last year's European Social Forum (ESF) in London is just the most recent example of this. Dissent!, however, has a good working relationship with a number of individuals and groups (such as the Scottish Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament - CND) who work within G8A. G8 Alternatives are organising a Counter-Summit in Edinburgh on Sunday 3^rd July and a demonstration to Gleneagles on 6^th July, the opening day of the Summit. This demonstration has been banned by the police except for a small rally, so currently G8 Alternatives is reconsidering their plans.

www.g8alternatives.org.uk

Make Poverty History: This is one of the largest conglomerations of NGO (Non-Governmental Organisations) and charities ever, who plan to protest against the G8 by marching the weekend before in Edinburgh to demand "more and better aid, debt relief and trade justice." It is led by groups such as Oxfam and the organisers are expecting around 100,000 people to take part in the demonstration. The current media focus seems to be on groups of anarchists disrupting the march and attacking the Scottish Parliament, which as a tactic has never been mentioned by anyone in Dissent!. The march organisers are quite afraid of this possibility as well. Already the media is casting "Make Poverty History" as the "good protesters" and Dissent! as the "bad protesters." This is a great opportunity for outreach to many people who are aware of the problems of poverty and debt, but may never have been exposed to a radical analysis of capitalism and the G8.

www.makepovertyhistory.org

Live8:

There will be eight simultaneous concerts around the world on July 2^nd by various corporate popstars, and an even larger concert on the 6^th of July at Murrayfield in Edinburgh. Bob Geldorf has commanded concerned people everywhere to come to Edinburgh on July 6^th in order to pressure the G8 to act on issues like poverty. It is unclear what this means or what exactly or where these people will go, but we can only hope hordes of people can be introduced to radical politics and possibly even show up the actions.

Scotland:

Scotland has a rich tradition of resistance against capitalism, and offers a unique combination of advantages and disadvantages to the anti-G8 mobilisation. The anti-globalisation movement has never had a large presence in Scotland. Yet, most Scottish people are sympathetic to the problems caused by neo-liberalism and openly hostile towards Blair and Bush. There is a long tradition of non-violent direct action against the storing of all Britain's nuclear weapons in Scotland, and an earlier history of class struggle, from rent-strikes to non-payment of taxes. The war against Iraq was even more unpopular in Scotland than in England, with virtually no support for the war. On the day war broke out there were unprecedented scenes in both Edinburgh and Glasgow when hundreds of school students went on strike and blockaded roads and then thousands gathered in the city centres and closed roads, and school children and anarchists even stormed Edinburgh Castle, defeating the police. However, for the most part many Scottish people are not not aware of anarchist politics or direct action. and most adults are not involved in radical politics, although in general the population is very left-leaning and sympathetic to issues around trade and poverty. It should be clear that Scotland is not England, and although Scotland is politically part of Britain, culturally and historically it is different. Scottish people in general should never be called English or British and doing so can spark a negative reaction. This is due to the history of violent land appropriation and destruction of Scottish culture by the government of Great Britain, and the original Highland and Lowland clearances in Scotland set the model for the process of enclosure and colonization employed by capitalism. The Scottish accent is very different from the standard English accent, and even many who understand English have difficulty with Scottish speakers.

The G8 in Scotland

The G8 is having their meeting in Gleneagles, a golf-course in the middle of Scotland off the A9 highway (one of the only two major highways in Scotland) between Perth and Stirling. It is about an hour away from the two major cities in Scotland, Edinburgh and Glasgow. Gleneagles is not an urban environment, but a golf course in the middle of a rural glen next to the village of Auchterarder. Gleneagles is not even a town, but just a large golf-course and expensive hotel. Due to its small size, it is unlikely to be able to hold the entire staff of the G8 Summit, and so staff will travel from one of the nearby towns (Stirling, Perth, Glasgow, Edinburgh) to Gleneagles. Gleneagles is right next to a highway, and surrounded by uninhabited hills.

Travel to and in Scotland

Anti-G8 Transport Hubs, offering lifts, and explanations of how to get
to Scotland, from the rest of the UK and from Europe as cheap as
possible are here: [http://www.cambridgeaction.net/taxonomy/page/or/2934].
You can add your transport offers here too.

Police are already talking about restricting travel to Scotland, so the best idea is to come as early as possible and travel in an inconspicuous manner. It is easy from most places in Europe to get to London, and the low-cost bus system Megabus (www.megabus.com) (10-15 Euros) goes to Glasgow. In general, public transport is very expensive from England to the UK (typical train tickets costing 80 Euros and typical bus tickets costing 40 Euros from London to Edinburgh).

Hitch-hiking is possible in the UK, although crossing the Chunnel (Tunnel between Calais France and Dover England) often results in long waits and an actual passport check, and unless a sympathetic driver lets you in their car, thirty-some Euro fee.

For those that do not care about the harmful effects of flying on the ecosystem, there are also a number of low-cost airlines that go direct to Scotland, and due to government aid these prices if booked ahead of time can be as little as thirty or forty Euros. Ryanair (www.ryanair.com) has their main base in Glasgow Prestwick, about an hour south of Glasgow, and regular flights from all over Western Europe go there, including Rome, Barcelona, Milan, Brindisi and Franfurt-Hahn. Easyjet (www.easyet.com) flies from London and Edinburgh to many other locations and is cheap. Air Scotland is another low-cost airline that goes directly from Athens to Glasgow (www.air-scotland.com). Dissent! and other international groups may help set-up border actions against people preventing from entering the UK, and a legal support phone number set-up to help those who have been stopped available at the website soon

G8 Trains from London

Luckily, the Southeast Assembly is booking their own trains directly from London to Edinburgh for the G8. See www.resistg8.org.uk for details on how to get a seat on the train Tickets cost £50 return - although some discounted tickets may be available - the first train leaves on 1 July and returns on the 9^th. The second leaves on the 4^th and comes back on the 8^th.

(www.g8legalsupport.info).

2. Mobilisation and Schedule of Events:

Although the mobilisation against the G8 is very large and diverse, we will in the following schedule focus our attention on events and spaces that are organised by or will have a significant presence of anti-capitalists and anti-authoritarians.

Evict the G8

The purpose of the day of action is to shut down the G8. Due to their high security measures, a direct march on Gleneagles is unlikely to work. Instead, currently focus is on getting as close to the security perimeter as possible and blockading the G8 using a diversity of tactics. Gleneagles hotel, with a capacity of a few hundred, is simply not big enough to hold the thousands of delegates and bureaucrats needed to run the G8 summit, and while the leaders themselves will be flown in via helicoptor, the lower-level delegates will be forced to come in via roads and trains, making them very vulnerable to a blocakde. If a sizeable portion of the G8 entourage can not make the meetings, the meetings will be effectively shut down.

On a large scale, this protest resembles the previous 2003 G8 Summit in Evian. The summit was similar because the protest was decentralised around several large cities with the main target, the G8, meeting on a remote mountain top with a few main roads leading there. This also is similar to the situation at the 2003 EU Summit protest where part of the protest was held in Halkidiki. It was felt in general that the 2003 G8 summit protests were a moderate success, as it delayed the summit for several hours. The situation for the G8 2005 protests is similar, with the main meeting taking place in Gleneagles Hotel, an hour north from the major Scottish cities of Edinburgh and Glasgow with only one major highway accessing the road. However, with the main target being difficult to defend due to its large perimeter and being much closer to large urban centres, 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 going to Gleneagles while other groups go over the hills to enter Gleneagles. This is not ridiculous since the last G8 Britain in 1998 in Birmingham meeting was effectively re-located due to fear of protesters and pressure from both NGO and direct action groups. For information about previous summits prepared by Dissent! see the "Days of Dissent" publication available at:

www.daysofdissent.org.uk.

The final plans for disrupting the Summit will be made at open meetings in the convergence centres. Everyone is invited to get involved. At the previous Evian G8 2003 protests, there was a large camp-site and convergence centre called the "VAAAG" that many felt was a great success. It was an autonomous village run by consensus that promoted radical action and thought. However, it was in France while Evian was in France so it's main weakness was that it was too far from the actual target of protest itself, and many people found it difficult to make it from the VAAAG to the actual protest. At this protest, the main rural convergence centre will be as close as possible to Gleneagles itself.

Urban Actions:

It is also recognised that if the police make it difficult to directly shut down the G8 in Gleneagles, then the protest will simply go to another location after the attempted shut-down. The climate change group in Dissent! is planning a large action against the root causes of climate-change in a secret location yet to be announced. We believe this action will be large and inspiring, and done on a scale never before seen. There will also be many decentralised anti-capitalist actions before, throughout, and after the days of the summit.

Schedule of Events

Copies of this schedule can be found by following the "action" link on the Dissent! website: www.dissent.org.uk

June:

The protests will begin with the setting up of a rural convergence centre and campsite in Perthshire and convergence and meeting spaces in Glasgow and Edinburgh. This rural convergence centre will be as close as possible to Gleneagles itself and will be capable of giving camping space to thousands of protesters. However, it is likely to be too small to fit everyone Infopoints and convergence centres will open in Edinburgh and Glasgow capable of holding large meetings and having workshops. A small amount of sleeping space has been booked in Glasgow and people are looking for sleeping space in Edinburgh. A number of decentralised actions and initiatives will begin in Edinburgh and Glasgow to build momentum for the G8. For example, the information about Cre8 Summat on the Dissent! website.

July:

Saturday July 2^nd Make Poverty History" in Edinburgh: The event is expected to be the largest march in British history over globalisation issues, with over 100,000 expected. However, the march is reformist and even endorsed by elements of the British government. There will be a large and active anti-capitalist component to the march under the banner "Make Capitalism History" and "Make the G8 History" that will give the march a more radical character.

Sunday July 3^rd:Make Borders History Tour in Glasgow.

People will go on a tour in Glasgow to visit places of visible and invisible borders, and places of migration control. Since migrants may be on the walking tours, care must be employed by everyone on the tour.

www.makebordershistory.org

http://www.faslaneg8.com/

Carnival for Full Enjoyment in Edinburgh: A day of actions to resist social cuts, privatisation, precarity, workfare and increased pressure on those in employment being imposed throughout Europe and beyond. www.nodeal.org.uk

Thursday July 5^th Tuesday 5 July Open Borders, Close Dungavel Asylum Seeker Detention Centre! Near Glasgow:
 "Close Dungavel, No-one is Illegal!" mass protest near Glasgow. Glasgow Campaign to Welcome Refugees. glascamref@hotmail.com

Wednesday July 6^th Global Day of Action in Scotland: This is the Global Day of Action Against the G8 including public blockades of the delegates as they arrive.

www.g8blockades.org.uk

For info about the global day of action see: www.agp.org

There will be Beacons of Dissent! (fires, although controlled as to not damage the ecosystem) lit on the hills around the that should be visible to those in Gleneagles on the night of the July 5th before the blockades . Then from the hills, hill-walking groups will walk straight over the hills and to the front door of Gleneagles. http://silver.j12.org

Friday July 8th The International Day of Action against Climate Change: This day of action will feature at least one and possibly multiple large-scale direct action on the major infrastructure responsible for climate change in Britain. Details will be announced closer to the date. www.dissent.org.uk/g8climateaction

 
3. Convergence Centre and Logistics:

See website www.dissent.org.uk for details. Dissent! will have as much as possible legal and safe housing for the protesters set-up and is co-operating with other groups in order to do so. Unlike in Greece, for example, there is no asylum at Universities in Britain. Unlike England, squatting is illegal in Scotland and it is expected that there will be attempts by the police to shut down any squats, as happened in Dublin during the May Day 2004 events. So, legal housing is important if we want to focus on shutting the G8 down. The legal convergence spaces need more money, so help with fundraising throughout Europe is needed. If the legal convergence centres are shut down by the authorities or if the legal accodation provided by any authorities is unsuitable, Dissent! will squat land and take over buildings as a last resort.

Rural Convergence Centre:

Neighborhoods will host camping, eating and meeting together and will be the focal point of decision making on the site. The neighborhoods will be information and discussion areas to aid communication across the site and beyond. Inter-neighborhood meetings will manage the whole site. Many groups are already hosting neighbourhoods but more are needed. You don't need to be a huge group or have loads of equipment to host a neighbourhood. The neighborhoods should be self running, once people start arriving. The aim is for each neighborhood to be as autonomous as possible, with its own kitchen or food serving facilities, alternative-technology power sources and meeting space. A neighborhood could also include anything else you would like to bring, like a library, cinema, crèche or spaceship. A site plan has been created by the 40+  participants at the recent ‘Earth Activist training course'. People are needed to be on
site setting up the space on the 25th June until the site opens. Lots of stuff is needed  for the site, see http://www.dissent.org.uk/content/view/195/125/
for the full list. Please provide what you can. Transport is available
to get larger objects to the site, although if you can find a way of
getting it here yourself, then all the better.

Both Edinburgh and Glasgow will have "infopoints" that will be open twenty-four hours a day for protesters to come to in order to be giveninformation about current events and accomodation.

Glasgow Convergence and Infopoint

Edinburgh Convergence and Infopoint:

Dissent is hiring a number of mini-buses to go from the various urban centres to sites of actions and the rural centre, as well as from Glasgow to Edinburgh and back. We are also looking into hiring buses for the large days of action, like the buses hired to go to the EU Summit from Salonika in 2003. These buses are expensive and money is needed for them to be hired. If you are coming from anywhere and can drive, your skills will be needed. We are asking for people to come as self-sufficient as possible in terms of transport. Please bringbikes, cars, vans, mini-busses and busses with you!

How to Dress for Scottish Weather

Blood-sucking Insects!

4. Indymedia Scotland:

and Indymedia UK
www.indymedia.org.uk

There will be an Indymedia Centre opening in Scotland for the G8 protest, run jointly by Indymedia UK and Indymedia Scotland above the Forest Café, 3 Bristo Place from the 29^th of July. The Forest Café is a volunteer-run café and arts space, and is also a useful point of information, and provides cheap food. The Indymedia Centre, directly upstairs from the Forest Cafe, will have e-mail checking and video editing facilities with subsidiaries in Glasgow and the rural convergence centre. Effort will be made not to video tape or otherwise use media that may incriminate protesters engaged in direct action. Some video footage will be used to document possible police brutality (as this video footage has sometimes saved activists from lies of the police in court) and also to inspire people around the world. Indymedia will also have a dispatch number for news to be announced on its website in the run up the G8.

Communication System for Mobile Phones:

There will be a communications network set-up by Dissent! that uses text-messaging over mobile phones to communicate the location of the police and other news. Please bring or consider purchasing a mobile phone / SIM Card that works in the UK. The number and how to subscribe to the communication system details will be distributed upon arrival at one of theconvergence centres.

5. Repression and Scottish Law:

Shortened version of more comprehensive text available from www.g8legalsupport.info

Scotland, once being a separate nation, historically has had always had separate legislation from the rest of Britain as regards everything, including protests. There is not one clear statute or code setting out the different criminal offences, but everything is based on theinterpretation of the judge.

Scotland is one of four countries that make up the UK, commonly referred to as 'Britain'. References to 'mainland Britain' are to England, Scotland and Wales. There are no border regulations between the four within the UK. Border crossings have also been used by British police and immigration officials to question people. To minimise the risk, travel as inconspicuously as possible (think about your clothes and means of transport etc.). If you are stopped, answering a few basic questions may get you in, but if you are detained then request a lawyer. We suggest the following: Bindman & Partners In England/Wales: 020 7833 4433 and a number will be forthcoming fromScotland at www.g8legalsupport.info.

Ids, Weapons, and Drugs

Once in Britain there is no requirement to carry ID. While when arrested and detained, the police have the right to ask for your name and address, you do not have to prove it to them. They instead Also, cannabis and other drugs are illegal and are a reason to arrest, as in drinking alcohol in public due to various bylaws. Carrying a knife (even in your pocket) in a public place is illegal. It is illegal to carry an offensive weapon, including carrying things like a large stick to a
protest. An offensive weapon is an item designed to cause injury or
something carried for the purpose of causing injury.

Stop & Search

Conducting searches: Section 60 Orders

Criminal Justice and Public Order Act:


A Section 60 order is the power of the police to stop and search in anticipation of violence. The first thing to note is that actual violence is not required. If the police believe that incidents involving violence are likely to occur and it is necessary to do so to prevent their occurrence, they may given authorisation to stop and search people and vehicles within a specified area for up to 24 hours. It is almost certain that Section 60 Orders will be authorised throughout the G8 summit. Once in force the uniformed police of any rank can stop people and vehicles and search them for weapons or dangerous instruments. No suspicion of that person or vehicle is required. Anybody can take anyone's photograph in the U.K. Therefore the police can take a photograph of you and they may do this whilst performing a Section 60 search. You do not need to co-operate with this, unless you have been detained or arrested. You do not have to give your name and address, explain why you are there or answer any questions. The (uniformed) police can also require that any item be removed which the police think is wholly or mainly for concealing identity (e.g. masks). You have a right to be given a written record of the search, even without giving your name or address. The Section 44 Terrorism Act also works similarly to a Section 60 order.

Detention

You may be detained if you are reasonably suspected of having committed an offence that is subject to imprisonment, which can be almost anything. You need to be told that: you are being detained and what you are being detained for. You cannot be held in the legal state of "detention" for more than six hours, after which time you must either be released or arrested. You do not have to give any information apart from your name and address. Give no comment to any other questions.



Arrest

You may, depending on the circumstances, be processed at the scene or taken to the police station. You will formally charged, asked a number of questions and photographed. You do not have to give any information
apart from your name and address, and can just say "no comment" to the rest of the questions. Giving a false name is an offence, while giving the address of a place you are staying at in the UK (such as one provided by Dissent) is legal. We recommend giving "No comment" as the answer to all questions after giving your name and address. After this you will be put in a cell. At some point you will be taken out of your cell to be fingerprinted, to be photographed and they will likely take a DNA sample (using a mouth swab). You will be either released, asked to sign an undertaking (see section 7 below) or held until the next working day for court. Usually, you will only be held for a day. They can keep you in custody until a court appearance. They can release you with a report being sent to higher authorities m to consider whether to prosecute.  Anybody who appears on a complaint (low-level charge) must be tried within a year of their first appearance.

For very serious matters you will appear "on petition" and may receive a jury trial. If you appear in court from custody you can apply for "bail" (an amount of money to guarantee your appearance in court) so that you remain at liberty until the trial (which may be many months away). Bail is more likely where the police can confirm your address in the UK. If you are from abroad you may be required to surrender your passport. The police do not have the power to deport people once they are in the UK. The Court may recommend deportation as part of a sentence, but it is unlikely.

Dissent is planning on having a series of jail solidarity demonstrations with any protester arrested during the course of the G8 protests, and maintaining long-term solidarity with internationals who are arrested.

Police Tactics:

Policing in Britain is via regional police forces - there is no national force. However, an officer from any Scottish force has full police powers anywhere in Scotland and it may be that English police are sworn in Scotland for the G8. This may lead to some conflict between Scottish and English police. The English police are only brought to Scotland in case of emergencies, the last time being the Miners Strike in the
1980s. In general, the police in Britain favour crowd control and surveillance tactics, often intimidate and control protesters. If this fails, they prefer to attempt to beat protesters with metal batons and otherwise physically break the protesters in combat. Although this may change, the police do not use chemical weapons. There are rumours of stun guns, but this has been denied by the police.


Police in Britain are issued with metal retractable batons, which cause nasty head wounds but minimise the risk of brain damage or death. Long side handle (US style) batons are also in use, but less favoured. CS gas is issued, but not often used - guidance refers to life threatening situations. Pepper spray is used, not generally in crowds, but mostly
when making arrests by spraying in the face. Water cannons have never been used on the British mainland but supposedly have been ordered from the Netherlands and so will probably be deployed at this protest.

Horses are used for sealing off streets or to guard buildings and to break up crowds. Dogs are also used, mostly to protect key buildings and at roadblocks, but given the rural nature of Gleneagles they may be more widely used in the hills. Roadblocks and checkpoints have been widely used in the past and are to be expected around Gleneagles, especially on the Firth of Forth bridge between Edinburgh and Gleneagles.

In Britain the police favour close contact public order policing. The main tactic is to divide very large groups of people into smaller groups and surround and contain them, sometimes for hours, before dispersing one by one. Continuously moving about can make this more difficult for them. When they fail to divide groups, riot police are sent in lines to break up and disperse crowds, by hitting out with batons at peoples' heads. Mounted (horseback) police are also used in the same way. The police also use teams of snatch squads to make arrests. These consist of 6 officers in a triangular pattern, with the outer police protecting the arresting officer.
The police also make wide use of photographers, video camera operators, helicopters with video cameras (which take surprisingly clear footage) and evidence gathers, who record a running commentary. Forward Intelligence Teams (FIT) are police issued with photos of known activists, who they follow. Despite their title their main role is harassment.

The Scottish police force is not very competent compared to many of their European counterparts, having been outmaneuvered by school children on a regular basis. There are also not many police in Scotland - only 12,000 by the latest estimate. The police in Britain most experienced in dealing with dangerous situations are those in Northern Ireland, however, due to political instability in that region they will not be used in Scotland. However, there will definitely be English police imported, and the general level of police preparedness will be high. Most of the police will not have ever seen an anti-globalisation protest. The police are primarily used
to dealing with non-violent civil disobedience and marching, and so may be surprised by some of the tactics used by protesters.


The London Metropolitan Police Force ("The Met") is also being deployed, and current reports have them hosted near the corporate media in Stirling. This police force has had considerable experience with large-scale demonstrations and anti-capitalist actions, and have a tendency towards heavy crowd control and brutality. However, they will be out of their element in Scotland and it is unclear how they will be deployed and how they will interact with the Scottish police force. This situation will be made even more confusing by the interactions with American and other security forces, and this may impair ability of the police to make decisions and act in a co-ordinated fashion.

Gleneagles is a large hotel surrounded by acres of golf-course off a major high-way (the A9) with small roads coming off the major highway at regular intervals. It is currently surrounded by a small chain-link fence, much smaller than those that have been previously taken down at large protests. It is surrounded by hills and visible from the closest range of the Ochil Hills to the south. There have been road-closings on the minor roads around the hotel, and the police are determined to keep the A9 open for all traffic, and will have regular checkpoints. The London "Met" police are based in Stirling, and so is the corporate media. The Americans appear to be coming through Glasgow Prestwick airport, and will be running their own security. There will likely be a large police throughout the area, although they will be spread quite thin by having to deal with all the protesters and protests. The police are likely to be surprised by any level of co-ordination, planning, and courage - so get ready!

Converge upon Scotland, The G8 makes plans, people make history!