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The barricades are going up.
I walked past Holyrood Palace on Saturday, and it’s now almost completely surrounded by wire fencing: two rows with a third in the middle, zig-zagging back and forth between the outer two to make it sturdy enough not to knock over. And there’s more police stationed around the place than there are when the Queen visits.
Now, I’d expect some extra security for Holyrood – after all, it’s only surrounded by a relatively low wall most – but I’m curious about who’s staying there. I thought our esteemed world leaders were being flown into Gleneagles. Perhaps we’ll find out afterwards. Or perhaps no-one’s staying there and they’re just worried someone will attack it as a symbol.
The policeman I spoke to couldn’t or wouldn’t tell me how much they were cordoning off. This is a bit of a pain, because the shortest and more scenic route from my flat to the city goes right past there.
And now there’s a group telling people just to camp anywhere in the city. Usually during the Edinburgh Festival there are a few people camping surreptitiously in Holyrood Park, so I wouldn’t be surprised if some people try it this weekend. But given that during the opening of the Scottish Parliament they had people with guns up on the crags overlooking Holyrood, I imagine the authorities will take a dim view of it.
Several designer shops have announced they’re going to close, for fear of being targeted by anti-capitalist demonstrators.
Ominously, the local courts have been freed up for all-day sessions.
And the council is appealing for someone organising the ‘Carnival for Full Enjoyment’ in the West End to contact them so they can organise safety measures. I can understand their concern, but they’ll be lucky if anyone does contact them, I reckon. Anarchists don’t work like that.
Methinks the next week here is going to be… interesting.
I passed a poster this lunchtime that said:
What sounds better:
I was there
or
I went shopping
It’s been kind of odd, being here, knowing that the ‘biggest demo in UK history’ is about to descend on us and not having the energy to engage with the preparations. Usually I have a pretty good idea of what’s going on in Edinburgh, but so much of this has been organised away from the local campaigning channels and desperate pleas for volunteers that we’ve been a bit in the dark.
But this morning I finally filled in the form to volunteer to steward the Make Poverty History march on Saturday. I’ve offered to do the first shift, starting at 7am – foolhardy of me, considering the only time I’ve seen 7am recently was when I stayed up all night, but I’d like to be on the spot to see the thing come to life. It’ll be nice to be doing something for someone else for a change; I’ve been feeling very parasitical recently.
I walked past Holyrood Palace on Saturday, and it’s now almost completely surrounded by wire fencing: two rows with a third in the middle, zig-zagging back and forth between the outer two to make it sturdy enough not to knock over. And there’s more police stationed around the place than there are when the Queen visits.
Now, I’d expect some extra security for Holyrood – after all, it’s only surrounded by a relatively low wall most – but I’m curious about who’s staying there. I thought our esteemed world leaders were being flown into Gleneagles. Perhaps we’ll find out afterwards. Or perhaps no-one’s staying there and they’re just worried someone will attack it as a symbol.
The policeman I spoke to couldn’t or wouldn’t tell me how much they were cordoning off. This is a bit of a pain, because the shortest and more scenic route from my flat to the city goes right past there.
And now there’s a group telling people just to camp anywhere in the city. Usually during the Edinburgh Festival there are a few people camping surreptitiously in Holyrood Park, so I wouldn’t be surprised if some people try it this weekend. But given that during the opening of the Scottish Parliament they had people with guns up on the crags overlooking Holyrood, I imagine the authorities will take a dim view of it.
Several designer shops have announced they’re going to close, for fear of being targeted by anti-capitalist demonstrators.
Ominously, the local courts have been freed up for all-day sessions.
And the council is appealing for someone organising the ‘Carnival for Full Enjoyment’ in the West End to contact them so they can organise safety measures. I can understand their concern, but they’ll be lucky if anyone does contact them, I reckon. Anarchists don’t work like that.
Methinks the next week here is going to be… interesting.
I passed a poster this lunchtime that said:
I was there
or
I went shopping
It’s been kind of odd, being here, knowing that the ‘biggest demo in UK history’ is about to descend on us and not having the energy to engage with the preparations. Usually I have a pretty good idea of what’s going on in Edinburgh, but so much of this has been organised away from the local campaigning channels and desperate pleas for volunteers that we’ve been a bit in the dark.
But this morning I finally filled in the form to volunteer to steward the Make Poverty History march on Saturday. I’ve offered to do the first shift, starting at 7am – foolhardy of me, considering the only time I’ve seen 7am recently was when I stayed up all night, but I’d like to be on the spot to see the thing come to life. It’ll be nice to be doing something for someone else for a change; I’ve been feeling very parasitical recently.
