Categories: uncategorized
Date: 03 July 2005 14:40:41
It wasn't just the festival the 200 000(ish - depending on what you're reading / who you're listening to) of us made the treck up to Edinburgh for. The focal part was the amble (sorry I mean march) around the city to signify to the world (& particularly the leaders of the G8) we want to Make Poverty History. Including @ 3:00pm a minutes silence for the 20 people who would have been preventably denied life during that minute.
We began in the contemplative area, joining the Baptists (2 of whom I recognised). As we lined up it became apparent those of us doing what we were told were not moving anywhere fast. So after the Baptist Times blokey had finished interviewing a fair proportion of us (interesting he gave us a cautious look as he asked were we with the Baptists) we decided to do what non-conformists do best and go the way the people who weren't conforming, but were moving were going. As such we only waited about half an hour to move significantly, rather than the hours others had.
It was about two and a half miles in a sea of largely white (except socialists who wanted to Make Capitalism History in red and a few anarchists in black), going up hill and down around the castle. Noting which businesses had boarded up and which had not given in to the scaremongering. The police were chilled (although we noted later where they were in reserve) and so was no problem doing the "they're taking pictures of us and so we are taking pictures of you" game.
Although shorter than London actions we'd been on Third Party got a bit grizzly about the march, because of the hills. Still it was an amazing spectacle & all sending out a clear message.
The march did manage to encircle the whole route by 3:00pm, infact the tail end did not leave the meadows until 4:30 (ish).
Next it was off the the Assembly Hall (note anybody who needs to know this is not the Assembly rooms).
Due to the confusion of where we were going we took a back route around the city and saw the police preparing to move in (one suspects from the news reports on the anarchists).
The formations which appeared to be going into action were remanicant of previous actions I have been on & you have to ask were the police trying to discredit the anarchists early on? Or from previous experience, you also have to ask if it was the real anarchists involved in causing trouble or other extreme groups trying to discredit the day by pretending to be anarchists? - (you never quite know what tactics the far right will use).
Overall though a v. peaceful, well policed and fluffy march, as should be expected for a family occassion.