Brown G8 failure. Truth behind g8 'riots'

international | anti-capitalism | news report Tuesday July 05, 2005 17:50 by rory hearne - IAWM

Report on Edinburgh

The so-called riots in Edinburgh yesterday were hyped out of proportion. It is the tactics of the police to intimidate people from protesting tomorrow at the summit. The G8 will fail to make poverty history. The movement must keep going after wednesday. Come to G8 feed back discussion on Friday 8th july at 8pm in Carmelite Community Centre, Whitefriar St..

Gordon Brown admits failure to make poverty history

Rory Hearne IAWM

As we prepare to march on the G8 Gordon Brown has admitted that the G8 summit will dissapoint Bono, Geldof and Make Poverty History, saying "I know that what you will say is that what we can achieve is perhaps not good enough, you will tell us that weve got more to do". Also George Bush threw any notions of real change for Africa out of the window when he stated clearly that he will only act in the interests of America. These statements show the failure of g8 leaders to address the real problems that face the planet: poverty, war and climate change. Their failure to act is because they are the cause of the problem. As George Galloway MP said at the mass demonstration on Saturday in Edinburgh "The G8 cannot solve the problems of the world's poor because they are the cause of global poverty". This is the message that we will be bringing to the Gleneagles march tommorrow. We will be saying to the G8 leaders: "you do not represent the solution, you are the problem. The poor countries do not need your charity or debt relief that is tied with conditions that will impoverish them further. The poor countries should refuse to pay their debts. Instead of sepnding $700bn per year on military spending the G8 should spend it solving poverty."

Yesterday two demonstrations took place in Scotland. One was a Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament protest that involved 1000 people blockading the nuclear base at Faslane. Tommy Sheridan, MSP for the Scottish Socialist Party spoke at the demo and said "Let's disarm, lets spend the money on food, not arms. Its vital to keep up the pressure to get rid of these weapons of mass destruction". The other demonstration involved a few hundred people taking part in a Carnival for Full Enjoyment. This protest was mostly very light hearted with the rebel insurgent clown army parading the streets. It also involved a few minor scuffles with police after protestors and observers had been hemmed in by the police for hours. But the small number of incidents at this protest were splashed across the media as "G8 riots". It suited Blair and the G8 to have these images beamed across the world and the Faslane protest ignored. The Faslane protest raised the important issue about the hypocrisy of Blair and Brown mascarding as being concerned for poverty while they spend billions on weapons of death and are responsible for the death of 100,000 in Iraq. These images of violence also serve to heighten tension and intimidate people from attending the protest march tomorrow to Gleneagles. I observed yesterdays Carnival protest and from what I saw the police used severe tactics and 1000s of riot police to block streets, hem protestors (and shoppers) in for hours and deny people their democratic right to protest and walk the streets. It was farsical. Millions of pounds were spent on riot police following around a few hundred protestors.

As we prepare for tomorrows march to the Hotel at Gleneagles it is important that the focus of the world is on the violence of war and poverty caused by the policies of the G8. Tens of thousands of us will march march and rally at Gleneagles Hotel on the opening day of the G8 summit. It will include G8 Alternatives, the Fire Brigades Union, the Scottish Trades Union Congress, the UK Stop The War Coalition, Irish Anti War Movement and many other groups.
We will not be pleading with Bush and Blair. The G8 are part of the problem, not the solution. We will be marching within earshot of G8 leaders - they will take their photo
opportunities and make their false promises but we are not fooled. After Wednesday we will go back to our countries continue to march against these warmongers and plunderers of the world until poverty, war and environmental destruction are history.

Over 250,000 people have taken part in demonstrations in Edinburgh. Millions attended concerts calling on the G8 to make poverty history. We should not be misled by Brown, Blair or Bertie Ahern that they are friends of the world's poor. We should not allow them to use our movement and our mobilisations. These mobilisations should not be manipulated or spun in a way that protrays them as simply 'supporting' G8 leaders' crusade against poverty. We are against the G8 leaders and their policies not on their side. They do not represent us. Many activists and protestors pointed out that Blair is the head of a party that was supposed to represent the poor. They said that there is an urgernt need to create new left political organisations that represent the ideals and values of the movement and challenge the compromising politicians and parties of the old left.

The debt relief they are offering is pittance. They are not moving on trade or aid. They are doing nothing to solve climate change. They are continuing to destroy the people of Iraq. It is our movement and mobilisations that can make poverty and war history. Not the G8 warmongers.