Buckingham Palace confirmed last night that the Queen had cancelled her traditional July holiday in Edinburgh because of a clash with the Make Poverty History marches in the capital.
Her Royal Garden Party at Holyrood Palace has been postponed until July 28.
The Scotsman:
Sun 5 Jun 2005
G8 protest chaos to spread to every Scottish city
EDDIE BARNES POLITICAL EDITOR
PLANS to mobilise hundreds of thousands more protesters in every city in Scotland have been drawn up, spreading the risk of chaos during next month's G8 summit nationwide.
Following Sir Bob Geldof's surprise call last week for one million people to descend on Edinburgh, Scotland on Sunday can reveal that organisers now plan to take over football stadia and cinemas in Glasgow, Aberdeen, Dundee, Stirling and Inverness for mass screenings of the Live8 concert being staged in the capital on July 6.
Local authorities, many of which have yet to be informed of the plans, gave their support but warned that the last-minute arrangements could trigger a threat to public safety.
We can also reveal today that Islamist extremists are considering sending "thousands" of activists to Edinburgh for the demonstrations, hoping to exploit the mood of angry protest against the West.
Buckingham Palace confirmed last night that the Queen had cancelled her traditional July holiday in Edinburgh because of a clash with the Make Poverty History marches in the capital.
Her Royal Garden Party at Holyrood Palace has been postponed until July 28.
Police said they were confident they could ensure her safety during the summit protests, but a Palace spokeswoman said: "The Queen normally spends a summer week in Scotland at the Palace of Holyroodhouse. After discussions with the office of the First Minister, a decision was taken that the Queen will not spend a week at Holyroodhouse this summer because of the G8 summit."
Meanwhile, hospital chiefs in Edinburgh are understood to be in talks to postpone non-emergency operations at hospitals in order to free up wards for those who could be injured if violent clashes erupt.
The new moves for events across the country are a direct attempt to ease the pressure on Edinburgh.
Both Celtic Park and Ibrox in Glasgow are being pencilled in for a screening of the July 6 concert at Murrayfield. In other cities, cinemas or public areas could be used if the council and police are prepared to assist.
But while the new move may help Edinburgh, it is sure to place further pressure on other cities.
Glasgow is already at breaking point as it is handling both the arrival of dignitaries for the summit and the Special Olympics, with around 5,000 competitors descending on the city. Both events take place in the first week of July.
Elsewhere, many of Scotland's 16,000 police have already been given orders to guard existing G8 events and venues and were only informed yesterday about the new plans to spread protesters throughout the country. Strathclyde Police said yesterday they were still unaware of them. <more>
This article:
http://news.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=617192005
The G8: http://news.scotsman.com/topics.cfm?tid=449
Websites:
G8 Gleneagles 2005
G8 Alternatives
http://www.g8alternatives.org.uk/
Perthshire G8
Make Poverty History
http://www.makepovertyhistory.org/
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