Call me an old cynic if you like
So, tens of thousands of people have come to Edinburgh today for a demonstration to make poverty history, in advance of the G8 summit next week. They've been arriving all morning in buses from all over the country, from Aberdeen, Glasgow, Dundee, I've even seen buses from Leeds and Liverpool in England.
Some shops are boarded up in advance of any trouble, mostly those that would be closed over the weekend anyway, or off licences. All the others have make poverty history posters in their windows, presumably so they won't get kicked in later on when everyone starts drinking.
It looks as if it's going to be a fabulous day out - there are loads of things to do on the Meadows - there are bands playing, bouncy castles, all sorts of things. Everyone's going to have the time of their lives and tonight they will go home, tired but happy, feeling they've made a difference, and tomorrow people in the third world will still die of starvation.
This has cost an obscene amount of money. There are buses, mini coaches and mini buses parked all the way up the street where I normally park (parking was suspended for the day so I had to find somewhere else to stick my car), and for miles around. I doubt the bus and coach companies donated them, or their drivers' time. The cost of the policing alone has stretched into millions of pounds. Think how many lives could have been saved with that.
And who are you protesting against when you go on a march members of the govenment are taking part in? Who else is there to listen? It's a laudable sentiment, but there have to be better ways of making poverty history.
ETA: I went down to the Meadows for a look. It's not a protest, it's a festival Thousands flock to poverty march
Some shops are boarded up in advance of any trouble, mostly those that would be closed over the weekend anyway, or off licences. All the others have make poverty history posters in their windows, presumably so they won't get kicked in later on when everyone starts drinking.
It looks as if it's going to be a fabulous day out - there are loads of things to do on the Meadows - there are bands playing, bouncy castles, all sorts of things. Everyone's going to have the time of their lives and tonight they will go home, tired but happy, feeling they've made a difference, and tomorrow people in the third world will still die of starvation.
This has cost an obscene amount of money. There are buses, mini coaches and mini buses parked all the way up the street where I normally park (parking was suspended for the day so I had to find somewhere else to stick my car), and for miles around. I doubt the bus and coach companies donated them, or their drivers' time. The cost of the policing alone has stretched into millions of pounds. Think how many lives could have been saved with that.
And who are you protesting against when you go on a march members of the govenment are taking part in? Who else is there to listen? It's a laudable sentiment, but there have to be better ways of making poverty history.
ETA: I went down to the Meadows for a look. It's not a protest, it's a festival Thousands flock to poverty march