Congratulations! The cops will be ready and waiting, will search the entire train and occupants, then turn the train around and send you all back to England with a free escort when they find so much as one offensive item. Is it too much to expect for people to make their own more varied and therefore harder to intercept travel plans? Obviously not. I'm left reeling with the stupidity of this plan.

Are you mad? Any other details you want to let plod know about, perhaps the home details of the organisers, or the plans for protest.

Let's not make it too easy for them !

Similar to the so-called 'anarchist express' that was organised by GR (read SWP) and infiltrated by Sunday Times reporter for the Genoa anti-G8 protests. It turned up just in time before the big day and then returned without helping with any of the solidarity/post-demonstration event activities. This is because these guys (trots) see demonstrations as events, not as a visible moment in the process of movement building. They see them as a way to build their own organisations rather than helping out shut down the g8.

The most surprising thing about the anarchist express of 2001 was that GR were able to get the French railway unions to threaten to strike if they were turned around. Thumbs up to that element of the trip, shame about the rest of it.

You really are clueless, inspector. Do you think we can keep travel plans for 10,000 people secret from the police, while actively advertising them so that people who want to get involved know how to do so?

There are times when secret actions, and the small numbers that go with them, are appropriate, and times when mass, public actions are also appropriate. Doubtless there are some people with secret plans to fuck shit up who will make their own way to Scotland, and good luck to them. But there will be thousands of protestors heading up to Scotland, and it would be ridiculous for us all to plan on keeping our presence there a secret. Instead, we need to plan tactics which work even if the police have some knowledge of what to expect (that is, like _all the other summit protests_).

As for the idea that the police will stop the trains - of course that is a possibility, but the same is true of _any_ form of transport (the police could easily stop coaches, and could even set up roadblocks to stop individual minibusses and cars). Rather than just accept this, we need to be planning political responses if the police try any of this shit. Making contacts with the few remaining principled MPs, or the slightly larger number of principled MSPs, and with the NGOs, is important so that we can ensure that repressive actions from the police will be met with media and political pressure.

This has been tried and tested in 2001 Genoa. Then a train load of people successfully went all the way from Dover to the Italy to join the G8 counter summit demo. I do not recall the full details but the italian police were not too please when this train crossed the border but they managed to do it, someone reading this may have a better recollection of the events. anyway the italian police had to back off and a good time was had by all.

by the way , the police are just as likely to stop a coach and more likely if the train is filled with trade unionist, journalists and people like that. it is far easier to stop a coach filled with hippies or anarcists, rather than people with a bit of muscle???? (i would have thought so anyway)

The are better ways to get the information out to people without plastering it all over a public forum like this, that's all I was saying. See you there (going by bike myself)

When I heard about this train I also thought it was a crazy idea... however, I was under the impression it was the Dissent Network and Globalise Resistance. With the new knowledge that it is Globalise Resistance I actually don't think it's a big deal and doubt there will be a problem. The SWP are not a threat so why stop the train? Since SWP claim direct action is elitist and that only mobalising a mass movement intent on marching from A to B, there really isn't a reason for the authorities to bother with the train.

could you point out the part where gr say they have a train, can't find it on the website.

Plus where are you going to put all these people you're taking to scotland? Are you going to accommodate them?

nh ,your right it is not advertised on website as yet, but it should be up there soon . i learnt that they booked the train on sunday and thought it would be up there by now.