photos from Crieff blockade

Kids on blocks

06.07.2005 11:47

Mama loves you.

No-body

Its unfair to make fun of the protestors' abysmal English, but presumably when they heard "Lets give them grief" they misheard?

Nice to see them wearing Berghaus, Karimore, and Goretex. Fight global industry - buy their goods!

A Watching Scotsman

Fantastic Effort

06.07.2005 12:31

Great direct action - this kind of blockading is very inspiring for people all over the world. Keep up the fight for justice. We would be there with you if we could.

Davey and Jane from Melbourne Australia

Kids on Blocks

06.07.2005 12:39

Nobody loves you.

Mama

Love?

06.07.2005 13:40

If mama doesn't loves us, granny shall certainly have a look arround from heaven.

No-body

"A Watching Scotsman"

06.07.2005 14:40

Sometimes it is possible to wear clothing that has 'names' on it that is:

1. Second Hand
2. Stolen
3. Borrowed

If they did buy it new then I agree that it is bad - but it does not affect the demonstration at all and is another issue. You have to draw the line somewhere.

fredrico
mail e-mail: musteatvegan@yahoo.co.uk

Made by chinese workers

06.07.2005 15:18

And you can also buy them in China. A goretex jacket, 35 euros. A good example of globalization.

Ast

Fantastic effort 2

06.07.2005 16:26

Thank you! It was indeed inspiring to see these pictures.

Karin

You people ROCK!

06.07.2005 16:42

We "Yanks" are VERY pleased with the way you are standing up to the fascist order. Rock on!

Rodney doo little

A Filthy Capitalist Invention

06.07.2005 17:36

Okay so its okay if they stole the Jackets? Or used slave-wage labour in China? DOH!

And it wouldn't have been invented (in Livingston - that's in Scotland my American chums) by old Wullie Gore if he hadn't been undertaking a speculative capitalist venture. Oh no, better not use that then?

Hypocrites, the lot of you.

Me Again

And the point is?

06.07.2005 20:22

I'm puzzled - as the access roads from Crieff to Gleneagles were already closed, what exactly was the point of this? Other than pissing off the locals, obviously...

Confused of Perthshire

The kids these days...

06.07.2005 22:01

...need to feel that they're "doing something worthwhile man". That's the point of it all, + some great stories to tell their mates and attempt to pull with when they go back to Uni...

artaud

Nice blockade!

06.07.2005 22:57

Nice blockade...those people complaining on the people wearing Goretex...come on - get some focus....Coming from another country, this form of (almost religious) purism within the UK movement is bizarre.

Fuck purists - go naked and stay inside eating soy beans.

/sg

sg

Oh dearie me

07.07.2005 10:27

Ach SG you miss the point.

Here we have a small group who block what is at best a minor road in Crieff, miles from the summit and somewhere they're not going to get into any trouble. They're all well dressed kids, perhaps middle class, wearing goods which exemplify what they're trying to undermine. As my friend above says, a wee jaunt fae the Uni to give them something to talk about.

This isn't action, and barely counts as inaction. Even if I were an anarchist/anti-capatilist I would have to conceed that it was a useless waste of time which does nothing to strengthen any cause.

I bet they didn't show the photos of the policemen laughing and taking the piss.

Me Again

TRUE.. it anint really the bloc is it??

07.07.2005 23:13

Its true dont really know the situation... as wasnt there meself.. but it doesnt really loook like much of a blockade really.... still they were doing their best which is what counts... Hope that this london shit make people focus on the reason... Got to keep up the pressure regardless of what fuckers might say about it all...Hope the bloc get on the road tomorrow! peace !!!!

rob yahoo...

EVERY Little Counts...

08.07.2005 20:50

ok so this looks like an insignificant blockade -HOWEVER there was loads of little groups that set off to blockade loads of little roads as well as larger contingents setting off to bock major orads at different points. the idea was to bring the place to a standstill. that little road in crieff could have been used as a detour route.

disko kid

responses

09.07.2005 11:11

On the issue of "goretex":
Please can the poster tell us where it's possible to buy/get waterproof clothing that is manufactured in a socially and environmentally sustainable way?

On the issue of being at Uni:
I'm glad u thought I looked that young ;-)

On the issue of effectiveness:
A number of support staff and US delegates were staying in Crieff. 1 delegate was stopped for 2 hours (ish) by the blockade. Although it was a fairly minor road, there were only 5 of us and we thought it'd be better to do something small that worked than to try for a bigger target and fuck up.

ciderpunx

Sad

09.07.2005 15:14

I find it really sad that the walking abortions who are reading this article are waffling on about the nature of items of clothing when these people are really putting themselves out (being in awful conditions, without sleep and at risk of violence and arrest) for what they believe in. these people are risking their lives you shits.

well done. you understand that sweatshop labour is a bad thing. ive got a slight inkling that the people featured in the photos do too. everyone living in britain is somehow contributing to others suffering (unless you never buy a thing and live 100% self-sustainably which is near-on impossible within a western industrialised country.)

ive got a feeling that the computers you are using to write such useless drivel are not locally sourced fair-trade and vegan and made sustainably.

"We are all in the gutter but some of us are looking up at the stars." Oscar Wilde.

Well done to the blockaders.

Tony

Sad

09.07.2005 15:26

I find it really sad that the walking abortions who are reading this article are waffling on about the nature of items of clothing when these people are really putting themselves out (being in awful conditions, without sleep and at risk of violence and arrest) for what they believe in. these people are risking their lives you shits.

well done. you understand that sweatshop labour is a bad thing. ive got a slight inkling that the people featured in the photos do too. everyone living in britain is somehow contributing to others suffering (unless you never buy a thing and live 100% self-sustainably which is near-on impossible within a western industrialised country.)

ive got a feeling that the computers you are using to write such useless drivel are not locally sourced fair-trade and vegan and made sustainably.

"We are all in the gutter but some of us are looking up at the stars." Oscar Wilde.

Well done to the blockaders.

Tony

very effective action

11.07.2005 10:52

It may look like an insignificant road but this is the A822, the main road from Crieff to Gleneagles;
it is narrow at this point because it crosses a riverbridge. Meanwhile another group were blocking
the B8062, forcing support staff, delegates etc based in Crieff to take a very roundabout route.
Search for Crieff on any UK mapping website and you'll see what I mean.

To the person who said these roads were closed anyway, just because they were closed to the public and/or controlled by police (which I'm not even sure you're right about in this specific case) doesn't mean they weren't being used by delegates - if anything it seems more likely. Several of the vehicles in the queue that built up at the start of the blockade were very obviously delegates.

To the person who said the lock-on crew 'weren't going to get in any trouble' - well, they
were arrested, held for about 10 hours with no food and charged with breach of the peace
with bail conditions to leave the areas of G8 action immediately. Obviously it's all relative, and
of course other protesters elsewhere did risk much more than this (to say that the blockaders
were 'risking their lives' is a slight exaggeration to be sure!), but it's hard to think of a way such
a small group could have been any more effective in the circumstances.

Even if you don't agree that this type of road blockade is itself an effective or worthwhile action
it tied up 3-4 vanloads of police for around an hour and a half (the blockade itself was in
place 2 hours) thereby preventing them from policing other actions.

.

Hardy endangered

14.07.2005 13:49

"these people are risking their lives you shits"

How exactly are they risking their lives? They're putting themselves at some discomfort, but that's about it. Chaining yourself to a road blockade is hardly a dangerous activity, it's not like we live in a country where the government would order the police to open fire or kick the living daylights out of you for what is a relatively peaceful protest.

As for the blockaders, perhaps they would all like to sign a letter of apology to all the residents who had nothing to do with the G8 Summit yet were still inconvenienced by these blockades and having thousands of hippies invade their normally peaceful village?

Paul
mail e-mail: paul@xk7.net
Homepage: http://www.roguetory.org.uk/

Paul

18.07.2005 14:32

> As for the blockaders, perhaps they would all like to sign a letter of apology to all the residents who had nothing to do with the G8 Summit yet were still inconvenienced by these blockades and having thousands of hippies invade their normally peaceful village?

"thousands of hippies" ???!!!!

You seem rather intolerant, and rather imprecise for a Linux geek, Paul! There were about 5 /normal/ people (with jobs and everything) locked on in the road, and maybe 10 others doing support or just passing by - that makes you a couple of orders of magnitude out on numbers, as well as misrepresenting who was protesting.

I take your point about apologising for inconvienience, and, in fact leaflets explaining the action and apologizing for the hassle were distributed.

Of course it would be nice if the G8 leaders had been polite enough to apologize to the thousands of people who are dying from corporate greed, and who are destined to die because of climate change. I wouldn't hold your breath though ...

bridge_troll

Thousands of hippies

19.07.2005 14:13

""thousands of hippies" ???!!!!"

Yes - there I was referring to the general G8 protests, which I believe involved 4,000 extra people descending on the town of Auchterarder.

I'm not intolerant per se, I just don't think protestors have the right to block roads and stop innocent bystanders from being able to get to where they want to go. If worst came to worst the delegates could have just been helicoptered in anyway.