Make the G8 History Blog

The strange affair of the Gleneagles G8 demo

Alex Nunns. The G8 Alternatives demo at Gleneagles on the 6th July was a very strange affair. To start with, it was officially cancelled, yet it ended up with military helicopters hovering over young kids who were rolling around in a field.

Rivers of oil, oceans of hunger: Nnimmo Bassey Interview

Oscar Reyes. Nnimmo Bassey is Secretary-Director of Environmental Rights Action (Friends of the Earth, Nigeria) and a poet. In this interview at the Global Dreams, Corporate Nightmares conference he discusses the environmental and economic impact of the oil industry in Nigeria and reads from his poem 'Mountains of Food, Oceans of Hunger'. You can hear a recording of the full interview here or continue reading for an edited transcript.

Walden Bello: 'Saturday was the big missed opportunity'

Alex Nunns interviews Walden Bello.

Regular readers might think that this has become the Walden Bello G8 blog, but us Red Pepperistas just keep bumping in to him. Today I sat next to him on a coach back from the Gleneagles demo, so I took the chance to get a quick reaction to the week so far.

Nobel Peace Prize for Sir Bob? Why not

Gabriele Zamparini, The Cat's Dream. Live8 organiser Bob Geldof has been nominated for the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize. Why not? Look at these recent statements in the media:

Sir Bob Geldof has warned an unnamed American musician not to criticise US President George W Bush during the American Live 8 concert next month. (...) The mystery singer, who is anxious not to be named, was told by an angry Geldof, "Please remember, absolutely no ranting and raving about Bush or Blair and the Iraq war."

The blockades begin

Stuart Hodkinson in Edinburgh. They were massively outnumbered by the 10,000-plus police officers brought in from every corner of the UK. Their movements in and to Edinburgh, Glasgow, Stirling and Gleneagles were heavily curtailed by police use of Section 60 powers to randomly stop and search people for offensive weapons without grounds for suspicion and road blocks on every major route into and out of Gleneagles. To top it all, after nearly a week of glorious sunshine, the Scottish heavens opened and it, as the locals would say, "pished it down". Yet against all odds, it is tonight clear that although not the spectacular shut down  originally sought, around eight thousand alter-globalisation protesters combined clever orienteering with a helping hand from the police to cause major disruption on the opening day of the G8 summit in Gleneagles.

Africa for Sale

The Gleneagles hotel, which is owned by UK drinks multinational Diageo, is not the only venue hosting a G8 summit today. The official G8 Business Summit is taking place in London, hosted by Business Action for Africa and chaired by former Shell boss and current Anglo-American PLC chairman, Sir Mark Moody Stuart. But who is behind this initiative and where does it come from?

Alternative Africa Commission launched in Edinburgh

Stuart Hodkinson. Tuesday, 11am. On the eve of discussions on Africa at the G8 summit in Gleneagles, a range of leading campaigners and activists from across Africa today gathered together in Edinburgh to launch their own highly critical response to Tony Blair's Commission for Africa (CfA). 'The Alternatives Commission on Africa' contains statements, analyses and perspectives from African civil society voices previously silenced by the Geldof-Government-Oxfam coalition that is running the Live8/Make Poverty History axis.

Good protester/bad protester

Alex Nunns. At 1600 BST the news went round the Independent Media Centre in Edinburgh that Bob Geldof was in town. Within minutes a rapid reaction force of independent journalists and activists were dispatched to Edinburgh station, where the has-been rock star had arrived aboard a Make Poverty History Virgin train along with Hollywood's Tim Robbins and Susan Sarandon. Our mission was to disrupt Geldof's press conference, armed only with an Indymedia banner and some tough questions.

G8 number crunching: the deal doesn't add up

John Hilary, Campaigns & Policy Director, War on Want. Heading up to Gleneagles tomorrow for the demo, but we've spent much of today number crunching so as to work out exactly what the G8 are preparing to serve up as their answer to global poverty - and also to work out how on earth the government has managed to get the good press it has when it is offering such derisory crumbs from the rich man's table. So, specially for Red Pepper readers, this is what we know.

Why Reuben was miffed

JJ. My friend Reuben left the G8 Alternatives youth forum spitting chips. He'd gone with a clear plan to discuss something he's passionate about - getting a real unionisation drive going among young and casual workers.

He's petrified that there's a new generation of young people who'll have no access to, or knowledge of, trade union organisations. But it was not to be. "No one of any interest got to speak," he told me, "because the speeches from the floor were dominated by Workers Power and Socialist Worker bickering about Respect."