LARGEST DEMOS IN 20 YEARS
Police officers brace for disruption as thousands of protesters flood in
SCOTLAND is braced for the biggest protests for nearly 20 years amid growing fears of mass disruption caused by the Cop26 summit.
Nicola Sturgeon issued a plea for activists with groups such as Extinction Rebellion to hold ‘appropriate and peaceful protests’ in Glasgow.
Police chiefs have vowed to take a ‘proportionate’ approach by facilitating peaceful protest – even when it is unlawful. But Extinction Rebellion vowed to create ‘deliberate’ disruption by up to 1,000 protesters.
Opposition MSPs have called for police to take a ‘zero tolerance’ approach to prevent road or motorway closures by activists staging sit-ins.
Scottish Tory community safety spokesman Russell Findlay said: ‘The eyes of the world are turning towards Glasgow where many residents are expressing fears about the potential for severe disruption to their daily lives. Thousands of officers from across the UK are braced for the most testing circumstances they are ever likely to encounter – but we know they have planned for every eventuality.
‘Respecting lawful protesters is entirely proper but people expect the police to take robust action against those who come here with the intent of using violence and inflicting damage.
‘Not only do our police have to contend with huge numbers of climate change protesters, they have the logistical headache of ensuring the safety of world leaders, dignitaries and their entourages.’
The United Nations-led summit is set to be a focal point for protests from the start on Sunday.
Climate change activists said they would be staging further ‘direct action’ protests in the city in a bid to put pressure on politicians to ‘actually listen and step up and take action’.
Catherine Idle of Extinction Rebellion told BBC Scotland: ‘Our approach is to have deliberate disruption where it’s going to make the most impact. We’re not trying to make people’s lives harder or more awkward.
‘The disruption is just to get the attention of people with positions of power.’
Greenpeace has said its members will look to ‘have a big impact and contribute to that sense of pressure world leaders need to feel’.
Even some government ministers have said they plan to join events, with Scottish Green co-leader Lorna Slater saying that ‘protest is meant to be disruptive’.
The Cop26 protests are likely to be on a scale not seen in Glasgow since the demonstrations against the Iraq war in 2003.
At Holyrood, Scottish Tory leader Douglas Ross said: ‘We all respect the right of protesters to express their views, but we cannot sit back and allow deliberate and dangerous disruption of people’s lives.’
Miss Sturgeon said it was for police to decide how to appropriately handle protests, saying she was confident Police Scotland – which will have 10,000 officers on duty every day of the conference – would handle any problems.
She said: ‘The Chief Constable, who I will be having further discussions with over the course of today and tomorrow, has been very clear that there will be a sensitive policing operation that will do everything possible to facilitate appropriate and peaceful protest.
‘But Police Scotland will respond to any protests that seek to break the law or disrupt people beyond what would be considered reasonable.’
The Mail revealed last week that police anticipate up to 300 arrests a day, prompting fears over the pressure on cell space.
Lawyers are threatening a boycott of weekend custody courts in a row over legal aid which could cause chaos in the justice system.
‘Protest is meant to be disruptive’
One policing source said: ‘There is anxiety about what’s going to happen – we’ve never dealt with anything on this scale and it could get messy.’
Another police source said senior officers and ministers were ‘feeling confident’ after months of intense preparation.
Audrey Nicoll, Nationalist MSP and convener of the Holyrood criminal justice committee, wrote to Community Safety Minister Ash Regan about the chaos that could be caused by lawyers boycotting weekend custody courts in Glasgow and Edinburgh during the summit.
She said: ‘The committee requests an urgent joint update from the Scottish Government and the Scottish Legal Aid Board on the steps you will be taking to resolve the current dispute, the impact on Police Scotland, our court service, and those arrested and kept in custody.’
Concern over looming protests came as activists set up a field of ‘climate fire’ – an art installation in George Square, Glasgow. The group symbolically set George Square ‘on fire’ with fake flames, smoke and banners, ‘showcasing the climate emergency, and massive fire extinguishers highlighting actions world leaders should take at the upcoming Cop26 climate negotiations’.
Meanwhile, the Prince of Wales has warned world leaders heading to Cop26 to bury their ‘differences in order to rescue this planet’.
The Prince will give the opening address to Cop26 on Monday.