[g8-sheffield] letters to BBC about Derby protests

[Jason Kirkpatrick]

You all likely know Dissent! organised some protests over the weekend in
Derby, where a G8 prep meeting was. The protests passed off without a big
hitch really, (well, 12 arrests is not nice) judging from the BBC article
below. The BBC on-line seems to be automatically publishing comments below
the many articles they have on their Derby
web-site:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/cgi-bin/search/results.pl?q=g8&uri=%2Fderby%2Ffeatures%2Fother_features%2F

I highly recommend that we all just send a couple of sentences along to be
featured on the BBC site. Below is a letter I wrote in 5 mins, and I also
sent it to the Derby Telegraph (see e-mail addresses below)

Dear Editor,
I must say that I find it a bit shocking that the government thinks it can
justify paying for 1,000 officers to police a non-violent demonstration of
people protesting the G8 meeting in Derby. If the government has so much
money, why don’t they just pay off the African debt they keep talking about?


If Tony Blair cares so much about climate change, why does he have 1,000
police driving polluting vans in from all over to monitor a peaceful bicycle
rally with 30 cyclists? The G8 has now had 30 years to address problems of
poverty and the environment, but these problems have only gotten worse. I
think the problem is obvious, the G8 is just a junket for these wealthy
world leaders, and it’s time for the G8 to go.

Sincerely,
Jason Kirkpatrick

newsdesk at derbytelegraph.co.uk
opinion at derbytelegraph.co.uk

Protesters voice G8
opposition

http://www.bbc.co.uk/derby/content/articles/2005/03/17/derby_g8_summit_protest_feature.shtml

By Gavin Bevis
As ministers from the world's richest nations arrived in Derby for an
environmental summit, protesters from a variety of different causes gathered
in Derby to voice their opposition.

Around 100 people have gathered in Derby for a protest against the G8
conference taking place at Breadsall Priory.
Activists from an array of environmental causes held banners and flags to
send a message to ministers from the world's richest nations taking part in
the summit.
See pictures from the protest using the link on the right.
More than 1,000 police officers from 20 forces around the country were
drafted in to make sure the protest passed peacefully.
The protest started at Derby train station where 30 people rode bikes into
the city centre.
It then moved to Derby's Market Place where various groups erected banners,
played music and staged a mock trial putting Tony Blair, George W. Bush and
global corporations in the dock for crimes against the environment.
See pictures from the protest using the link on the right.
Callie Lister from East Midlands Friends of the Earth said: "We're hoping to
send a message to G8 ministers to stop putting money into oil and instead
concentrate on climate change which is a big problem for all of us.
"In the UK there's a lot of rhetoric on action but the government continues
to build roads and allows airports to expand. We want to see a real
commitment from the G8 to invest money in sustainable energy."
"The police presence seems a little excessive. We're all just here for a
peaceful protest. We've got a right to say how we feel and so far everyone
has been extremely positive."
Mother-of-four Bettina Atkinson travelled from Leicester to voice her
concern at the destruction of the world's rainforests.
She said: "I'd like to see environment ministers take effective action to
prevent illegally logged wood finding its way into the market by using a
Forest Stewardship logo to inidicate the wood's from sustainable sources.
"But the protest is aimed at the public in general because this is an issue
that's important to us all."
At time of writing, police said there had been 12 arrests for public order
offences.


-- 
Jason

"Happy ProMail" bis 24. März: http://www.gmx.net/de/go/promail
Zum 6. Geburtstag gibt's GMX ProMail jetzt 66 Tage kostenlos!