Jitters on the Lang Toon ahead of G8

GLENEAGLES – The good people of Auchterarder never asked to host a summit of the world’s most powerful leaders, but they are doing their level best to put up with it.

This week the well-heeled town of 4 000 that adjoins the famous Gleneagles golf resort will be the centre of global attention when the Group of Eight holds its annual conclave over three days from today. Dozens of police, many brought up from England for the week, pounded the Lang Toon (main street) on foot or horseback yesterday, past shop windows covered with plywood with ironic ‘Welcome to Auchterarder’ signs stapled onto them.Overhead, dark Chinook military helicopters shared the bright skies with a white airship reportedly fitted with infrared scanners, looking for anyone trying to breach the eight kilometre fence that rings Gleneagles.What has everybody in jitters is the risk of violence during an anti-G8 march planned for today that will see up to 5 000 protesters go to within shouting distance of Gleneagles’ main gates.”A big damp squib.That’s what we want,” hoped Diane Lockhart at the door of the Salon 20-20 hairdressing parlour, taking in the passing parade of police and international news media waiting for the summit to begin.Tayside Police chief constable John Vine tried to be reassuring, even as more than 10 000 officers fanned out over Scotland for the biggest security operation of its kind ever seen in Britain.”We will deal robustly with any people who want to break the law.Let’s make that very clear,” Vine, whose jurisdiction takes in Gleneagles and Auchterarder, told reporters.Protests aside, one of the summit’s core issues – battling poverty in Africa – has clearly struck a chord in Auchterarder, with many shops sporting ‘Make Trade History’ signs.A Global Village Cafe is up and running for the week – “proceeds to wind-powered pumps for Africa” – while the Glendevon pub is laying on a Make Poverty History buffet.”We’ve all got our opinions,” said the pub’s owner Kevin Grigsby, who nevertheless isn’t boarding up his windows because “it looks too tacky”.Auchterarder can take comfort in the fact that, amidst McCallum’s butcher shop, the Bear Necessities charity shop and the Golf Inn pub, there is not one McDonald’s or Starbucks outlet on the Lang Toon to lure the attention – or brickbats – of an anti-capitalist troublemaker.- Nampa-AFPDozens of police, many brought up from England for the week, pounded the Lang Toon (main street) on foot or horseback yesterday, past shop windows covered with plywood with ironic ‘Welcome to Auchterarder’ signs stapled onto them.Overhead, dark Chinook military helicopters shared the bright skies with a white airship reportedly fitted with infrared scanners, looking for anyone trying to breach the eight kilometre fence that rings Gleneagles.What has everybody in jitters is the risk of violence during an anti-G8 march planned for today that will see up to 5 000 protesters go to within shouting distance of Gleneagles’ main gates.”A big damp squib.That’s what we want,” hoped Diane Lockhart at the door of the Salon 20-20 hairdressing parlour, taking in the passing parade of police and international news media waiting for the summit to begin.Tayside Police chief constable John Vine tried to be reassuring, even as more than 10 000 officers fanned out over Scotland for the biggest security operation of its kind ever seen in Britain.”We will deal robustly with any people who want to break the law.Let’s make that very clear,” Vine, whose jurisdiction takes in Gleneagles and Auchterarder, told reporters.Protests aside, one of the summit’s core issues – battling poverty in Africa – has clearly struck a chord in Auchterarder, with many shops sporting ‘Make Trade History’ signs.A Global Village Cafe is up and running for the week – “proceeds to wind-powered pumps for Africa” – while the Glendevon pub is laying on a Make Poverty History buffet.”We’ve all got our opinions,” said the pub’s owner Kevin Grigsby, who nevertheless isn’t boarding up his windows because “it looks too tacky”.Auchterarder can take comfort in the fact that, amidst McCallum’s butcher shop, the Bear Necessities charity shop and the Golf Inn pub, there is not one McDonald’s or Starbucks outlet on the Lang Toon to lure the attention – or brickbats – of an anti-capitalist troublemaker.- Nampa-AFP