Great
demo, marred by cops protecting the fascists.
"Fantastic
Refugees Are Welcome Here Demo. 1000 people from many countries and
all walks of life, a dozen union banners, all the churches there and
great delegations from Birmingham, Sheffield and Manchester!
Disgrace
that the police threatened to use Public Order Act to disperse our
Rally prematurely on the grounds of public safety and then sneakily
marched 20 sdl/bnp into George Sq for 15 mins.
There
will be an official complaint about their decision to facilitate
these racists /fascists walking through the city when they should
have been removed immediately.
A
brilliant day and big thanks to all who came and marched.
This
is just the start!"
Comment
from SACC
The presence on the demo of
many asylum-seekers potentially vulnerable to police harassment was
no doubt in the minds of the march organisers when they decided not
to resist the police threat. Without that factor, we would have been
entirely within our rights to call the police bluff and see if they
were really willing to arrest peaceful demonstrators, MSPs and trade
union leaders.
The behaviour of the police
was scandalous. We all need to consider whether "business as
usual" can continue with Strathclyde police under these
circumstances.
SACC is one of the
organisations that gave its official support to the "Refugees
Welcome Here" demo. We will give the firmest
possible support to any complaint made to Strathclyde Police
over these events.
