Oh dear. It appears that the Edinburgh Chapter of the Peoples Golfing Association, formed in 2005 ahead of the G8 Gleneagles Summit, has got the band back together at the Climate Camp, and played a round just a tad too close to the buildings of the Headquarters of the Royal Bank of Scotland :-

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-edinburgh-east-fife-11054166

“22 August 2010 : Climate change protesters arrested at RBS office : Two women have been arrested after climate change protesters attacked the Royal Bank of Scotland’s (RBS) Edinburgh headquarters on Sunday. More than 100 protesters took part in the action, which also involved an oil-like substance being thrown at the building and windows being smashed. The protest comes in response to RBS’s investment in oil industry developments around the world…Shaun Caulfield, who took part in the attempted raid, said: “RBS is one of the biggest climate criminals in the UK. People are angry that bankers are ploughing the billions that they got in the bail out into incredibly destructive fossil fuel projects around the world.” Golf balls were also apparently thrown at the building, the Press Association reported…”

I wouldn’t call it an “attack”. It was more like a good walk spoiled.

And as for “attempted raid”…well…there are plenty enough doors to sneak through, nobody needs to break anything to get inside. They probably didn’t.

Who chipped the first ball into the panes of expensive coated glass, eh ? Lady golfers or police chappies ?

http://news.stv.tv/scotland/east-central/193315-hundreds-gather-for-rbs-climate-camp-protest/

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/blog/2010/aug/23/climate-camp-day-action-edinburgh

Shock ! Horror ! Major Climate Change Scientist spotted at Climate Camp…ah, but which one… ? How to distinguish one dressed-down, unwashed individual with dishevelled locks from any another ?

Any sign of Climate Change sceptic-denier Andrew Montford, as affectionately known as “Bishop Hill” ? Can’t make him out, but he might have responded to the banner appeal to “Come On Over for Lunch”. You never know. That might be him chopping potatoes, right in the thick of it.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2009/aug/18/met-police-climate-camp-twitter

“Met police turns on charm ahead of climate protest : Climate Camp will be first big test of policing since G20 : Metropolitan police to disseminate information via Twitter : Paul Lewis : guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 18 August 2009 : Scotland Yard is overhauling its tactics for policing protests by reaching out to activists in advance of its first big test since the controversy surrounding the handling of the G20 demonstrations. Senior officers have told representatives from Climate Camp, who are planning to construct a huge campsite next week at an undisclosed location in London, that they will be met with a “community-style” policing operation that will limit the use of surveillance units and stop-and-searches wherever possible. In a further effort to disseminate real-time information, the Metropolitan police has activated an account on Twitter, named CO11MetPolice after its public order unit codename, which will be used to send operational information to protesters taking part in the camp…”

http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2009/aug/22/women-police-officers-climate-camp

“A force to be reckoned with : The Metropolitan police have announced a new strategy for next week’s Climate Camp – putting women officers in charge of the operation. Will this avoid the violence seen at the G20 protests? : Jon Henley : The Guardian, Saturday 22 August 2009 : ‘Women are less likely to resort to batons, pepper spray or quick cuffs to get out of trouble, and more likely to use negotiation to talk someone down,’ says Professor Jennifer Brown. : The last team Inspector Liz Owsley of the Metropolitan police worked on, not so long ago, happened to have just one woman. All the rest were young male PCs. There was a moment, she relates, when a bit of a situation was starting to kick off with a bunch of yobs in a courtyard. A constable was getting overly verbal with one of the lads, trading insults: a real slanging match. “So the woman officer just turned to him and said, quite gently, ‘You’re not helping,’” Owsley recalls. “It was only a small thing, tiny really, but it was classic. Women police will always want to resolve a situation with the least possible upset. Their question is always, can we do this without confrontation? Is it possible without conflict? There just isn’t that same kind of macho aggressiveness you can get from the men. We’re better communicators.” After the public outrage and official brickbats heaped on the Met’s handling of G20 protests in London in April, during which a newspaper vendor, Ian Tomlinson, died after being hit by a police officer, news this week that both senior officers controlling tactics at next week’s Climate Camp will be women has been broadly welcomed as evidence that the force may be trying to adopt a less confrontational approach to policing demonstrations…”

Message to you, Rudy
by The Specials

Stop your messin’ around
Better think of your future
Time you straightened right out
Creatin’ problems in town
Rudy a message to you
Rudy a message to you
Stop your foolin’ around
Time you straightened right out
Better think of your future
Or else you’ll wind up in jail
Rudy a message to you
Rudy a message to you