A Guardian article indicates that activists are concerned about the way police will be deployed during Cop26. My personal experience during Toronto’s G20 summit in 2010 suggests their concerns may be justified. The policing effort, which will see 10,000 personnel drawn from all over the UK descend upon Glasgow, is called Operation Urrem. Urrem is the Scots word for respect.
As I understand it, the concern has to do with differing attitudes towards policing. The Scottish approach tends to be more hands off and conciliatory whereas English policing tends to be more heavy-handed.
Shown above is a photo I shot in George Square where police placed themselves between Scottish Independence marchers and those waving Union Jacks who came to protest the protesters. As you might gather from the photo, the police didn’t really do anything except create a space for both sides to have their say.
I hope the same approach holds for Cop26.
