1 July 2005: missing Edinburgh

It's strange to be missing the G8 protests altogether. Having organised workshops at the last two European Social Forums, in Paris and London, and having attended and written about the anti-G8 protests at Genoa in 2001: well, I'd rather assumed I'd be in Edinburgh this week. Sadly, life intruded, in the form of six week-old Sam.

Will the protests change anything? The sceptic in me thinks of the nauseous ways in which the anti-poverty campaign has been repackaged as another of Blair's personal crusades. In the Guardian, activists from Dissent! have called this The first embedded protest. From South Africa, Patrick Bond, Denis Brutus and Virginia Setshedi have been wondering about the symbolism of dressing the marchers in white; for surrender?

Yes, you could fit an aircraft hanger inside Bob Geldof's ego. And yes, by announcing the dates for his own Live 8 march, he pulled a fast one on the previous patient organising of G8 Alternatives and Make Poverty History.

But two thoughts keep me optimistic. First, it's always easier to manage even tens of thousands of people at a concert, than it is to control a demonstration of similar numbers through the streets.

Second, Tuesday's smaller march to close down Scotland's purpose-built prison for refugee children could be the largest demonstration Britain has seen against the anti-asylum laws. There is an excellent statement on the campaign website: 'We will not ignore our fellow human beings being locked up in Dungavel.'