Pinstriped G20 protestors rally on the beach
on 07/11/2009 13:18:46
Protesters in pinstripes rallied on the beach today, urging the world's leading finance ministers not to "bury their heads in the sand".
More than 200 demonstrators gathered on the shore at St Andrews, where Chancellor Alistair Darling was hosting a meeting of the G20 finance ministers and bank governors.
One group of about 20 protesters held up red cardboard briefcases with their heads symbolically buried.
Spokeswoman Lexi Barnett, who helped organise the Put People First rally, said: "We are sending a clear message to the G20 that they can't put their heads in the sand any more - the time for talking has passed.
"They need to find ways where profit is no longer put before people."
Demonstrators converged on the ancient university town from around Scotland and countries as far away as Uganda.
Buses arrived through the day from Glasgow, Edinburgh and Dundee.
Unions, faith groups and political activists were among those on the beach, made famous by the film 'Chariots of Fire'.
After the beach stunt, protesters marched in a column through the town to the university where talks and workshops had been organised.
Dressed in a blue pinstripe suit, John Elliot, 75, from Duns, in the Borders, said he wanted to promote environmental welfare.
A member of the RSPB, he said: "The world's financial system is contributing to the destruction of birds' habitats, and so will eventually destroy ours."
Ian Galloway, convenor of the Church of Scotland's Church and Society Council, addressed the crowd, saying: "The last words that we need to hear today from the G20 are business as usual."
But many locals seemed bemused by the spectacle and few knew what the G20 meeting was seeking to address.
Donna Denyer, who lives near St Andrews, conceded that she did not vote.
She added: "To be honest they are just a bunch of kids, they just like the arguments when you watch them in the House of Commons.
"I don't think any of this will make any difference. It's just a distraction really."