Newport prepares for Nato Summit

NEWPORT is braced for protests and traffic disruption today (THURS) as the Nato Summit begins.

Rolling road closures will affect the route of a march planned from Chepstow Road to the Coldra, where protesters escorted by police will deliver a letter to delegates at the fence of the Celtic Manor.

Gwent Police Chief Superintendent Alun Thomas warned drivers to avoid the M4 mid morning today and on Friday, as well as during rush hour, and said yesterday that residents could expect to see “movement in the air” as police carried out flight exercises in preparation.

Chief Supt Thomas said protester numbers so far had been “relatively low”- in the main fewer than 1,000 - and that he anticipated that number would remain broadly the same today. Campaigners estimated their number as higher, with some giving 2,500 as a more accurate figure for last Saturday’s march.

After meeting at the Cenotaph in Clarence Place at noon today, protesters plan to march across the Old Town Bridge, taking in Clarence Place, Caerleon Road and Corporation Road before ending near the Celtic Manor.

Pippa Bartolotti, leader of Wales Green Party, wrote on Facebook: “A delegation will be escorted by police to the fence line of the Celtic Manor Resort, where a written message will be delivered to a Government delegate.

“The delegation will re-join the main group of protesters where it is appreciated that the delegation will address the protesters although this should be for an agreed period of time not exceeding 15 minutes.

“The delegation party will consist of 12 people and they will be escorted to secure locations."

Chief Supt Thomas said yesterday: “Protesters in the main have been very helpful in engaging with us, which is what we want.

“However if people want to engage in unlawful activity, clearly we have a numbers of officers with us and we will react robustly to ensure that lawful protesters can carry on with their protest but also that other people in Newport or Cardiff can continue their lawful business as well.”

With 9,500 police officers drawn from 43 UK police forces expected to patrol the summit, there could be nine officers for every protester.

Chief Supt Thomas said: “We have the right number of officers and we’re very confident about that. We need to protect infrastructure throughout the whole region and that’s one of the reasons why we’ve got those numbers of officers. The officers are not purely there to deal with the planned protests.”

Policing levels in Newport city centre today should be “very much the same” as they had been in the days leading up to it, he said.

An upgrade in the terrorist threat in the UK from “substantial” to “severe” would not affect the policing operation, he said: “We’ve always planned this summit at a high level and therefore there’s no requirement for us to change any of the planning we have done.”

Ukrainian citizens plan to join the protest in national dress to keep the spotlight on "Russian aggression against Ukraine".

Terry Brown, who will be taking part, said: “The demonstration coincides with the Nato summit to highlight the risks to the European Union and Nato members.”

The Ukrainian and British protesters people taking part will wear blue and yellow, the colours of the Ukrainian flag.

From 11am until 7pm tomorrow protesters will be at Westgate Square in the city centre. Some will leave to join the march on the Celtic Manor during the afternoon.

Newport Bus routes, which are on a Saturday service, will be affected from 11am in the city. It is unknown when services will return to normal as disruption may be caused if protesters return to the city centre by the same route.

Around 100 protesters from around the world have continued to gather at a No Nato peace camp in Tredegar Park.

Protesters from places such as Spain, Belgium, Germany and Holland, held workshops including ‘Know Your Rights’ and ‘Use Of Drones In Gaza’ yesterday and welcomed the public to visit, with some local schools in the area planning to bring groups of students to learn about the camp.

One protester had travelled from Glasgow with his son as part of his campaign for Scottish independence and to protest against a variety of issues including racism, sexism and fascism.

Another protester at the camp, Dr Rowland Dye, had come from Bristol said he was there to protest against the use of nuclear weapons.

He said that the amount of money spent on security for the summit could be spent on something more useful.

“We’re not here to cause trouble for local people,” he added.

“We respect the park and want to say thank you to the people of Newport.”

Colin Calder, from Swansea, said he was protesting about children being killed in war, climate change, waste and the vast amounts of money being spent of the summit.

But others welcomed the summit.

Pub owners in Caerleon have reported a boom in business with groups of up to 30 officers popping in for a few drinks of an evening.

Police officers from all over the country have been staying on Caerleon campus at the University of South Wales.

Luke Ford, manager of the Goldcroft, in the High Street in Caerleon, said: “We have had a 300 per cent increase in business. Nato’s been brilliant.”

Inspector Richard Evans, who has moved from his beat in Westminster to Caerleon for the summit, said: “We are integrating with the community and being informative, providing information to the public. It’s a fantastic town.

“It’s a pleasure to walk around here and people are so pleasant. "

But some were concerned protests could turn disruptive and boarded up their businesses ahead of the protest march.

Paul L Williams Solicitors and the Adorn Hair Salon in Chepstow Road, Newport, decided to board up their shop fronts against potential vandalism yesterday.

Paul Williams, 48, told the Argus: "We've got to take precautions. I have the confidentiality of clients to protect. Looking at the rioting in Chicago, it can turn nasty. It’s best to be prepared.”

Adorn Hair Studio will be shut tomorrow and open on Monday instead. The salon understands their insurance policy may not cover potential vandalism because the march is a pre-planned event.

Hairdresser Charlotte Jaques, 41, said: "It is not worth putting myself at risk.”

The Secretary of State for Wales Stephen Crabb MP visited two Newport schools yesterday ahead of the summit.

First was St Woolos Primary School where the children sang their annual Peace Song and two pupils presented Mr Crabb with a commemorative rugby shirt honouring 50 years since Newport beat the All Blacks in rugby.

Year Six pupils asked questions such as "Who inspired you?", "Are you close to any royals except David Cameron?" and "How much do you get paid?"

Head teacher Heather Vaughan said: "It’s great for our children to see a positive side to what’s happening around the Nato summit and that there’s a real purpose to it. It’s an honour."

Then it was on to Lliswerry High School. After a tour of the music and drama facilities it was on to the library where Year 11 grilled Mr Crabb with complex questions about Nato's role in conflict and moral questions about bringing democracy to countries like Iraq.

Speaking about the importance of the summit to both Wales and Newport, Mr Crabb said he was helping to organise a conference in a month or two to bring investment to the country.

Both schools were presented with commemorative Nato coins made at the Royal Mint in Llantrisant.

Meanwhile, the mayor of Newport said yesterday he would not be welcoming Barack Obama or David Cameron to the Nato summit - with the council deleting tweets he wrote describing his disappointment.

Cllr Matthew Evans said: “I can confirm that I will not have a role in welcoming delegates to the host city, or to any of the schools they might visit.”

After he took to the mayor’s official Twitter feed to tell people, his tweets later disappeared from the timeline.

Cllr Evans said: “My tweets have been removed by the council. They just told me there were removing it because it’s not the council’s position. The account is owned by the council.”

But he said: “I only stated the facts. I think they are upset about the retweets. I thought the whole point of engaging with people is they are entitled to express their opinions.”

A spokeswoman for Newport City Council said “The party greeting world leaders at the Celtic Manor Resort on Thursday and the dignitaries attending the school visits were all invited by No. 10 Downing Street. The council had no involvement whatsoever in who should be invited as they are not civic functions. However, the Mayor has been invited and will be attending a reception at the Celtic Manor Resort hosted by HRH Prince Charles on Thursday evening, as is customary with Royal visits.

“The personal tweets from Councillor Evans were removed because it was inappropriate for the mayor’s council twitter account to be used in this way. The account should not be used to express personal opinions either about Nato visits or any other matters.”

Conservative councillor David Fouweather, leader of the opposition, said: “The mayor is the first citizen – he is our representative. It’s a pretty poor show, really. He should be there to greet Mr Cameron and Mr Obama.”

He criticised the decision to delete the tweets as an attempt to “stifle debate”