English FIT working in Scotland

We recieved this report about FIT presence at the recent EDL and counter demonstrations in Edinburgh.

Just a wee update about the general FIT presence in Scotland.

Last Saturday seen the largest FIT presence on the streets of Edinburgh since the G8. Ian Skivins, Mark Scully and Paul Mathers from London, one photographer from Manchester
(see pics), and loads from Edinburgh and Glasgow were all spotted.

The sight of Glasgow FIT is new as previously Strathclyde Police have steered away from met style policing. During the G8 in scotland the officer in charge of policing the Faslane demo deliberately kept the Met's FIT in the canteen so that they wouldn't " wind people up" (his own words). The Glasgow FIT have a darker shade of blue on their jackets and so are quite recognisable.

Many of the Edinburgh FIT are familiar faces to many activists in Edinburgh and were used extensively during Novembers anti-NATO demo's, including following people into several cafes and pubs and hassling the staff into making them leave, and following people around the city, in some cases for hours. Also, interestingly, Ian Casswell visited Mainshill during the eviction in plain black clothing. Shame for him his bearded mug is instantly recognisable and his attempts at sparking up conversation were met with abuse.

The Manchester cop shown above (1407) appears to be a fairly recent addition to the team of 'national' FIT that keep appearing in demos up and down the country. As well as showing up in Edinburgh, he was spotted in Brighton last month. We'd love to know a little more about him. If anyone has had any previous involvement with him, or if anyone has just seen him hanging around, please contact defycops@yahoo.co.uk