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Terrorist Bombings in London at the time of the G8 in Perthshire
Terror overshadows McConnell's grand plans and Perth and Kinross Councils too.
Jack McConnell admitted yesterday that his plan to use the G8 summit to promote Scotland had been overshadowed by the terrorist atrocities in London.
The First Minister stressed his main concern was for the victims of the London bombings and their families but also expressed his anger that the attacks had drawn attention away from the Gleneagles gathering.
Mr McConnell had spent months building up the summit as an opportunity to promote Scotland on a world stage, but said his dream of advertising the country to the world through international media attention had been undermined. He said'
'There is no doubt that the international coverage of the bombings in London will have reduced the amount of time these fantastic images of Scotland have been on the TV screens,'
But he insisted the world leaders and the estimated 4000 officials and journalists who followed them to Scotland would leave with a positive image of the country.
'Our objective was always to influence those coming here and for them to leave with an image of modern Scotland,' said Mr McConnell, 'The endorsements we have received from leaders have been great. We had Bush saying this was one of the most fantastic places he had visited. Those who have come here are leaving with an outstanding impression of our country.
'But what was my priority before the summit has not been my priority for the past 24 hours.'
The cost of policing ahead of the summit was expected to be upwards of £100 million, depending on how badly hit it was by riots.
Despite the violence in Edinburgh last Monday and rioting in Bannockburn and around Auchterarder on Wednesday, the level of disruption was relatively low, with less damage done to property than had been expected.
Mr McConnell yesterday suggested the costs were expected to be between £50 million and £70 million, although no official figures will be known for some time.
The terrorist attacks on London took much of the heat out of the protests with expected trouble on Thursday failing to materialise.
But the main TV coverage of the summit beamed around the world before the London attacks, focused on riots rather than sending a positive image of Scotland.
Daily Mail Saturday July 9 2005
Business Perthshire Comment...
Mr McConnell moaning that the London terrorist attacks had stolen his thunder and not allowed him to promote 'modern Scotland'. He needs to get off his backside and get around Scotland and see just how un-modern parts of Scotland are.
