DAN MCDOUGALL

Key points

• Steel fence to be built around Scottish parliament during G8 summit
• Concerns that the barrier will attract demonstrators
• Fears that such an aggressive measure will discourage peaceful protest

Key quote
"It's vitally important that people can turn up and protest peacefully, but if people are going to use this to forward their own kind of anarchist agenda, then we've got to take every precaution against that." - DAVID CAIRNS, LABOUR

Story in full A STEEL fence will be built around the Scottish Parliament and the Palace of Holyroodhouse ahead of the G8 summit at Gleneagles in an effort to tighten security against protesters.

Police intend to place the barricade, 8ft high in parts, around Holyrood, shielding the parliament complex and the palace from potential troublemakers in the build-up to the July conference.

Opposition MSPs, however, claimed the fence could attract protesters intent on breaching the security cordon.

According to the SNP deputy leader, Nicola Sturgeon, a balance must be struck between security needs and demonstrators' rights. Ms Sturgeon said the move "may be a bit of an over-reaction" and added: "I'm not sure, having just heard this, whether a steel fence is really required. It may in fact just act as a magnet for protesters."

The Tory Mid-Scotland and Fife MSP, Brian Monteith, said politicians should defer to police intelligence, but questioned why the £431 million parliament building was not already sufficiently secure.

He said: "I do rather wonder, after spending all the money on the Scottish Parliament, what we have in the way of a building which needs another fence to defend it. I do share a concern that the fence could itself act as a magnet for a parliament which will not be sitting when the G8 summit will be sitting.

"It only seems to be drawing attention to the parliament, but I think you have to ride with the recommendations of the police."

David Cairns, the Labour election candidate for Inverclyde, said he would not criticise the recommendations of the security forces and police.

He added: "The G8 has got an enormous agenda - it's talking about the future of Africa and global warming, two of the biggest issues facing our planet today.

"It's vitally important that people can turn up and protest peacefully, but if people are going to use this to forward their own kind of anarchist agenda, then we've got to take every precaution against that."

With Britain currently holding the G8 presidency, Tony Blair, the Prime Minister, is to host the US and Russian presidents, George Bush and Vladimir Putin, and the heads of the French, German, Japanese, Italian and Canadian governments at the luxury Gleneagles golf resort hotel in Perthshire between 6 and 8 July.

Mr Blair and the Chancellor, Gordon Brown, have already praised the Make Poverty History campaign, which hopes to attract as many as 200,000 people to the streets of Edinburgh on 2 July to demand "trade justice", debt cancellation and more aid for the world's poorest countries.

• Police were warned that there was a "genuine concern" of an al-Qaeda terrorist attack at Edinburgh's recent Hogmanay celebrations, senior sources said yesterday.

A significant security presence was drafted into the world-renowned street party, despite Lothian and Borders Police saying at the time that there was no security concern. It is believed that police and MI5 agents mingled with revellers.