MICHAEL BLACKLEY

MAY Day protests passed off with only a handful of arrests yesterday as anti-capitalist groups admitted they were saving their efforts for the G8 summit in Scotland this summer.

Only 1,200 demonstrators turned up for a London march which in previous years has seen widespread violence. But organisers said it would be a different matter when world leaders converged on Gleneagles.

Guy Taylor, a spokesman for Globalise Resistance, told The Scotsman: "There was a much smaller number of protesters than in previous years but a lot of people are concentrating on Scotland in July so they've put less effort into today.

"July's protests are going to be massive. The Make Poverty History march will be the biggest demonstration Scotland has ever seen."

Four full days of protest are already planned in the lead-up to 6 July, when world leaders including George Bush, Gerhard Schröder and Jacques Chirac arrive at Gleneagles Hotel.

The "poverty" march, which is expected to attract more than 100,000 people, will take place in Edinburgh on Saturday 2 July, with the Alternatives Summit the following day in the capital's Usher Hall. A blockade at Faslane nuclear base and a protest at Dungavel detention centre are also planned in the two days before the summit.

Mr Taylor said: "The aim for the protest is for a good, happy atmosphere but that depends on the police. If the protest is massive there is no need to break the law to make a point. But we are concerned at some of the training the police have been getting. The only organisation involved in the protest capable of starting a fight is the police, because of their sheer numbers. But we certainly don't want that to happen."

In 2000, hundreds ran amok after London's May Day march, causing millions of pounds worth of damage. Yesterday's demonstration was much quieter, with only 11 arrests.

At the conclusion of the march, in Trafalgar Square, there was a festival and concert featuring the former Libertines frontman Pete Doherty.

David Long, of the environmental group London Rising Tide, said its members were not participating in the May Day march because it had become too predictable. "Once people expect things, it's much better to move on and try something else," he said. "Once the media and authorities think they are able to second-guess the protesters, people will try to stay ahead of the game.

"We will be going to Scotland in July, though, and there are some big protests organised for there, and for the world, for the Day of Action on 8 July."

At midnight last night, "beacons of dissent" were due to be lit in Edinburgh, Glasgow, Stirling and Aberdeen, as well as throughout the world, to launch the campaign of resistance against the leaders of the G8 countries.

Morag Shaw, an Edinburgh activist in the Dissent network, said: "By lighting these beacons we demonstrate that though our approaches may differ, our enemy is the same - the abuse and injustice embodied in the eight men who plan to meet at Gleneagles. Our cause is the same - a new world of justice and freedom where all can participate in building."