So Obama is in town (NATO Conference Newport)
Discussion
covmutley said:
I've never seen anything like it. Police on every other motorway bridge from Cardiff to Bristol, police on very arm of the main roundabouts, huge numbers of police vehicles everywhere, squads of motorcycle outriders doing test runs. It feels the the whole place is one big fortress. The next few days are going to be interesting.
Can't wait for them all to p
s off TBH, Cardiff is starting to look like some dystopian police state right now.covmutley said:
I've never seen anything like it. Police on every other motorway bridge from Cardiff to Bristol, police on very arm of the main roundabouts, huge numbers of police vehicles everywhere, squads of motorcycle outriders doing test runs. It feels the the whole place is one big fortress. The next few days are going to be interesting.
Just talking to my mate in Chepstow on the phone and he says exactly this. Described it as bonkers and slightly terrifying. The Hypno-Toad said:
covmutley said:
I've never seen anything like it. Police on every other motorway bridge from Cardiff to Bristol, police on very arm of the main roundabouts, huge numbers of police vehicles everywhere, squads of motorcycle outriders doing test runs. It feels the the whole place is one big fortress. The next few days are going to be interesting.
Just talking to my mate in Chepstow on the phone and he says exactly this. Described it as bonkers and slightly terrifying. Last night on the way home from Mountain Biking there were no less than 20 Police armed with Assault rifles guarding the flowers on Tredegar Roundabout - it's not even Daff season!
I'm staying away from the City until it's over, I don't want to be asked for my 'papers' and will probably make a massive disproportional fuss if they ask to search me - in my head I know, guns or not British Police are by and large decent people and they'll be friendly and respectful, but this week especially it's clear they're not here for the sake of the general public, they're very much here to keep us all in line whilst our 'betters' swan about and my heart tells me we're under siege and they're taking the piss now.
Is there ever been a good paramilitary take-over of a large urban area?
Lots of activity at Fairford that last few days ... the Ospreys came in, followed by a couple of Hercs.
Then lots of Galaxy's, a couple of which were carrying the presidential helicopters.
AF1 is due in today / tomorrow, you can't get near the usual plane spotting places tho
All the jets for the fly by at at Brize too.
Then lots of Galaxy's, a couple of which were carrying the presidential helicopters.
AF1 is due in today / tomorrow, you can't get near the usual plane spotting places tho
All the jets for the fly by at at Brize too.
I own a business in Cardiff City Center,and I am with loads of other business owners, closing Thurs and Fri.
Cardiff,is under a state of Lock down, I have an official letter to state so.
We have had a 12 mile fence from Cardiff to Newport at apparently a cost of 50 million pounds alone, this has been up for nearly three weeks.
9500 police, from all over the country, horsed, riot type vans, helicopters, and war ships.
From Wednesday night all roads, car parks,bus services are closed.
There are x ray machines in the streets,that everyone has to walk through, everyone is liable to be searched.
Also,everyone living and working in Cardiff, is liable to ''total lock down'' where apparently the movement of people will be stopped,i.e not allowed to leave offices or homes, at any given time or for any length of time.
The NATO summit is not even in Cardiff,this is because Obama is coming for tea on Thursday night.
They tell us that this is good for Wales, it will put us on the map, and good for business..
Cardiff, for the last week is like a ghost town.
I just wonder, do this massive amount of waste of money, and disruption follow these people, and are they oblivious to the disruption, it causes.
As someone said, why not park an Aircraft carrier up,and have their meeting on that, with minimal cost and disruption..
fking ttting bellends..
Cardiff,is under a state of Lock down, I have an official letter to state so.
We have had a 12 mile fence from Cardiff to Newport at apparently a cost of 50 million pounds alone, this has been up for nearly three weeks.
9500 police, from all over the country, horsed, riot type vans, helicopters, and war ships.
From Wednesday night all roads, car parks,bus services are closed.
There are x ray machines in the streets,that everyone has to walk through, everyone is liable to be searched.
Also,everyone living and working in Cardiff, is liable to ''total lock down'' where apparently the movement of people will be stopped,i.e not allowed to leave offices or homes, at any given time or for any length of time.
The NATO summit is not even in Cardiff,this is because Obama is coming for tea on Thursday night.
They tell us that this is good for Wales, it will put us on the map, and good for business..
Cardiff, for the last week is like a ghost town.
I just wonder, do this massive amount of waste of money, and disruption follow these people, and are they oblivious to the disruption, it causes.
As someone said, why not park an Aircraft carrier up,and have their meeting on that, with minimal cost and disruption..
f
king ttting bellends..P-Jay said:
edgyedgy said:
is this why the terror threat level was raised?
Perhaps I'm a cynic but I suspect it was raised to allow the authorities to do something or other they couldn't under normal circumstances rather than in response to any specific threat. Dog Star said:
It really is bonkers - I'll ask the same question that others have asked - why can't this be held on a US aircraft carrier in the ocean? Simple to secure. Nobody need know where it is.
Makes no sense on any level.
I wonder who the owner of the Celtic Manor knows?Makes no sense on any level.
One thing for certain, that head of the Welsh Assembly will get his mug in some shots and say how good he is.
Is there more to this than just a meeting? A training exercise for NATO military for example. When else do they get to do all this for real?
Was there this much fuss over the last meeting wherever it was? And who decides where to meet next? Is it like the Olympics do countries bid for it and try and out do each other?
Was there this much fuss over the last meeting wherever it was? And who decides where to meet next? Is it like the Olympics do countries bid for it and try and out do each other?
Had to drive to Bristol Airport and back this morning from Bridgend. Around 5 police officers on every single bridge I passed, insane.
I live in the Rhondda and spend a lot of my time in Bridgend and pretty much every Travelodge etc is overrun with officers in the whole area, so a little exaggerated to claim they are staying in the Celtic Manor at great expense. I guess it's good for all the local Hotels & B&B's to have full rooms for the duration, although it's being paid for with taxpayers money.
I live in the Rhondda and spend a lot of my time in Bridgend and pretty much every Travelodge etc is overrun with officers in the whole area, so a little exaggerated to claim they are staying in the Celtic Manor at great expense. I guess it's good for all the local Hotels & B&B's to have full rooms for the duration, although it's being paid for with taxpayers money.
BoRED S2upid said:
Is there more to this than just a meeting? A training exercise for NATO military for example. When else do they get to do all this for real?
Was there this much fuss over the last meeting wherever it was? And who decides where to meet next? Is it like the Olympics do countries bid for it and try and out do each other?
It's just a meeting, it's the biggest one ever, by whatever yardstick they use to measure NATO meetings - a lot of the stuff going on at the moment are training exorcizes, but they're only training for tomorrow and Friday - there's not really any comparable event, well until the next one - no doubt claims of lessons being learnt will abound.Was there this much fuss over the last meeting wherever it was? And who decides where to meet next? Is it like the Olympics do countries bid for it and try and out do each other?
DaiBakes said:
Had to drive to Bristol Airport and back this morning from Bridgend. Around 5 police officers on every single bridge I passed, insane.
I live in the Rhondda and spend a lot of my time in Bridgend and pretty much every Travelodge etc is overrun with officers in the whole area, so a little exaggerated to claim they are staying in the Celtic Manor at great expense. I guess it's good for all the local Hotels & B&B's to have full rooms for the duration, although it's being paid for with taxpayers money.
The whole Celtic Manor suites for the Police thing is a red herring - truth is that the Celtic Manor is closed to the public for the duration - it has 450 rooms or more and there are 60ish delegates - not housing staff in the remaining 400 rooms would be a waste of money - and I suspect the pricing for the event isn't exactly on a room by room basis. I live in the Rhondda and spend a lot of my time in Bridgend and pretty much every Travelodge etc is overrun with officers in the whole area, so a little exaggerated to claim they are staying in the Celtic Manor at great expense. I guess it's good for all the local Hotels & B&B's to have full rooms for the duration, although it's being paid for with taxpayers money.
jmorgan said:
One thing for certain, that head of the Welsh Assembly will get his mug in some shots and say how good he is.
Of course.https://twitter.com/fmwales/status/507080555071279...
Symbolica said:
jmorgan said:
One thing for certain, that head of the Welsh Assembly will get his mug in some shots and say how good he is.
Of course.https://twitter.com/fmwales/status/507080555071279...
covmutley said:
I've never seen anything like it. Police on every other motorway bridge from Cardiff to Bristol, police on very arm of the main roundabouts, huge numbers of police vehicles everywhere, squads of motorcycle outriders doing test runs. It feels the the whole place is one big fortress. The next few days are going to be interesting.
If anyone on here thinks this guy is exaggerating then I can confirm he isn't. South Wales at the moment is a bizarre place to be. Driving the M4 from Cardiff to Bristol today, I must have seen a few hundred coppers. Standing on bridges in groups of 10, on their motorbikes in groups of 8, riot vans in groups of 4, they were everywhere. Feels like being in one of the scifi films where the state is controlling us oppressed masses, like V for Vendetta.Gassing Station | News, Politics & Economics | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff