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The Newsletter is a summary of the last months blockades at Faslane.
Dear Friends of Faslane 365,
This is the final Faslane 365 newsletter, covering September 2007 and the 1st of October Big Blockade and with some ideas about staying in touch and moving forward, keeping the pressure on Faslane. Faslane 365 has been an amazing experience for us in the Steering Group and we hope also for all you who made it happen. Thank you all. We believe we have kept the pressure up and moved the issue forward a bit, although more needs doing of course!
September kicked off with the last of the Quaker blockades of which there were at least six during F365, in addition to the large Quaker contingent which came along to welcome and support the Japanese. This time a group moved into the road, briefly disrupting the business of deploying Trident with a banner that said "Quakers are disarming". You can view a photo. Four sat down and were arrested.
Refusing to be intimidated by the legal attempts to limit dissent, a group of activists calling themselves the Serious Organized Crime Investigation and Prevention Team cycled, cut and climbed into Faslane early in the morning of the 4th September 2007. Read the statement that the SOCRAP Team had on them as they entered Faslane and Coulport.
Lavinia Crossley, Tansy Newman Turner and Emma Bateman were charged under the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act, which is increasingly being used to prevent peaceful protests at sensitive sites, including Britain's nuclear bases. Joan Meredith, who was 78 the next week, and Irene Willis entered Coulport shortly after midnight and were only arrested at 2.30am when they approached police on the main gate from the inside. They were arrested for breach of the Faslane, Coulport and Rhu Narrows Byelaws and released. Janet Fenton, Angie Zelter and Wolf Konowski cycled in through the oil depot gate and were charged with Breach of the Peace. Tansy, Lavinia and Emma's case will be the first challenge to SOCPA in Scotland and the trial is scheduled for Feb 20th at Dumbarton Sheriff Court.
In one of the most memorable actions of the year four cyclists rolled up at the gates and stripped bare. They wielded placards which read "Trident is Naked Aggression" and "Nudes Against Nukes". See photos of their barecheeked action.
Bruce Gagnon and Dave Webb of the Global Network Against Weapons & Nuclear Power in Space spoke about the Prague Conference in May where delegates from 9 European countries came together to formulate strategies and joint campaigns to oppose US plans for National Missile Defence. The system will use radars to detect incoming missiles, and interceptor missiles to shoot them down. While the US portrays this as a defensive system, in reality it will allow the US to launch attacks on other countries without fear of retaliation. It is already adding to global instability and tension with Russia and leading to a new nuclear arms race. And it may well lead to a new Cold War. Bruce and Dave were quickly arrested when they blocked the road. Global Network will hold its 16th Annual Space Organizing Conference and Protest outside StratCom in Nebraska, April 11-13, 2008. U.S. Strategic Command (StratCom) for years has been the site from which a nuclear war would be controlled. Since 9/11, its mission has expanded to become command central in the U.S.'s "War on Terror" and for the U.S. plans to dominate space militarily. StratCom has already drawn up the war plans for a space-directed assault on Iran's nuclear facilities. See Global Network website for a mass of important information on US plans to weaponize space as part of its overall quest for full spectrum dominance.
A group of Scottish Lawyers delivered a letter to the Commodore of Faslane Naval Base, questioning the legality of nuclear weapons under international law. Read the full text of their letter.
These two groups supported each other on a Sunday, walking from the Peace Camp to the North Gate where there was a Barbecue, and Palestinian dancing round the roundabout. There were no arrests.
There was a women's only action in the final week of Faslane 365,rounding out the year which had begun with a Greenham and Aldermaston Women's action.
In the last week there were several last minute additions to the rota. Groups showed up from Dundee, Aberdeen and Rutherglen and Cambuslang, keen not to miss out on taking part in Faslane 365.
The year-long Faslane 365 campaign finished on the 1st of October with a fabulous celebratory big blockade in which many of the autonomous groups and individuals who had already come to Faslane earlier in the year returned and together disrupted the operation of the Trident base for most of the day. It was a fitting conclusion to an extraordinary year of resistance. An estimated six hundred people converged on the base and quickly established the blockade at the North Gate which remained shut from just after 7:00am until after 10:00am. Eventually blockades were established at all three gates and for the first time both roads in to Coulport were simultaneously closed. Together we had succeeded in shutting down access to the entire nuclear weapons establishment in Scotland. By the end of the day 187 people were arrested bringing the Faslane 365 total to a round 1150.
At the North Gate the police were unable to control the crowd which soon poured into the roundabout and a festival atmosphere erupted. A People and Planet group were initially thwarted in the attempt to block the Oil Depot gate, and for some time there was no blockade of the South Gate. But the fearless Irene, who had already been arrested 11 times during Faslane 365, and company, soon filled that gap and word arrived that the South Gate was blocked. A cheer went up from the crowd when the announcement was made. Shortly after that Ben returned with the message that both roads into Coulport were blocked simultaneously. People and Planet from a consortium of Scottish Uni's had at last succeeded in accomplishing what they had tried more than once before and shut down Coulport.
It's impossible to piece together an accurate account of such an organic-anarchic eventful day. This report can only be a sketch. If it misses out anyone's action or gets any facts wrong please let me know so the story can be more accurately and completely pieced together for posting on the website and for the forthcoming book on Faslane 365. Email me with your additions or corrections at rbrianlarkin@googlemail.com or brian@faslane365.org . See the Big Blockade Photo Gallery for some of the photos of the day.
Coaches from Glasgow and Edinburgh met up at the Helensburgh Pier at 6:30am. The training venues had been packed the day before. Additional vans came overnight from Wales, Oxford, Assynt, and Leicester with lock-ons ready, and joined with the assembled forces at Helensburgh. A coach of Finns and Swedes had come in to the Peace Camp a few days earlier. In the early morning darkness the Peace Camp was jammed with people at the outside fire. A police van, motor running, blocked in the Peacedrobe, a transit van which they feared was going to be used to blockade the A814 because it was precariously parked just inside the fence facing the road and looked as if it would roll onto the road any minute. Police were everywhere. They had set up a check point blocking the turn into the South Gate access road. And at the North Gate as dawn was breaking through thick fog the bellmouth was lined with police while van loads sat opposite. Three women sang "O my soul let it bring peace" in exquisite harmonies. Base traffic crawled through the roundabout as shift change was under way.
Then it happened. Activists emerged from the coaches South of the roundabout and crowded into the official protest area. With only one lane open traffic came to a standstill in the roundabout and groups of activists jumped out of vans and ran toward the gate, many with lock-ons already on one arm. The Bradford-Leeds lot were among the first. They got well in near the gate and superglued themselves to the road. Police snatched some lockons but a core group of the well practiced activists of the Leicester lot managed to get locked-on in a jumbled and twisted bunch right under the feet of the overwhelmed police. Other members of this group darted in to join on separately as they saw openings. When the crowd in the legal protest area had swollen to bursting point a section of the barrier was lifted up and passed back over the heads of the unruly crowd. The Swedes dove through the gap and got locked on in the bellmouth. A group of clowns surged forward adding to the melee. A giant Squirrel carrying a "Nuts to Trident" sign got down on the ground with nutty friends from Manchester. More Leicester folk poured into the gap. Bicycologists impeded traffic in the roundabout and before long the police had lost the upper hand. The people poured into the Roundabout along with a cadre of photo-journalists. The frenetic and triumphant drumbeat of Seize the Day sounded "We shall not give up the fight we have only started." Anarchy ruled. The North Gate to the Trident nuclear base was shut.
Soon several Muriel Leicesters, were wheeling and ambling about. A twelve foot tall grey wolf strolled through on stilts while Robin Harper in rainbow scarf gave interviews to bewildered journalists. All the while the cutting team was hard at work as so-called sterile areas were established by the police around the locked-on groups. Blockaders who had not locked on were being carried off one at a time. This was labour intensive work. The cops obviously intended to try to clear the blockade as quickly as possible but they had a job to do it with so many bodies to be carted off. The uplifted voices of some of the Protest in Harmony choir joined from behind the barrier with their blockading cohorts. Hands were soon seen to raise and, just as the morning mist had cleared the glorious chaos magically subsided. All went quiet. Gate Support announced that the attempt by People and Planet students to shut the Oil gate had been foiled. Neither was the South Gate road blockaded. People who were still arrestable were asked to go there. Despite shutting down the North Gate we had not totally shut down the base. A group of students poured pink paint over their own heads and sat in the roundabout. Police formed a ring round them but no move was made to arrest them. After a while it became evident, they were being left out to dry. Protesters had learned something from the Spaniards who had so successfully used red paint earlier in the year. But so had the police. A French copper was there, observing. Over on the South side of the gate voices were raised as Camilla Cancantata's Oratorio Trident: A British War Crime was performed. Soon word arrived that the South Gate Road was blocked. Irene who had already been arrested eleven times during Faslane 365, and two friends had gotten the job done. We had done it. Word came too that the Finns had partly blocked the A814 with a tripod in front of the Peace Camp. The resistance was full on. And to top it off word came that People and Planet had blocked both roads in to Coulport simultaneously. Thus the Big Blockade had succeeded in shutting down all road access in to the UK nuclear weapons establishments.
Meanwhile Clergy Action were quietly celebrating Communion across from the North Gate. Messages of support were read out from Sheilagh Kesting, Moderator of the Church of Scotland, Idris Jones Primate of the Scottish Episcopal Church and from Cardinal Keith O'Brien, head of the Catholic Church in Scotland. Just when it seemed the police might regain control of the road a bunch of elderly ministers, veterans of Faslane blockades, sat down peacefully in the gateway. Amongst them the wife of the founder of the Iona Community, a number of grandmothers and a 78 year old priest. Michal, our cook, roamed through the crowd handing out vegan power balls. Renate's CIA (Cows in Action) puppets were, like their colleagues from the FIT team with cameras, gathering intelligence, while an effigy of a policeman looked down from the fence on the roundabout, blissfully unaware of the chaos below. The stubborn old GOATs (Golden Oldies Against Trident) formed another wave of arrests and cheers went up as these elders of our communities were lead off. I wonder how many times some of them had been arrested resisting the nuclear madness. Amongst them was the 89 year old Betty Tebbs.
As the dancing in the street subsided Jeely Peace café was open for business. A group of SNP MSPs arrived, bearing greetings from Alex Salmond. Two Green MSPs were there as well. And Jill Evans Welsh MEP (Plaid Cymru) returned to the scene of her crime accompanied by the magnificent scarlet Welsh dragon. Buddhists for Peace sat quietly in meditation, bringing an element of calm. The sun was shining now and people were shedding layers. One old crone with a staff was weaving amid the crowd topless. Again it seemed the polis were gaining the upper hand when a group from the Edinburgh Peace and Justice Centre, joined by Roz in a wheelchair blocked off the South side of the roundabout. The police asserted control forming a cordon along the road edge. People continued to challenge this by crossing here and there without permission. Assynt Peace Group initiated a Ceilidh. Someone from the Irish Make Trident History group was breathing fire.
By early afternoon the Bicycology sound system was set up and those of us who had not been arrested enjoyed listening to music performed by David Ferrard, Leon Rosselson, Roy Bailey,and Seize the Day as well as a number of poems. Paula Bolton read a section of her Trident monologues. Seize the Day performed again and just when it seemed all was winding down Theo and Richard breached the line of cops and dove into the road. The police dragged them out of the road while Theo characteristically laughed. He must be ticklish. This last blockade came just after Helen Stephen had negotiated with the Commanding Officer for the group to be allowed to have a closing circle in the bellmouth. There was a wish to mark the end of this extraordinary year of resistance. The Commander withdrew permission for the circle in the road, but Helen spoke to him again and he agreed. The yellow sea of police parted and we entered the bellmouth. The circle widened out, filling the bellmouth and all of the near side of the roundabout, surrounded on all sides by police. An image of a monk was placed in the middle a reminder of the severe repression often imposed when people speak out against injustice, a reminder that we here face such minor consequences for our acts of resistance. If the Burmese monks can risk imprisonment, torture even death we can and must stand against the violence of state sponsored terror here where at most we face two or three days in jail. Many people had spoken of this moment as the end of the campaign. But Faslane 365 had come out of the hard work of people who had been actively opposing nuclear weapons for many years. It had brought people back to the struggle who had been away from it for years. And it had introduced people who had never before taken part in nonviolent direct action. Autonomous affinity groups had been formed. Skills had been shared and developed. The spirit of resistance had been nurtured. It was obvious that this was only the beginning, the renewal. So it was fitting that in that moment we sang "You Can't Kill the Spirit, Old and strong she goes on and on..." We had been given five minutes but the weaving of the spiral seemed to last forever. No-one wanted it to be over. You could feel the love, strength, determination. But at last it did finish. Coaches carried those remaining away.
But back in Helensburgh at Legal Support Central the work went on well into the night as phones rang off the hook. Those arrested had been taken to stations all over Glasgow. Some twenty one were still unaccounted for. Then the calls started coming. Groups were being released early. Transport was dispatched and by 11pm everyone was out except Irene who was held on a warrant for another action down South.
The Big Blockade was covered that night and the next day in all the major media. There were photos on the front page of The Herald and The Scotsman, with full pages of coverage in the Scottish papers and full stories in all the English papers. The Big Blockade had definitely made an impact.
Early the next morning the other half of the Leeds-Bradford lot pulled off a Faslane366 rainbow paint action. And the following day the Faslane Peace Camp and Finnish friends blockaded the South Gate and the next night a group of Swedes got inside Coulport, some by swimming. They were undetected for several hours before presenting themselves to the MOD police. The BBC carried a factually inaccurate report on this breach of Coulport security which repeated MOD claims that Andreas had been rescued from the water. In fact he had waved down the searching helicopter from the land and he needed no medical attention. This phase of the campaign had reached its conclusion, but these post-365 actions indicate that nonviolent resistance will continue until Trident is disarmed.
A few weeks after the Big Blockade the Scottish Government hosted a summit of stakeholders, "a National Conversation on a Scotland free of nuclear weapons". Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon welcomed the representatives, and spoke of the unprecedented historical situation now in Scotland. She noted that 76% of Scots are opposed to Trident and paid tribute to the political pressure which had been generated by Faslane 365 and the demonstrations at Faslane over the years which reflected that widespread popular opposition. And now Scotland has a government which shares the desire of the people to have that democratic will honoured and for Trident to be removed from Scotland and altogether. The many participating groups brainstormed ways that the Scottish government can proceed within the terms of devolution, to oust Trident from Scotland. In addition to the STUC, the Churches and politicians from the SNP and the Green Parties a number of civic groups participated, including Greenpeace, Friends of the Earth, NukeWatch, Trident Ploughshares, Faslane 365 and SCND. Discussion focused on four areas: Jobs, the Environment, International Law, and the position of Scotland in the world community.
Bruce Crawford, Minister for Parliamentary Business,indicated that a working group will be set up. It was agreed that this group needs to build on the SCND/STUC report on the impact to the local economy of the removal of Trident. Detailed plans must be made for the retraining of the workers who would lose jobs when Trident goes. The base workers whose jobs are at stake should be closely involved in this process. And there needs to be investment in other areas of economic opportunity on the Gareloch, including renewable energy and leisure. Rob Edwards, Environment Editor of the Herald reported on the lack of oversight of MOD nuclear weapons operations and the disturbing number of "incidents" at Faslane and the admitted risk of a nuclear weapon explosion in an accident involving the convoy which transporting nuclear warheads on Scottish roads. A number of ways that the Scottish government may be able to force the removal of Trident based on its responsibility for the environment were discussed. In terms of international law John Mayer reported on the bill which he has written and which will be introduced by Michael Matheson MSP which would make illegal the preparation of crimes committed with weapons of mass destruction in Scotland. Angie Zelter outlined a number of options including suggesting that the Scottish government simply call upon the UK government to remove Trident from Scotland. Adam Conway, representing NukeWatch, reported on citizen verification of the transport of nuclear weapons in Scotland, and suggested that Scottish Parliament screen the forthcoming NukeWatch film on convoys and distribute this film to schools, and fund a public information campaign on nuclear weapons in partnership with the NGOs. Rebecca Johnson of Acronym Institute reported on the status of the NPT and called for Scotland to apply for observer status at the next NPT Review Conference in 2010. It was recognized that Scotland should aim to be a leader on a culture of peace. Scotland and the world would be safer without nuclear weapons. Disarmament here would strengthen the case for calling upon those current non-Nuclear Weapons States which might seek to join the nuclear club not to do so. Scotland would gain enormous respect around the world by being the first country to stand up to US nuclear hegemony. In closing Bruce Crawford paid tribute to Bobby and Margaret Harrison who established the Faslane Peace Camp twenty five years ago.
Some have already pointed the way. On the 12th of November a group stopped the convoy near Loch Lomond for nearly an hour. At Aldermaston 12 people were arrested as part of the Block the Builders campaign for impeding the construction of the monstrous laser facility where the new nuclear warheads will be developed. Visit the Block the Builders website for further information on future actions. The preparations for the next generation of nuclear weapons seriously endanger the NPT and have been denounced by Non- Nuclear Weapons States as contrary to the spirit if not the letter of the Treaty under the terms of which the UK and the other Nuclear Weapons States have been obliged to bring to a conclusion negotiations for nuclear weapons for forty years. There is work to be done to encourage the Scottish government in its attempts to remove Trident from Scotland. But we must look beyond Scotland to a future in which the UK government agrees to disarm nuclear weapons.
Faslane 365 generated critical public pressure and raised awareness of Trident. We cannot let the momentum be lost. Some ideas are already being suggested. To celebrate its 50th birthday CND is planning a demonstration at Aldermaston at Easter while SCND will be at Faslane.
In order to build on Faslane 365 we are setting up an email list which we suggest calling Faslane Activists' Network. Eventually, there will be a website at www.faslaneactivists.net to allow people to share stories and ideas from actions at Faslane and Coulport. An email will come to you shortly inviting you to participate in this email list. If you want to be part of it you must respond to the email. When that is up and running we hope that you the people and autonomous groups of Faslane 365 will use it to communicate with each other and organize future resistance to Trident however whenever and wherever you think that needs to happen. Already Angie Zelter is inviting anyone wanting to take part in future hidden actions at Faslane to get in touch with her. Email her at reforest_at_gn.apc.org
As we go to press the first citations have been received by 11 people who were arrested in the Big Blockade, while a further 19 have told us that they've got "warning" letters dropping the charges. So far these were mostly repeat offenders. Please let Faslane 365 Legal Support know if you receive a citation or a warning letter. Email legalworkinggroup_at_faslane365.org . Trials of the SOCRAP offenders have begun and will continue in February. The women who painted the High Court in Edinburgh at the beginning of Faslane 365 have been found guilty but sentencing has been adjourned for the Sheriff to investigate ways to try and extract the £3000 which the paint removal cost. Some of the Greenpeace activists who were arrested with banners on the high security boom around the Trident Area when the Arctic Sunrise blocked the sea gate to Faslane are being prosecuted under the byelaws.
One month from now the Faslane 365 email accounts will all be shut down. We will shortly be contacting those people directly. You may want to set up your own group lists before then.
Faslane 365 posters, a collage of images of hundreds of banners and blockades are still available. The posters cost £2 each. Cardboard postal tubes to protect them cost £1 each. Postage to the UK for a tube containing 1 poster is £1.52. If you want several posters, or postage to abroad, please contact us. Posters can be ordered by calling 0845 4588 367 or emailing tp2000_at_gn.apc.org
Finally in the words of David Ferrard, folk singer and Faslane activist, "It's been one helluva ride."
Peace to you all,
Brian for the Faslane 365 steering group
We are now counting down the days to the Big Blockade which will be the culmination of the Faslane365 yearlong campaign of direct action against Trident. So far 120 groups have blockaded over 174 days with 930 arrests.
We hope all of you who together have created this campaign of sustained resistance can come together and bring new friends to press once more for the disarmament of Britain’s wmd at the BIG BLOCKADE starting at 7am on the FIRST of OCTOBER.
Accomodation, Training, Transport
We are inviting people to come with an affinity group with your own action plans, but for individuals coming without a group there will be additional affinity groups forming on Sunday in Glasgow. There will be action trainings covering practicalities, blockading techniques, the arrest process and other vital information for first timers at the venues at 3pm, 5pm and 5:30pm, with a briefing at 8pm. Anderston Kelvingrove Church will be the hub where you should check in.
Accommodation will be available at several venues in Glasgow on the Sunday and Monday nights. Coaches will be leaving Edinburgh at 4:30am and Glasgow at 5:30am on 1st October.
To book places on a bus from Glasgow or accommodation call 0845 45 88 365 or email: info@faslane365.org
For full details it is recommended that you download the Briefing Pack here.
We have cancelled the previously announced Saturday strategy session and evening celebration, partly due to lack of interest and partly out of relief as we anticipate being very busy with last minute prep for the Big Blockade. Instead, look for the notice boards at the gates on which you are all invited to indicate ideas for next steps, and let's make the Big Blockade the celebration of the year.
The Quiet Before the Storm
August has been one of the quietest months of the year with only five groups making their presence felt. Several of these were hosted by Trident Ploughshares Camp at Peaton Woods, by Coulport.
Trident Ploughshares
To mark the anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima a TP group planned a daring blockade of Coulport which was to involve a tripod, a fence sitter and a lock-on made out of a very large cedar log. Unfortunately the MOD police were out in numbers in anticipation of an announced Faslane365 action coming out of the annual TP camp. Police Dog units found the tripod and the log before the groups were able to establish the blockade. But that did not take away from the fun that was had in chiselling and burning through that stump and dragging the heavy tripod through the dark pine forest. The best laid plans o’ mice and men may often go wrong but the tripod and log/lock-on activists are a determined bunch. We have no doubt that they will succeed at some point in the future...
European Youth and Japanese Peace Boat at UN
After meeting up with Japanese students of the Global University at Faslane a small delegation of European Youth climbed aboard the Peace Boat. Upon reaching New York the students together issued a "Youth Appeal" to the UN stating: "We, young people from across the world, first came together only two weeks ago, at an international protest at the Faslane nuclear submarine base in Scotland.... Since then we have been discussing nuclear power, nuclear weapons, nuclear proliferation, and what these all mean for our future. We have also had opportunities to hear about the horrors of atomic bombs first hand from Hibakusha, the survivors of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings. The possibility of another Hiroshima and Nagasaki frightens us. We also realise, however that we are the last generation to be able to learn directly from Hibakusha and it for this reason that we have to act now not to forget and not to repeat the horrific history."
The full text of the appeal can be read on the Next Generation page of the website.
Scottish Councillors
About ten Scottish Councillors held a one day demonstration attended primarily by SNP councillors, but with messages of support from others who were not able to make it on the day. There were no arrests.
Hereford
The Hereford group did however baffle the police by waiting until late in the afternoon when the police had gone home for the day to blockade the North Gate. A group of seven young people successfully locked on across the gateway. Amongst them was a fourteen year old who very much wanted his night in jail but was persuaded by the cutting team to unlock. Six were arrested.
Grannies
A handful of grannies brought the message that they wanted a future free from the threat of nuclear weapons for their grandchildren. They attached photos of grandchildren to the fences. Annie Tunicliffe said "I have been to Greenham Common and marched with CND. I think it is really important that young people don't feel that we are leaving it (the protest) to them.”
Spread the Word
Please help make this Grand Finale a success by spreading the word. Click here to download the leaflet or call to request a stack.
Court Update
Three people have been convicted of a Breach of the Peace so far in court cases arising from Faslane365 actions. Lawrence Bernhard of the Coventry group was fined £200. Jane Tallents was convicted for a Trident Ploughshares group blockade and fined £300. These fines were both issued by the JP who generally gives the highest fines of all the Helensburgh JPs. Irene Willis, was fined £500. The JP appears to have issued this exceptionally high fine because he accepted the PFs argument that Irene's action posed a danger to herself, despite the evidence given by Irene and her supporter that showed that the action was carefully planned and carried out with sufficient safety precautions.
***NEW*** Faslane 365 POSTERS
A beautiful poster collage of hundreds of colorful banners from all the groups which have participated in Faslane365 will be available for purchase for only £2 at the Big Blockade. These will also soon be available to order from the website.
Faslane 365 GREETING CARDS
Each of the cards is a collage of the different banners that have been brought to the Faslane 365 blockades during the first 6 months and includes a photo of one blockade per card. Each of the 8 cards in a set contains different banners and photos and is blank inside. Four Pack of 8 cards in colour with envelopes. £5 per pack (inclusive of p&p). To view the cards on the website click here
To order contact cards@faslane365.org or ring 07835 354652. Make cheques payable to 'Faslane365' and send to Valley Farmhouse, East Runton, Cromer, Norfolk, NR27 9PN with a note to say who it is from and that the cheque is for cards.
DONATIONS ARE WELCOME.
Please send cheques to:
Faslane 365
Valley Farmhouse East Runton
Cromer Norfolk
NR27 9PN
UK.
Dear friends of Faslane 365,
It is hard to believe that less than two months now remain in this extraordinary year of resistance. Thus far 114 Blockading Groups have made 164 days of presence with 919 arrests and 37 prosecutions. It continues to be amazing to see so many diverse and creative groups each making their presence felt in their own distinct way. From the youthful creative energy of Bang-Europe (the true name of Next Generation) to the delightful highland games played by Assynt, this month has been no exception. But I think I speak for all of us when I say that the Bamboo Block by the Japanese had to be the most moving witness in this year of relentless testimony to the terror of nuclear weapons. We are united in our desire to make sure that there are, in the words of the Japanese banner, No More Hiroshimas, No More Nagasakis.
We hope all of you who together have created this historic campaign of resistance can come together and bring new friends to press once more for the disarmament of Britain’s wmd at the BIG BLOCKADE on the FIRST of OCTOBER.
Plan Beyond Faslane 365
On Saturday 29th and Sunday 30th September in Glasgow there will be a planning session for continuing the energy of Faslane 365. For more info please contact us.
Celebrate F365
On the evening of Saturday 29th September we will have a celebration including music, poems and films. We invite your contributions.
Accommodation, Training, Transport
Accommodation and training will be available in Glasgow the evening before the Big Blockade. Coaches will be leaving Edinburgh at 4:30am and Glasgow at 5:30am on 1st October.
To book contact 0845 45 88 365 or info@faslane365.org
Spread the Word
Faslane 365 Needs YOU to help make this Grand Finale a success by spreading the word. To download leaflets click here or call us to request a stack of leaflets.
Peace Groups across Somerset used the slogan Tractors Not Trident to show the enormous waste of money renewing our nuclear weapons would be and to highlight how the money could be better spent. A group of three from Sedgemoor were arrested in a lock-on at the South Gate. Dr. Richard Lawson explained, 'It is the duty of the citizen to disobey the Government if it behaves foolishly and illegally.'
Having recently returned from Glastonbury Faslane Peace Campers made their presence felt when they established a blockade at the South Gate of the Base. Three were arrested. Displaying two panels of the colorful “Smash Trident” Triptych which they had painted for Glastonbury the trio made use of “the mother of all lock-ons”, which had been carted from one training to another but not used because its prodigious bulk would prohibit fast action. But when the cutting crew chipped away the top layer of concrete and revealed a rusty saw blade Matt and Squeaky immediately unlocked. Squeaky said “I am a nonviolent person. The next time I do an action I don’t want the cutting team to think I might harm anyone.”
The protesters succeeded in closing the entrance to the base for 45 minutes during the peak shift change. One of the organizers said “British foreign policy is hypocritical. Tony Blair supported the disastrous American invasion of Iraq claiming Saddam had weapons of mass destruction. Butit is the US and the UK that terrorize the world. When will the governments learn that weapons of wmd are not the way to peace?”
CND Groups from Renfrewshire, Helensburgh, Edinburgh, Stirling and Ayrshire held a peace picnic outside the gates of Faslane on a sunny Sunday. Thanks to Jane and to the groups coordinators for mobilising. A variety of beautiful banners were displayed and all enjoyed the afternoon sunshine.
Magnificent Seven and Ffriends
The Magnificent Seven and Ffriends drove through the night from Norfolk and rode up to the unpoliced North Gate, locked-on rapidly and shut down the entrance for nearly an hour. Police complained that as this had not been announced in the calendar - 'this may change the ground rules'! “Though as yet” said one of the Seven “we still haven't received our printed copy of the 'ground rules' from the police”.
Unarguably one of the highlights of Faslane365 was the visit of twelve Japanese.
Ten people, including atomic bomb survivors (‘Hibakusha’) from Nagasaki were arrested during the “Bamboo Blockade” of Faslane.
The Japanese group, supported by around 100 others, including a large group of Quakers, placed peace cranes in front of the North gate. As police moved in to remove the cranes, four grandmothers from Fukuoka and the son of a Nagasaki bomb survivor sat in front of the gate, while five more, including his father and peace campaigners from Hiroshima, Nagasaki and Finland locked themselves together with bamboo arm locks. The Japanese appealed to the British government not to deploy or renew the Trident nuclear weapon system. The police quickly ‘dearrested’ four elderly women and one young man, who had sat in front of the gate singing Japanese peace songs. It took them nearly an hour to cut the bamboo blockade and reopen the gate.
As he was arrested, Masahiko Moriguchi who survived the atomic bombing of Nagasaki when he was 7 years old, said: “The Faslane 365 campaign is encouraging the epoch-making first step towards the abolition of nuclear weapons. As one who experienced the A-bomb, I wanted to see this nuclear base with my own eyes and personally take part in this action to halt the nuclear weapons.”
His son, Shinya Moriguchi (born in Nagasaki) said: “The UK’s decision on whether or not to renew Trident is not only a British matter, but will influence proliferation and insecurity around the world. I wish the UK to make a wise and rational decision and pioneer the road to nuclear abolition, which would make this world safer.”
Before being arrested in the Bamboo Blockade, Kohei Ueyama from Hiroshima (aged 26), said he came to Faslane to show solidarity with the Scottish people taking nonviolent action to get rid of Trident: “If we do something for peace in our neighbourhood and country, we can solve any international problem.”
Yoshiko Sakai, a retired quantum chemist, said she was “eager for Britain to be the first country that has the honour of abolishing nuclear weapons”.
Eisaku Miyoshi (60), Professor of Engineering from Fukuoka, brought a harrowing exhibition of photographs and paintings from Hiroshima and Nagasaki. As he was arrested he said “We have to bear witness to the horror of nuclear weapons so that they are never ever used in this world again.”
The Japanese delegation shared water from Nagasaki with people in ceremonies at the cherry trees which were planted years earlier by other hibakusha at Helensburgh Victoria Halls and the Faslane Peace Camp. They were also welcomed to Edinburgh by City Councillor Ewan Aitken and Nigel Griffith MP in a reception at the Gillis Centre hosted by Chris Boles and organized by the Edinburgh Peace and Justice Resource Centre. Thanks to Penny Stone and Janet Fenton for getting that organized for them. News stories about their visit to Scotland & Faslane in the Scotsman can be found in the press coverage section of our website.
The European youth group Bang-Europe (Ban All Nukes Generation) came together at Faslane and Trident Ploughshares Coulport Camp with students of the Global University who disembarked from the Japanese Peace Boat to travel here for a whirlwind stop on their world tour. Click here to find out more about Peace Boat. To find out more about Global University click here. The North Gate seemed to explode as these two groups of youth met in a vibrant mix of energies. Before coming to the base BANG spent the previous day in a packed Action Academy program which included a Postcard Competition, the winning entries to which can be seen and downloaded from the BANG website, Clowning and Arts and Action workshops in which they generated slogans, painted banners and planned media and support work. A Learning Space Dynamics (LSD) forum facilitated individuals obtaining information on International Law, nuclear weapons proliferation, current nuclear weapons deployments, and movements and campaigns. Having thus educated themselves eight attempted a superglue action at the North gate. They received enthusiastic support from clowning colleagues and about ten Japanese who performed an incessant dance, a combination of callisthenics, karaoke and aerobics. The young blockaders included two fifteen year old girls who were released within a few hours and a sixteen year old.
Trident Ploughshares Camp sprang to life as both groups arrived for an afternoon workshop. The Japanese had to leave before Tea time. Next day the group were given a tour of the base area by Anna-Linnea Rundberg and Rebecca Johnson a talk on Trident by Rebecca and one on missile defence by Regina Hagen, Coordinator of INESAP (International Network of Engineers and Scientists Against Proliferation). Click here to visit the INESAP website. A group of five set off early the next morning for Dublin to rendezvous with the Peace Boat and sail from Dublin for New York, to take a statement from BANG to the UN High Representative for Disarmament Affairs at a Nagaski Day action at Dag Hammerskold Plaza. Click here for more info on the UN Office of Disarmament Affairs (UNODA). This group included intrepid sixteen year old Georgia who was arrested in the North Gate action and who had spent a difficult night in a police cell flanked by two women who threatened each other throughout the night. Georgia’s then seventeen year old brother was arrested back in November in the Quaker White Poppy action. They must have some great supportive parents.
Assynt
The Assynt group returned to Faslane this time to hold the first Faslane Highland Games. They arrived dressed in kilts and plaids, one young father wearing a handwoven sort of kilt/ragrug. His little boy eagerly joined in the games and won the Haggis Put and Egg and Spoon Race. First on the program was the Punch and Judy Show put on by the Peace of Cake Theatre in which the foolish Punch meets an evil Arms Dealer who convinces him that the Crocodile actually has a lot of bombs even though everyone knows the crocodile lives far away in the river eating buttercups all day. Punch is persuaded to buy some bombs with the $20 he is supposed to spend on sausages for the babies. Predictably the Arms Dealer then sells bombs to the crocodile and when Punch and the Croc meet they drop their bombs. Miraculously they get a chance to start over. Judy convinces the Arms Dealer to make cake and share it with everyone. Great games followed including Welly Over the Faslane Sign – which turned into Welly over the Fence and the Tug of Peace which strayed into the gateway. The rope was the right length to close the entrance, but was quickly cut by a zealous OSU cop who, in flagrant violation of the Health & Safety concerns forever asserted by the police, strode quickly through the crowd with an unsheathed sharp knife saying “Right this rope is getting cut”.
The Teachers were bolstered by being joined by Julia and Lutzia, coordinators of Bang-Europe, and Regina Hagen, and Hannah, a postgraduate student doing research on the communication between Faslane365 and the locals. After considering a Teach-In which would have included a Geography Lesson on the effects of nuclear weapons and the History of their use in US and UK foreign policy as a Big Stick for getting their way in the world the teachers decided the best lesson they could offer was to set an example of direct resistance to this policy. Making connections between the progressive Scottish education policy decision to ban the belt as a means of classroom discipline, a moral decision based on the insight that violence was not an acceptable way to maintain social order, the National anti-bullying strategy, and the oxymoronic UK policy of deploying Trident, they asked: How can we as teachers hope to educate young people for a culture of peace and the non-violent resolution of conflicts when our government sets the immoral example of relying for security on threatening (apparently non-existent) enemies with annihilation. Their banner read Teachers Against Nukes: Stop Nuclear Bullying but was grabbed by the OSU along with supporters, who were taken into custody. The teachers succeeded thanks to careful practice in getting locked-on on the South gate access road even though an OSU police car and a van of Strathclyde police were on the spot. Nine people were arrested. Three supporters arrested waving down traffic for safety were released early after Strathclyde Police realized they had not been attempting to blockade. The Teachers are planning a second block in late September or for the 1st of October. For info contact brian@faslane365.org.
TELL THE GOVERNMENT WHAT ITS SECURITY PRIORITIES SHOULD BE
Gordon Brown and his new Foreign Secretary, David Miliband, have asked for our opinions for what foreign and security policy priorities should be. After Blair, we’re probably all cynical about manipulated consultations, but this is a new government, and so it is REALLY IMPORTANT that we give them OUR alternative security ideas - in large numbers and with sensible, coherent arguments. (Especially since I gather they’ve received a lot of Tory tosh about asylum seekers and getting out of the EU and very little from our side of the picture). Check out the 'New Diplomacy' page on the FCO website
The three key questions from the Foreign Office, each with a webpage for submitting your comments are:
What should our priorities be?
What is the best way to co-ordinate across UK government?
How can the FCO engage beyond Whitehall?
So tell them we want them to think in terms of human security, not national security, that they must not only not replace Trident but they need to take the lead towards scrapping all nuclear weapons, starting with Trident, and become a leader and initiator in creating the conditions for an irreversible, verifiable nuclear weapon free world. They should denuclearise NATO, evict the US nuclear weapons from Lakenheath, and pull out of the dangerous and destabilising missile defence collaboration with the US (Menwith Hill and Fylingdales).
Let’s tell them we want Britain to comply fully with international law and UK obligations on disarmament and human rights; that we want security challenges to be addressed at source; that we regard poverty, climate change as major security threats, which need to be addressed collectively. We want them to stop making and selling arms, to go beyond their current ‘Arms Trade Treaty’ and to ban cluster bombs, as a follow on to the landmines ban. Tell them we regard not just nuclear proliferation but the continued existence and deployment of nuclear weapons by anyone to be a major threat to our human and international security.
The more people putting an anti-militarist, anti-nuclear, human security agenda forward the better - if we don't respond, how can we get them to change? and if we do respond and they don't change, we'll have a stronger case for telling them they've got it wrong. And who knows, they might even listen for a change?!
And Carl Laughed
A US High School Theatre company is bringing their play about Father Carl Kabat to the Edinburgh Fringe August 7-11. Kabat is currently in Federal prison in the US for disarming a missile silo in North Dakota. He has served sixteen years all told for such actions in the US. Read more about the Weapons of Mass Destruction Ploughshares here . View a trailer of the show on the AndCarlLaughed website .
Faslane 365 GREETING CARDS
Each of the cards is a collage of the different banners that have been brought to the Faslane 365 blockades during the first 6 months and includes a photo of one blockade per card. Each of the 8 cards in a set contains different banners and photos and is blank inside. Four Pack of 8 cards in colour with envelopes. £5 per pack (inclusive of p&p). To view the cards on the website click here
To order contact cards@faslane365.org or ring 07835 354652. Make cheques payable to 'Faslane365' and send to Valley Farmhouse, East Runton, Cromer, Norfolk, NR27 9PN with a note to say who it is from and that the cheque is for cards.
DONATIONS ARE WELCOME.
Please send cheques to:
Faslane 365
Valley Farmhouse East Runton
Cromer Norfolk
NR27 9PN
UK.
Still time to FILL the GAPS in the ROTA
We invite new groups to sign up and old groups to take another turn. Contact us at: info@faslane365.org.
Visit the website for updates: http://www.faslane365.org
Call for info: 0845 45 88 365 or 07768 312676
In peace,
Brian, on behalf of Faslane365 Steering Group
Dear friends of Faslane 365,
Three quarters of the way through this marathon of NVDA we have not yet gotten rid of Trident, but political developments in Scotland, and perhaps even in Britain make it seem that we are in fact closer to the goal than before the start of this amazing year. And for that we can thank all of you who have made the trek to the Gareloch and to the Glasgow city jail cells. Thus far 106 autonomous Groups have blockaded in 155 days of presence with 879 arrests, yet there have been only 33 prosecutions. It is hard to believe that there are only 87 days left. But one of those days is the FIRST of OCTOBER BIG BLOCKADE . We invite all of you to COME to FASLANE and CELEBRATE THIS INCREDIBLE YEAR of RESISTANCE !!!
More than 50 anti-nuclear choristers from Euridyce Women’s Socialist Choir (Glasgow), Body of Sound (Sheffield), Protest in Harmony (Edinburgh), Leeds People’s Choir, Red Leicester, and Silsden Singers (West Yorkshire) sang from soggy songsheets in a day of non-stop heavy rain. Clad in waterproofs and brandishing umbrellas they sang “Ye’ll no sit here” (from the ’60s anti-Polaris demos), Holly Near’s “Gentle Angry People” and “Watch Out”, and Pat Humphries “Peace Salaam Shalom” (Lyrics and music can be found on the Protest in Harmony website .) They taught each other new harmonies and kept on singing in the rain all day.
The day culminated in a blockade of the North Gate while singing Hamish Henderson’s the “Freedom Come-All-Ye”. Six women remained sitting in the road singing, with powerful harmonious support from the rest, and continued to sing all the way to Clydebank police cells… and throughout the afternoon and evening (including wonderful classical arias from Penny). Singing resumed again about seven in the morning. Shereen’s repertoire was still not exhausted by the time they were released at midday.
Participants in the Power of the Word blockade included actor-musician Rebecca Thorn and writer A.L.Kennedy who performed a stand-up monologue about nuclear weapons, which exposed the bizarre madness of nuclear thinking. Poems about war and resistance were read by Allan Cameron, Sean Legassick and Gerry Loose. Roger Lloyd Pack, known for his role as Trigger in Only Fools and Horses said “The money could be so much better spent on other things, like funding alternative energy sources and, in particular, combating climate change, where the real danger lies.” John Rowley, a Trustee of the Gandhi Foundation, spoke on ideas for non-violence in public life. A number of singer-songwriters performed, including Theo Simon of Seize the Day, David Ferrard, Ciaran Dorris, Paul Baird and folk legend Leon Rosselson, who captured everyone’s attention with a rendition of The World Turned Upside Down, better known as The Diggers’ Song. The presentation of a birthday cake and gift to Angie Zelter effectively diverted the attention of the police so that a group were able to lie down with arms linked and block the road, a fitting birthday present for Angie who reciprocated not only by joining them but then entwining them with ribbon.
Contrary to the somewhat absurd rumours circulated on the Penninsula24seven website and repeated by the MSP for Dumbarton Jackie Baillie in Parliament neither a disco nor a Barbecue was ever planned to take place at the Faslane cemetery nor were said events cancelled. But a Silent Disco was organized outside the North Gate by none other than Shonagh Glen, daughter of MSP Marlyn Glen, but shhh! don’t tell Jackie that! It was difficult to discern what possible objection to a small group of committed MP3 listeners dancing to their own beats behind the barriers in the designated legal protest area Ms Baillie felt could warrant the consideration of the Parliament. Perhaps she feared the silence might be enough to wake the living dead down in the cemetery. Regardless of attempts to curtail the quiet enjoyment of heavy metal the dancers chalked one up for individual freedom of personal listening and against the silent black behemoth that lurks in the dark waters of the Gareloch.
Theological Colleges and Courses
Having participated in the high profile January Academics and Scholars Seminar at Faslane the blind Theologian Professor John Hull decided to organize a group of seminarians and ordinands from the Queen's Foundation for Ecumenical Theological Education in Birmingham and St. John's College, Ushaw College and the Wesley Study Centre in Durham to go on pilgrimage to Faslane. Professor Hull said “Our faith demands that we condemn the planned renewal of the Trident nuclear weapons programme….Their use would cause destruction on such a scale that the very ability of creation to create would be destroyed. And that is an offence against God that cannot go un-challenged.” Professor Hull and two other ministers were arrested after a large contingent of staff and students had blocked the road for more than an hour.
On the 25th Birthday of the Faslane Peace Camp 89 year old Margaret Harrison, one of the Camp’s founders came back to visit with the latest campers. While she was sitting round the fire and proudly showing photos of her husband and Camp co-founder Bobby with Bruce Kent, word came that the Manchester lot were locked on at the South Gate. Margaret wandered down and met another 89 year old campaigner Betty Tebbs who was thumb-locked with fellow activists and lying in the road. Last year, Betty received a lifelong commitment award from CND which she joined when it started in 1958. She said: "My age is no impediment to my commitment to nuclear disarmament. I have been campaigning for over 40 years and I am not about to stop now."
This energetic crowd danced and dodged the midges before blockading. One of the group wanted to strip off but was arrested too soon.
A beautiful candlelit vigil marked the shortest night of this year of resistance with circle dancing in the gateway and over a hundred candles in brightly painted jars decorating the roundabout. In a circle of renewal each person threw away the pains and horrors of our present world and committed to bring in the hopes and desires of our wanted world. Thick swarms of midges did their best to discourage both protesters and police. A smoking brazier made some difference while a group huddled under yards of mesh netting and many wearing midge hoods appeared as apparitions of the dead dancing eerily in the gloomy darkness, possibly awakened by that silent spirit of resistance to the horror on the other side of the fence. A single protester walked unimpeded through the gates in the early hours, to be charged to his surprise under SOCPA but released next day without being prosecuted.
More Quakers
This group of only two Quakers (from Mosedale) vigiled and leafleted and were inspired by their visit to plan to return for future action. Quoting a Palestinian girl one of them said “Hope is not something you believe it is something you do”.
A group of about 25 engaged Buddhists travelled by train from Glasgow to Helensburgh and then walked out to Faslane in the rain, stopping for a cup of tea at the Peace Camp. They held a meditative presence which was maintained the following day by a single member of the group, Shantiketu, who sat with a beautiful Buddhists for Peace banner behind him looking across to the base.
Academics Again
Over 40 academics and students held a second seminar at Faslane calling upon Gordon Brown, to justify his commitment to Trident to the intellectual community or scrap his plans to renew Trident. The conference and blockade combined discussion with non-violent direct action, with fourteen academics arrested.
Participants from universities across the UK, Sweden, Spain and other countries were experts in international relations, environmental and economic impacts of the base, UK nuclear policies, and the history of protest. Papers addressed the negligible economic impact of closing the base on the local area, and the need for greater and more widespread resistance to environmentally disastrous government policies. The Papers from the 2 blocks can be read here.
About 100 students participated in the week long Strident Tent State at Peaton Woods, adjacent to MOD Coulport nuclear weapons depot. Dialogue with Peninsula24seven, the local anti-protest group resulted in a joint press release confirming that there was no intention to hold a Barbecue at the cemetery. On Thursday a group of four from Merseyside were arrested, on Friday nine from Nottingham. Another group was blockading on Saturday when police received news of the flaming car crashing into the glass front of Glasgow Airport. The police asked the students to lift their blockade so they could respond to the crisis and the students did so immediately. Strathclyde Police further requested Strident Students to refrain from blockading for 24 hours in order to enable them to deploy resources in response to what was being treated as a terrorist attack. The students released the following statement: “The Strident Tent State has come to a consensus decision to assure the public and police that there will be no direct action to disrupt the daily running of Faslane or Coulport for the whole of Sunday 1st July. This is so as not to divert Strathclyde police resources from investigating the incident which occurred at Glasgow International Airport on Saturday afternoon”. Alerted by NukeWatch of simultaneous preparations for a warhead convoy to leave Burghfield the students made clear to the police that they would however not refrain from blockading it.
Their blockade report continues: “Both police and residents had already voiced their gratitude for the way in which we had approached the organisation of Strident and our cooperation when the police asked us to leave our lawful protest outside the North Gate of Faslane as soon as they heard about what happened in Glasgow on Saturday. On Sunday we continued to have a presence at the gate of Coulport…. A tea party … was accompanied by samba, acro and queer politics workshops, with more workshops including Plane Stupid and a …project aimed at preventing the destruction of Europe's largest wilderness in Iceland (See the Saving Iceland website for more info). MOD police restricted access to areas outside Coulport.
There was much concern about restrictions being placed on civil liberties. Discussions turned on the ongoing terror threat posed by Trident as a source of anger at the UK making us less not more secure from the threat of terrorism. Jo Tyabji, stated “It is becoming increasingly vital that we blockade the Trident system; recent events in Glasgow and London make that clear. Trident poses a massive security risk to Scotland, and the continuous nuclear threat at sea does nothing to ease international tensions…. (W)e have educated ourselves in order to address the state of terror inflicted through foreign policy founded on a continuous nuclear threat”. Having kept their promise and concluding that M.O.D.and Strathclyde police had had ample time to distribute resources Strident students effectively blockaded both Coulport and Faslane on Monday morning; 37 students were arrested. There were 60 Strident students arrested in all, making them the biggest group yet.
Scottish Parliament Votes Against Trident
During this month of unremitting active resistance Scottish Parliament took political action and voted overwhelmingly to call upon the UK government not to replace Trident at this time. The motion introduced by Green Party MSP Patrick Harvie, a Faslane 365 Statement of Support signatory, attracted the support of all SNP members and Independent Margo MacDonald, and, by including the words “at this time” also gained the support of the Liberal Democrats. The Conservatives voted en masse against, and most Labour party members abstained. Five Labour members however did support it. They were Malcolm Chisolm, Bill Butler, Marlyn Glen, Cathy Peattie and Elaine Smith. It was the first time Scottish Parliament has voted against nuclear weapons. Stirring contributions to the debate were made by several members and can be read in the Official Report on the Scottish Parliament website .
Amongst these can be read the full remarks of Dumbarton MSP Jackie Baillie in which she made a number of statements about the impact of the Faslane 365 blockades on the local community with which we have taken issue in a letter sent to MSPs which can be read here. These statements seem to inappropriately repeat allegations and rumours which have appeared in some media outlets and on the website of Peninsula24seven. Amongst these are the factually inaccurate statements that the A814 is the only road serving the Peninsula and that the students were planning a Barbecue and Disco at the Faslane cemetery. This was never the case but seems to be a distortion of the suggestion by one student on the Strident website that they camp “near the cemetery” conflated with the Silent Disco, a separate event which took place at the North Gate. Although this misunderstanding has been cleared up with Peninsula24seven Ms Baillie has perpetuated it quite inappropriately in the debating chamber of Parliament. She also asserted that blockades have prevented school pupils from getting to school and caused pupils to miss exams. Though this may have happened in one or two cases involving lower level exams Ms Baillie neglected to mention that Faslane 365 called upon groups not to blockade in the mornings during the SQA (Higher) exam period during the whole month of May and that no group did so. We believe that public officials have a duty to give accurate information, particularly MSPs in Parliament. We have invited Ms Baillie to check her facts with us in future.
And we have received several Statements of Support from MSPs since. The Supporters list page on the Faslane 365 website includes current and former MSPs who have signed the Statement of Support.
BIG BLOCKADE 1st OCTOBER
On 1st October 2007 Faslane 365 is celebrating the diversity and impact of this year of civil resistance against the UK's illegal weapons of mass destruction.
Groups and individuals, who have disrupted the nuclear business as usual at Faslane, are coming together for a celebration, a carnival of resistance. We want to invite you too! Please come along and bring loads of your friends with you too.
On the evening of Saturday 29th September we will have a celebration including music, poems and films.
We will also be looking forward to renewed resistance based on our shared vision of a nuclear free world in a strategy session, on Saturday 29th and the morning of Sunday 30th September in Glasgow. This will be a planning session for continuing the energy of Faslane 365 for resistance to nukes in the UK. For more info please contact us.
TEACHERS WANTED
There will be a Teachers’ blockade on 1st and 2nd August. For details see the Teachers Blockade Page on the website. Contact brian@faslane365.org . If you have contacts who are teachers who might be interested please pass this along to them.
CALLING AMERICAN RESISTERS
A US Group will be blockading 20th and 21st of August. For details see the US Group Page or email brian@faslane365.org
GRANNIES’ BLOCKADE
A Grannies for Peace group will blockade on Thursday 23rd August to Friday 24th August 2007. For details click here.
WELCOME the JAPANESE DELEGATION
A group of Japanese, including 2 or 3 Hibakusha (survivors or the atomic bombs at Hiroshima and Nagasaki) will participate in a blockade on 25/26 July. All are invited to come welcome and support them. Click here for details. There will also be an event welcoming them in Edinburgh. Contact Janet Fenton at the Edinburgh Peace and Justice Centre for details: 0131 229 0993.
Faslane 365 GREETING CARDS
Each of the cards is a collage of the different banners brought to the first 6 months of Faslane 365 blockades and includes a photo of one blockade per card. Each of the 8 cards in a set contains different banners and photos and is blank inside. Four new designs now available! Pack of 8 cards in colour with envelopes. £5 per pack (inclusive of p&p). View the cards on the website here .
To order contact cards@faslane365.org or ring 07835 354652. Make cheques payable to 'Faslane365' and send to Valley Farmhouse, East Runton, Cromer, Norfolk, NR27 9PN with a note to say that the cheque is for cards.
DONATIONS ARE WELCOME. Please send cheques to:
Faslane 365
Valley Farmhouse East Runton
Cromer Norfolk
NR27 9PN
UK.
FILL the GAPS in the ROTA
We invite new groups to sign up and old groups to take another turn. Contact us at: info@faslane365.org.
Visit the website for updates: http://www.faslane365.org
Call for info: 0845 45 88 365 or 07768 312676
In peace,
Brian, on behalf of Faslane365 Steering Group
June newsletter
The month of May at Faslane365 started off slow but later saw some powerful actions, including the joyful reception of the Footprints for Peace walkers by the non-stop dance and movement group at the North Gates, the courageous multicultural Unity presence and the Barbie/Action Man blockade during the Families block.
Unity!
Asylum seekers from war-torn countries and repressive regimes in Africa and Asia, including Zimbabwe, Sudan, Uganda and Pakistan, all members of the Union of Asylum Seekers, Unity! demonstrated at Faslane this month. Their presence at the nuclear weapons installation revealed the truth behind the UK’s false claim that the possession of weapons of mass destruction provides security: these weapons in fact enable the UK to project disproportionate power in a world in which the majority of people only long for the tangible security of a safe place to live and raise their families. The proliferation of nuclear weapons adds to terror while an uncontrolled and highly lucrative arms trade provides profits for unscrupulous corporations. Dawn raids continue regularly in the UK. At any one time thousands of asylum seekers are held in detention centers. Snapshot figures show for example that on 24 June 2006 2,540 people were held in detention centers in the UK. Of 7,490 people leaving immigration service removal centres and holding facilities in the first quarter 2006 5,360 were removed from the UK. 2,785 of those were asylum seekers. (Statistics from biduk). Many have been returned to home countries where they face possible imprisonment, and worse simply because they sought a life free from fear for their families. These are people who seek only to build decent lives for their families. In stark terms they made the connection to the ultimate terrorism imposed by the UK’s nuclear weapons, chanting again and again “No More War” and “No more weapons”. Visit the Unity! website and learn how you can support the asylum seekers.
Families
The asylum seeking families were succeeded by the Families block. Children in dress-up played amongst the rocks generously provided by the MOD, and sheltered between them when the rain was heavy. Big bubbles were blown and peacefully burst and a Miss Piggy poster asserted the obvious: “Even a muppett wouldn’t spend £76 billion on Trident” while a tutu clad action man entered the roadway. Barbie hung from a tripod posing a problem for bemused police while Ken wielded a doll-size set of bolt cutters and Kid Power nearly shut down the base.
Mosquito actions keep the pressure on
The Newcastle group consisted of three blockaders while a single member of Y Drag Goch returned to the scene of the crime. Mary, a veteran from Greenham showed that even one person can make a difference and disrupted business as usual single-handed! Similarly a group three from Calderdale was joined by Monique and Adam, old peace camp friends who came from Belgium on holiday to do whatever they could. They ended up wearing capes and wielding mock Tridents (devil’s forks) and a banner that said “Fork off Trident”. Naturally they were arrested.
Weekend of Faith Based Actions
Yet another lot of Quakers supported the Anglican Pacifists Fellowship service of the Eucharist during which the Reverend David Platt spoke of Christians being at the intersection between the gates of Heaven and the gates of Hell (Hell because of the presence of nuclear weapons within those gates, and Heaven because of the protests of Christians outside). Composer of the well known “War Machine” Sue Gilmurray sang her hauntingly beautiful “Faslane” which evokes the landscape of the Gareloch and was composed on her first visit to the base. The song is featured on the CD Sing the Music of Healing. More info is available from Movement for the Abolition of War or by calling 01908 511948. The Anglican Pacifists made a walk of witness from the gates to the Peace Camp and many stayed over to join the Peace Pentecost on Sunday during which church statements denouncing the possession of nuclear weapons were fixed to the fence and a ritual dramatization of the defeat of Trident was played out (that weapon of the devil now standing in for the Prince of Darkness himself).
Earlier in the month the International Interfaith Footprints for Peace walk set out from Dublin and passed through communities affected by radiation from Sellafield. They were welcomed at Stormont by the Sinn Fein Environmental Spokesperson. On the Monday after Pentecost they continued in a meditative mood from Dumbarton to Faslane. They were given refreshments by Helensburgh CND and at the base they were greeted by an exuberant Five Rhythms Dance and Movement Group, who had been dancing all day at the North Gate. With banners waving and flags flying the scene was jublilant. Dancers spread out into the roundabout. Singers serenaded the armed guard at the gate with “Put down the gun” and the sun shone all day.
The following day the Footprints group walked from Coulport nuclear weapons depot over the military road and headed straight for the gate where they sat down and sang while “the American Gandhi” Bernie Meyers, clad in a loin cloth and looking every inch the part delivered words spoken by Gandhi on the last day of his life: “Unless humanity destroys the atom bomb I do not see much future for the human species.” Amongst those arrested was a young Japanese woman, Yu Kiyota who said she had become aware of the terrible destruction caused by nuclear weapons when she went on school trips to Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The next day Footprints walked to the South gate where Yu locked on with four others, two of whom had also spent the previous night in jail. One of them was 80 year old veteran peace activist Bill Bichsel from Tacoma, Washigton. “Bix” and Bernie are members of Ground Zero Center for Nonviolent Action which has maintained resistance at the Bangor Trident submarine base for 30 years. Ground Zero celebrates its 30th Anniversary this year on Hiroshima Day. Visit the Ground Zero website for more info. Also arrested two days in a row was Erik Johnson who works with the Oak Ridge Environmental Peace Alliance in Tennessee resisting at the Y12 plant which produced the highly enriched uranium which fueled the Hiroshima bomb and which will produce the thermonuclear parts of the new generation of US nuclear warheads the “Reliable Replacement Warhead”. Follow the path of Footprints for Peace as they continue their 86 day pilgrimage to more UK nuclear sites including Sellafield and Aldermaston and arrive in London on Hiroshima Day on the Footprints for Peace website or in Cameron Karsten’s travelblog or Bernie Meyer’s blog.
Announcements
1st October Big Blockade
On 1st October 2007, after a year of nonviolent blockading of the Faslane nuclear submarine base Faslane 365 is celebrating the diversity and impact of this civil resistance against the UK's illegal weapons of mass destruction.
Groups and individuals, who in various ingenious ways have disrupted the nuclear business as usual at Faslane, are coming together for a celebration, a carnival of resistance.
Come and celebrate creativity and hope with us. As the Faslane 365 year draws
to a close we will also be looking forward to renew ed resistance and our shared vision of a nuclear free world.
Accommodation and training will be available in Glasgow the evening before.
Coaches will be leaving Edinburgh at 4:30am and Glasgow at 5:30am on 1st
October. Please book early. For more info and a briefing pack contact:
i n fo @ fa s la n e 3 6 5 .o r g
0 8 4 5 4 5 8 8 3 6 5
Candlenight vigil and early morning longest day Blockade
Wednesday 20th June to Thursday 21st June 2007
All are invited to join this beautiful ceremony at the North Gate of Faslane at 10 p.m. on Wednesday 20th June, with candles in decorated glass jars. We will spend the dark hours in a vigil, circling the roundabout, making light patterns, offering peace, tranquility, and hope for the disarmament of nuclear weapons. As dawn breaks anyone who chooses may wish to start a gentle blockade of Faslane and others may drift away home. For details see the Candlenight Invitation on the Faslane 365 website.
Wanted: All Teachers
There will be a Teachers’ blockade on 1st and 2nd August with training 31st July. For details see the Teachers Block page on the Faslane 365 website. Any current or former teachers wanting to participate, whether in support or as arrestables please contact Brian Larkin at brian@faslane365.org . Also we could use help with mobilizing. If you have contacts who are teachers who might be interested please pass this along to them.
Universities Vs. Weapons of Mass Destruction - Part 2: 27 & 28 June 2007
The 2nd Faslane International Academic Blockade & Conference (FAB Conference) will provide a forum for presenting and discussing papers focused on the impacts of, and alternatives to, the nuclear state. For details visit
Academics and Scholars on the Faslane 365 website.
Uncle Sam Wants YOU … to resist WMD
Building on the success of other international groups and following in the wake of the international and predominantly American Footprints for Peace blockade a US Group will be blockading 20th and 21st of August. If you are an American living in the UK or plan to travel to sunny Scotland this summer why not join us. For details see
US Group on the Faslane365 website or email: brian@faslane365.org
Great God it’s the Grannies
A Grannies for Peace group will blockade on Thursday 23rd August to Friday 24th August 2007. For details or to sign up vistit Grannies for Peace on the Faslane 365 website.
Twenty-five Years of Faslane Peace Camp
The Peace Camp welcomes everyone to celebrate 25 years of resistance to nuclear weapons in an alcohol and drug free, child friendly Peace Camp Birthday Party on Tuesday 12th June. Those who want to enjoy a drink are welcome to a Peace Camp Birthday Bash on Saturday 16th June at which there will be a cash bar.
As always donations are welcome and needed. Please send cheques to:
Faslane 365
Valley Farmhouse East Runton
Cromer Norfolk
NR27 9PN
UK.
There are still gaps in the rota for the coming months. We invite new groups to sign up and old groups to take another turn. Contact us at:
info@faslane365.org, and visit the website for updates: www.faslane365.org,
0845 45 88 365
07768 312676
In peace,
Brian, on behalf of Faslane365 Steering Group
Dear friends of Faslane365,
Welcome to another edition of the newsletter. With 147 days to go 85 blockading groups have participated in Faslane365, maintaining 116 days of presence, with 740 arrests and 29 prosecutions. Trials are coming up on 14 May at Victoria Halls in Helensburgh and 11, 20 and 25 June at Helensburgh District Court. There is still only one conviction on a guilty plea coming out of a F365 action.
Demanding freedom for both Mordechai Vanunu and Palestine the Vanunu Freedom Ride began at the gates of Faslane with a flag-making workshop before setting off on their 2nd annual 200 mile ride to London. According to the group’s website Vanunu spent 18 years in prison 12 of these in solitary confinement, for telling the world that Israel was secretly developing nuclear weapons ... Vanunu was released from prison in April 2004, but is still not free. His freedom of speech, movement and association are all severely restricted in clear contravention of his human rights. He is denied a passport, and not even allowed to leave East Jerusalem without permission. He is forbidden to communicate with foreigners or discuss Israel’s nuclear weapons, and suffers continuing harassment by the Israeli authorities. 21 years’ detention is 21 years too long. The ride ended at the Israeli Embassy. Read more about Mordechai Vanunu and Israel’s nuclear weapons on the Freedom Ride’s website.
Taking the prize for the quirkiest blockading group so far is the multi-national but mostly Swiss group CIA (an acronym for Cows in Action) brought to us by the one of a kind Renate, a part-time cow herder from the Swiss hinterlands. Calling for nuclear free hay for all cows, some dressed in cow suits and others wearing large felted cowboy and cowgirl hats, these actually serious environmentalists, many of whom work for Greenpeace, fooled the police and, after two days of fun and games with cow toys at the gates, boarded a bus for home but doubled back to chain themselves across the North gate by surprise when no cops were there to stop them.
A small but committed Glasgow affinity group made a presence in April and are set to return monthly for the duration, beginning on 13 June, 9 July, 13 August and 21 September. They would welcome reinforcements of arrestables or non-arrestables and can be contacted at: glasgow at faslane365 dot org. We know there are many supporters out there in the greater Glasgow area who have been out to Faslane in years past. We need your support again this year.
A group of twenty-two Trident Ploughshares people pulled off a surprise blockade which succeeded in locking the base down for a full two hours during the school Easter holidays. Three groups simultaneously blocked the North Gate, the South Gate and the Oil Depot Gate at morning rush hour, all with lock-ons, some of which occupied cutting teams for close to an hour. The North Gate group piled out of vans at the roundabout, and succeeded in getting locked on in the gate, despite waiting police who attempted to push them back into the vans. Two supporters were arrested for waving down traffic for safety when blockaders were lying in the road. To their delight the blockaders were all released from police custody by late afternoon, eight of them with undertakings to appear in court. All plead Not Guilty and trial dates are spread over August, September and October.
Intrepid Irene refused to waste a journey north for a required court appearance and did a lone lock on to the front of a lorry at the North Gate. She had carefully reconnoitered the logistics of locking on with a D-Lock around her neck and on to the tow loop on the lorry. She waited for the moment when the lorry was at a full stop in the queue and, with only two supporters present quickly took action. The surprised lorry driver jumped out and took her photo to prove his story that a 60 year old hippy in day-glo green dread locks had locked herself to his vehicle. Irene’s smile was priceless as she was taken away after being cut out. See for yourself. This was her seventh or eighth 365 arrest; no one is sure, including Irene herself.
Portobello and Lothians autonomous group included some soft toy protesters who, in a bizarre incident were arrested, searched in a police van and released. Following this police searched three human protesters on the pavement, and finding them in possession of caribeeners, arrested them for a Breach of the Peace. In a baffling contrast to the early release of the TP blockaders these three were held overnight, but released without undertakings. Thus we will never know what the court might think of this preemptive policing tactic.
A coalition of Environmentalists, including Friends of the Earth, World Wildlife Fund, Greenpeace, the Green Party and Children of Chernobyl mustered a sizable turnout on Chernobyl Day. Most were wearing white elephant badges while a huge FOE inflatable white elephant stood by the road at the Peace Camp. See photo . Speakers made the too often neglected link between nuclear weapons and nuclear power. The Children of Chernobyl representative spoke of the group’s work to provide a respite for children, extending their life-expectancy which is shortened by exposure to radiation, and of the tens of thousands who have died as a result of the Chernobyl fire and the risk posed by nuclear reactors and nuclear weapons. At the conclusion of a four minute die-in in the road some of the dead refused to rise and were hauled off by the police.
The same day a group of students from Stirling, Edinburgh and St Andrews’ Universities blocked all roads in to Coulport nuclear weapons depot using two tripods and lock-ons and super-glue. See photo. This blockade took place the morning after Jackie Baillie MSP, in a public meeting on Trident jobs, urged protesters to blockade Coulport instead of Faslane. It was good of the students to take up her suggestion so promptly.
Kingston Peace Council were here for two days, some of them staying over in the Peace Camp. They had some beautiful banners and did a very peaceful late morning blockade. A lone kilted Aberdonian was seen dancing in the entrance one day as was a white-bearded Marxist on another day.
As was reported in the last installment April began with an anti-Faslane365 Protest. In response to this expression of local concerns about the impact of blockades on school pupils getting to exams the 365 Steering Group strongly recommended groups not blockade on school days before 9am or between 12 and 2pm in the lead up to and throughout the exam period. Groups have responded positively with alternative approaches including a blockade of the nearby Coulport nuclear armaments depot which did not disrupt local traffic, blockades of Faslane at other times of the day. In meetings with police we have suggested that base traffic be redirected to park up at the military base on the road above Faslane when blockades take place so that local traffic can get through. The police are currently looking into that option. Nonetheless the local school has made alternative arrangements for buses to go around blockades via the Loch Lomond road. Recent press coverage has reported the anti-protest spokesperson saying that Faslane365 was unable to “control” the protests or “guarantee” no disruption to school buses during the exams. We have written to the Helensburgh Advertiser, local authorities, the Head of the local school and had conversations with local people emphasizing that we are listening and responding to concerns about disruption to pupils going to exams but that we do not claim to control the decisions of autonomous anti-Trident groups. We have also made clear that as long as weapons of mass destruction are deployed at the base there will certainly be people who will attempt to impede and disrupt these violations of international law.
In addition to the Faslane Peace Camp’s 25th Birthday Party 12th and 13th of June, there will be a special Old Peace Campers’ Reunion on Saturday 9th June. Please come prepared with contributions of music, storytelling and reminiscences of old peace camp times, photos, drawings, and tales of what you have been involved in since you were at the Camp. There will be an action workshop Sunday 10th June and day of action of Monday 11th June. The Peace Camp welcome everyone to celebrate 25 years of resistance to nuclear weapons with an alcohol and drug free, child friendly Peace Camp. Those who want to enjoy a drink are welcome to do so on the beach.
There will be a meeting to plan for continuing the energy of Faslane365 for resistance to nuclear weapons in the UK for Saturday 29 September, with an evening of creative celebration, song dance, storytelling, contributions welcome. Sunday 30 September will be further planning, with the afternoon and evening devoted to action preparation for autonomous groups who wish to join in a celebratory blockade of blockades to end the year of resistance. All are welcome. If you want to attend or can’t attend but want to have input contact info@faslane365.org or watch this space for details of venue etc in the coming months.
Following the elections the largest party in the new Scottish Parliament, the SNP, is unambiguously opposed to the presence of weapons of mass destruction in Scotland. This is a major victory in the long struggle for the abolition of nuclear weapons. The result sends a clear message to the Labour party that its policies of maintaining nuclear weapons and pursuing neo-colonial wars in Iraq and Afghanistan in concert with the US are unacceptable to the Scottish people. This outcome belies the Labour argument that a unilateralist stance on nuclear weapons makes a party unelectable. Direct action has helped keep Trident at the top of the agenda and contributed to making this political situation possible. But the position of the SNP is tenuous. They may be unable to form a coalition government and may have to govern issue by issue. We need therefore to keep up the pressure and insist that the SNP and Scottish Parliament actively push for the disarmament of Trident in Scotland immediately. Although defense is reserved to Westminster there are many ways the Scottish Parliament can work to make it difficult for the UK to maintain nuclear weapons within Scotland. Renewed people pressure is needed now more than ever. We therefore need more people than ever to get involved and to build on the success of the blockades. There are still gaps in the rota for the coming months. We invite new groups to sign up and old groups to take another turn. To get involved contact us at:
Donations to Faslane365 are welcome and needed. Please send cheques to:
Faslane 365
Valley Farmhouse
East Runton
Cromer
Norfolk
NR27 9PN
UK
Dear Friends of Faslane365,
As I write this Anna–Linnea Rundberg, one of the F365 Steering Group is doing a week in Cornton Vale Women’s Prison for refusing to pay a fine for an Aldermaston action last July. No one has yet gone to prison for a 365 action, but the day may soon be approaching. To date there have been 75 Blockading Groups, 102 days of presence, 696 arrests and 26 prosecutions. Trials are coming up on 16 and 18 April, and 14 May at Helensburgh District Court, for individuals who have been arrested three or more times since the beginning of Faslane365.
Over the past couple of months there have been many diverse and creative days of presence and action. In February an audacious Trident Ploughshares surprise block shut the South gate for more than an hour. The Coventry group, finding that they could not get near the gate on a day when the police were expecting an announced action locked on in the A814 and are the only group of first time 365 arrestees thus far to be prosecuted. Harry McEachan’s septuagenarian Pensioners for Peace, a small but surprisingly lively group blocked the North Gate on Valentine’s Day after Harry was arrested for distributing invitations from the ramparts of Edinburgh Castle and escorted from Parliament for calling Jack McConnell a “disgrace to Scotland” for following Blair on Trident. A small group of Christian Clergy celebrated Eucharist and, competing for the smallest blockade of the campaign were Di and Nick who stopped by on holiday to do a duo blockade.
Action picked up in March. A group of Yorkshire Quakers with bright yellow umbrellas which read “/Quakers Say No Trident/” negotiated with police for ten minutes of Peace Testimony which closed the gates before some of the group moved out of the road while others refused and were arrested. In a dramatic day of action the Greenpeace ship Arctic Sunrise sailed up the Gareloch accompanied by seven Rigid Inflatable Boats (RIBs) and effectively prevented Trident from sailing for a day. After a high speed chase on the water during which a Greenpeace RIB landed an activist on the high security boom where he unfurled a *No New Nukes* banner. Three RIBs were seized by the MOD. The Arctic Sunrise out-manoeuvred four MOD tugs and blocked the sea gate. When the base bandit alarm sounded all gates were shut for nearly two hours. After a six hour standoff the MOD boarded the Arctic Sunrise, and arrested the entire crew. Forty seven Greenpeace activists were arrested overall and twenty nine were held in jail over the weekend. The Sunrise was locked up at Faslane where she could be seen docked for several days, her bright Green Hull and bright rainbow insignia a cheering contrast to the sinister dark hull of Trident.
Clergy Against Nuclear Arms provided a quiet counterpoint to the dramatic Greenpeace action. Some clergy sang new words to a favourite hymn:
Illegal, immoral, God only knows why-
Our leaders are planning to blow us sky high.
It’s yesterday’s weapon, for yesterday’s war
Now’s time to stop Trident that’s what we’re here for.
The sacrament of Eucharist was offered by the Bishop of Reading who spoke movingly of his support for those who would risk arrest in resistance to the evil of nuclear weapons and while wearing a white mitre and carrying the shepherd’s crook lead the congregation straight in to the entrance as police moved across the closing gate to block the fearless Christians’ path.
Leeds University students, due to low numbers, opted not to blockade but to maintain a presence at the gates. On the day of the Trident vote in Parliament Edinburgh and Stirling students inflated a life-size bin bag Trident missile bearing the giant message”:
*BLOCK THE BOMB*
Four people were arrested at Faslane while five Faslane Peace Campers were nicked for hanging a banner at Holyrood which said “/Whatever They Vote Trident is Still Wrong/”. Concurrently a group including a 365 Steering Group member (A-L again), Aldermaston Women’s Peace Camp residents and folk from Block the Builders locked on to barrels in Parliament Square in London, disrupting traffic in an unauthorized protest within the precinct regulated by SOCPA (or SOCRAP as it is affectionately called). Surprisingly when members of that group plead guilty they were only fined £100.
These demos were quickly followed by a series which vie with the Greenpeace flotilla for consideration as the blockade of the month. A group of Spaniards took the prize at least for most colourful block when they poured buckets of red paint over themselves. They “chose red to symbolize the pain and suffering and loss of blood that nuclear weapons threaten”. The police could only watch as the conscientious objectors danced unhindered before the closed gates of Faslane. As if to outdo the Spaniards a group from Bradford surprised us all when they linked arms and superglued their own hands together forming an unannounced human block which presented the police with a difficult challenge and kept the gates closed for two hours. The next day Katie and Chloe hosted a delightful Tea Party at which the “Rules of etiquette” included not only not speaking above the sound of the clink of a tea cup but also possession of no weapons of mass destruction. Oxford did another Tea Party, but with an /Alice in Wonderland/ theme, including a CLOCK BLOCK, which featured three Doomsday Clocks inscribed: "Time to Scrap Trident", "Not Too Late" and "Time For Peace", a decoy white rabbit and a Fluff-tastic attempt to Lock-on which the police prevented, but which provided the distraction for another successful lock-on. Twenty-one were arrested.
A large French group I am sorry to have to report were foiled in their cunning plans when a decoy group inadvertently led the police right into the main group who had not yet gotten their blockade established. This was followed by the whimsical Trident Is Bananas action, in which "sixteen actual banana activists were arrested for blockading the North Gate of Faslane. Forming 3 affinity groups the bananas used miniature arm locks and d-locks made of foil in their attempt to shut the base down. Assisted by 3 human supporters wearing *Banana Support* jackets, the banana blocks positioned themselves in front of the gates where they were immediately seized by eager police". Their banners read:
Trident is Bananas
Bananas say No Trident and Make Banana Cake not War
The German group, learning from their fellow European activists’ experience and being well prepared with seventeen lock-on tubes entered the road well south of the Peace Camp. They were already locked on in four or five rows which stretched across both lanes of the A814 by the time the police stopped them. The police offered to allow them to march to the gate on one side of the road, but as this would have meant that base traffic would have been able to pass they sat down in the road at that spot, stopping all traffic for three full hours. The following day “Robin Hood and 50 supporters from his Merry Band succeeded in blocking the North Gate for over 4 hours. Blockader’s plaster of Paris and cement lock-ons baffled the sheriff’s men who weren’t quite sure what had hit them”. On April Fools’ Day the /Clown Army/ invaded the Faslane area, declaring that according to tradition they were Kings and Queens for the day. As rightful owners of the land they therefore put the Naval Base up for sale. One of their number confused the police by approaching the base on stilts and at one point the clowns blocked a police car in the cemetery car park.
We have reached a new phase of the campaign. On Monday 2 April there was a demonstration by local people in protest against the disruption to non-base traffic by the blockades. This was sparked off by the German blockade a few days earlier which tied up the A814 for 3 hours. Locals are understandably upset and angered by the blockades because they prevent kids from getting to school, keep elderly people sitting in buses, cause people to miss hospital appointments, keep teachers from getting in to work at Garelochead Primary School, prevent carers from reaching the Penninsula and prevent local people from getting to work sometimes resulting in loss of income. Members of the 365 Steering Group and the Peace Camp had arrived early with banners which read:
We All Want to Return to Normal
Nuclear Weapons Are Not Normal
and
The Bomb is Bigger Than Argyll and Bute
We crossed the road to reach out to the local people and endeavoured to show empathy for the concerns of the local people on the day. There was some dialogue. Northants No Nukes, decided it would be better not to inflame local feeling by blockading the following day and instead performed Paula Bolton’s new play /The Anti-Nuclear Monologues/, with voices repeating the choral refrain expressing the experience of a moment of “cold clear anger” and the decision to join the resistance to nuclear weapons.
There have since been incidents of aggression directed at the camp. A beer bottle was thrown through the window of a van in which someone was sleeping. No one was injured. There have been similar incidents at the camp over past years. We knew from the outset that this campaign would have an impact on the local community and the Faslane365 Steering Group has proposed to the police ways of policing which would allow local people with no business at the base to pass freely. One solution would be for the police to allow blockaders to get into place in the entrance to the base and direct base traffic to park elsewhere until the blockade is cleared. We await their response but fully expect blockades to continue.
While it is traditional in this newsletter to choose a LOCK-ON of the MONTH it is too difficult to choose between the whimsical Banana Block, the Super (gluey) Bradford Bunch, the highly effective German block, the well-intentioned French, Oxford’s /Alice in Wonderland/ group Robin’s Merry Men, and those actions which do not strictly qualify as “lock-ons”, the Spanish paint pourers, the Clowns who consented to Steering Group’s request not to appear in clown costume on the day of the local protest, or the Bishop of Reading blessing the “Troublemakers” (his description of contemporary Peacemakers, updating the Sermon on the Mount) before the closed gates, and the greeting of peace which followed when protesting clergy and laypeople shook hands with police who had formed a cordon before those gates. I leave it for you to choose your favourite if choose you will. As for me I want to celebrate the wonderful diversity and creativity of this extraordinary and relentless campaign of opposition to the ongoing presence of weapons of mass destruction with which we are forced to live.
My daughter was at the peace camp the night the bottle was thrown through the van window. Next day she uncovered a sketch on the side of my caravan of a shoal of little fishes which together had the power to defeat the big grey shark Trident. She painted the little fishes in Rainbow colours, adding to the harmony of freshly decorated caravans on site. Like the shoal of diverse fishes the camp shimmers and sparkles as wave upon various wave of people pass through, with many groups using the camp as a base for their presence, and, with some individuals deciding to stay on and make the camp their temporary home, the population has doubled. The camp looks forward to welcoming many visitors to help celebrate 25 Years of Resistance to Nuclear Weapons at the Birthday Party on 15-16 June.
PRESS COVERAGE
As we stated in answer to the questions by local people in the Helensburgh Advertiser we long for the day when the Peace Camp will be a Peace Garden - a reminder of the time when the world still had nuclear weapons, and a monument to the struggle for the abolition of all weapons of mass destruction (see here)
The sustained and diverse actions in the Faslane365 campaign continue to generate substantial publicity. The day after the Trident vote the front page of the Scotsman collage of nationwide actions was composed half of photos from the Faslane protest with a quarter page photo of the NO NEW NUKES banner over pages 2 and 3 while The Herald had half a page of Trident protest photos and story. See the BBC News’ small slide show of the Trident Protests from Faslane in Pictures. The Sunday Herald Magazine included Trident Protesters in its list of “99 Things We Love About Scotland”. BBC News Magazine on line ran a photo of Coppers and Clowns as a Caption Competition. See The New Statesman’s story “The 365 Ways to Say No”. Or check out in the February issue of Red Pepper “Aiding the blockades” where Hilary Wainwright writes “there are no end of ways to blockade Faslane” and Rebecca Johnson on “Nuclear Whitewash”. More press coverage can be seen on the website: www.faslane365.org
As we are just past the halfway mark we are organizing a meeting to plan for continuing the energy of Faslane365 for resistance to nuclear weapons in the UK for Saturday 29 September, with an evening of creative celebration, song dance, storytelling, contributions welcome. Sunday 30 September will be further planning, with the afternoon and evening devoted to action preparation for autonomous groups who wish to join in a celebratory blockade of blockades to end the year of resistance. All are welcome. Contact info@faslane365.org for details and if you want to take part.
Donations to Faslane365 are welcome and needed. Please send cheques to:
Faslane 365
Valley Farmhouse
East Runton
Cromer
Norfolk
NR27 9PN
UK.
As we enter the second half of the Faslane 365 year long campaign of civil resistance to nuclear weapons the steering group would like to ask for more people to get involved to keep the blockades successful. If you look at the blockade rota on the website you will see that there are still gaps in the coming months and we invite new groups to sign up and old groups to take another turn. Let us know if you can help out with trainings, mobilising or website work. Contact us at:
info@faslane365.org, www.faslane365.org
0845 45 88 365
07768 312676
Dear Friends of Faslane365,
Apologies for the delay in getting this newsletter out to you. I came down with the flu and as soon as I was better there was a need for one more body in a lock-on, which brought us up over 500 arrests so far!
As of the end of January we had 494 arrested and 74 days of presence.
January saw the longest blockade so far by the academics, lasting just over 6 hours. Amongst those arrested this month were 17 University lecturers and professors from the UK, Sweeden, and Japan including Professor Sir Richard Jolly, former UN Assistant Secretary-General, as well as Krista van Velzen (Dutch MP, Socialist Party), Carlyn Leckie, Rosie Kane, Frances Curran (MSP’s for the SSP), Leanne Wood (AM, Plaid Cymru), Jill Evans (MEP, Plaid Cymru) and Carolyn Lucas (MEP, Green).
Anabel Dwyer came from Michigan to deliver a Lawyers Declaration on the illegality of Trident which stated that the “fundamental rules and principles of humanitarian law prohibit any threat or use of a weapon of mass destruction” calling on Commodore C J Stait the Base Commander “to desist from the criminal activities of deploying the Trident nuclear weapon system”.
Read about how you can get involved: http://faslane365.org/getinvolved
On the website you can find all of the reports, press coverage and photos not included in this newsletter: http://www.faslane365.org
CONTENTS
1) Blockade Summary
2) Lock-ons of the Month
3) Press Coverage
4) Blockade Reports
5) Donations
6) Volunteers
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1) Blockade Summary
The first group to blockade in 2007 was Friends of the Earth Flanders & Brussels with 8 arrested amongst them people from Belgium, Netherlands, Germany and Finland.
Pol D'Huyvetter from Ghent, Belgium, stated: "We can’t ask North-Korea and Iran to stop development of nuclear weapons, as long as nuclear weapons remain part of NATO defence policy. It’s totally hypocritical. The International Court of Justice in The Hague declared in 1996 that the use or threat of nuclear weapons would be illegal. When an illegal is protected by law, civil disobedience becomes necessary."
David Heller, Campaigner with Friends of the Earth Flanders & Brussels said: "Nuclear weapons are the most destructive weapons ever developed. The environmental and health consequences of the use of even a single Trident nuclear warhead would be catastrophic. We aim to make 2007 the year that Trident is scrapped."
Students from Oxford, Sussex and Edinburgh camped outside the base and attended the academics’ seminar at the main gate along with more than 70 eminent academics and scholars. Lectures were given on many issues related to Trident including its immorality, illegality, environmental impact, and the health effects of depleted uranium on Iraqui women. About 50 participants moved en masse into the road and continued the seminar for 6 hours there, the longest blockade of the campaign. Seventeen academics and seventeen students were arrested, amongst them internationally renowned physicist, Professor Kouichi Toyoshima of Saga University, Japan, Professor John Hull, a distinguished Theologian who is blind, listed a dozen denominational pronouncements on Trident all of which agreed that “it is a sin against almighty God.” Also arrested were four members of one family: Professor Sir Richard Jolly, a former UN Assistant Secretary-General; his wife, Dr Alison Jolly, who studies lemurs, and two of their daughters, Dr Margaretta Jolly and Susie Jolly. Professor Jolly said: “The government should pay heed to the admirals, generals and leading military advisers who have spoken against the peril and high costs of nuclear weapons which no sane person can seriously consider using. We should all be taking responsibility to stop the deployment and renewal of Trident.”
The next day elected representatives from Labour, SNP, SSP, the Green Party and Solidarity, Plaid Cymru and even a Dutch MP, joined the protest. Krista van Velzen urged police to join the protestors and uphold international law by arresting those who worked on Trident instead of those blockading. She reminded them of German police officers who recently blockaded trains carrying nuclear waste.
Next up was a diverse group from Dundee who tied up the North gate until we heard the announcement over the loudspeaker inside the base that the North Gate was closed, and that all traffic should now use the South Gate.
The Glasgow group’s account is worth reading just for the prose. “Down in the Faslane cemetery car park five minutes later in our hospital mob caps and tunics, the resemblance to Hattie Jacques and Kenneth Williams was more than passing ... The Hitman and Her (Tony and his lackey) led the way, while the bed-fellows followed”. You can perhaps imagine what happened next.
There was also a Birthday Party, a 150 mile runner, and a group of Health Professionals who, in addition to a blockade, setup a health clinic for the prevention of nuclear war in a Glasgow shopping center!
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2) LOCK-ON OF THE MONTH
Students and Academics North Gate Campsite https://www.faslane365.org/en/trident_is_illegal_immoral_and_inhumane_say_34_academics_and_scholars_arrested_in_6_hour_blockade_of_faslane_nuclear_base
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3) PRESS COVERAGE
ITV Central News reported on Alice Beer, age 94 coming to Faslane. Alice, 94, of East Midlands, who “fought against Fascism in the 1930s, was at Aldermaston in the 1960s and Greenham Common in the 80s, said ‘Blair thinks Trident is the ultimate deterrent but it doesn’t do anything of the sort. It just means there will be more and more of those things.”
- ITV Central News, 2 January
Jennifer Pardue, who has three children and one grandchild said … “I'd urge other women to stand up for what they believe in. We have a very strong voice and we shouldn't be frightened to use it…The only regret is that my health stops me from doing too much. I have multiple sclerosis, but I feel that a positive attitude is the most important thing for combating any condition.
- The Sentinel, 5 January
One of the academics, John Hull said: "I have had to think carefully about taking part in this event . At the age of 71, totally blind and asthmatic, I am not too sure how the cold will affect me, and I am slightly concerned about whether the police will let me keep a small radio with me overnight in the cell if I am arrested. But I am determined to do something to protest this nuclear policy, which is pointless from a military perspective, economically wasteful, illegal and unethical."
- Education Guardian, 5 January
Speaking before her arrest, Jill Evans(MEP Plaid Cymru) said: "This is the opportunity to honour the commitment made by Britain 35 years ago in the nuclear non-proliferation treaty to disarm its nuclear weapons”. Nicola Sturgeon (SNP) said "I cannot understand the hypocrisy of a prime minister who takes us into an illegal war in Iraq over weapons of mass destruction that don't exist, while he's happy to make room in Scotland for the most lethal bombs possible." The Scottish Green Party, said it … would pledge to ban the use of Scotland's roads and inshore waters to move ‘weapons of mass destruction.’
– Epolitics, 8th January
The 2006 Commons defence committee inquiry, looking into the context of Trident replacement, concluded: "The most pressing threat currently facing the UK is that of international terrorism. Witnesses … overwhelmingly argued that the strategic nuclear deterrent could serve no useful or practical purpose in countering this kind of threat." Instead, government ministers fall back on the argument that nuclear weapons represent an "insurance policy" for the future. Yet the truth is that, rather than providing insurance against an unspecified threat, replacing Trident will increase the danger of nuclear proliferation.
- Caroline Lucas, Green Party MEP in New Statesman, 12th January
No Scottish Labour Party elected representatives were reported to have participated in the protest. Labour MSP Jackie Baillie told the BBC: “It is in fact Westminster that make the decision.” … In his speech at the protest, SSP national convener Colin Fox blasted Labour’s stance: “It is dishonest to hide behind the excuse that this is a Westminster issue — this is not a Westminster issue, this is an issue for all humanity. And this is certainly an issue for the Holyrood Parliament, one which it is morally and politically obliged to take a stand on,”
- Green Left (Australia), 15 January
Plaid President Dafydd Iwan has expressed his wholehearted support to the members of Plaid Cymru and the SNP who took part in the latest demonstration in Faslane against the proposed Trident replacement programme … he said: "At a time when we are facing drastic cuts in public services, and at a time when the health service cannot cope with the growing demands upon it, it is absolutely obscene to even contemplate spending more than £25 billion on a Trident replacement.”
- News Wales, 15th January
Alan Allport retired Professor of Psychology at Oxford wrote: The British government is party to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), ratified by 188 other nations. At the NPT Review Conference in 2005, the UK representative re-affirmed our "unequivocal undertaking" to eliminate all nuclear arsenals. Yet, in direct violation of this undertaking, the government is committed to retaining Trident (Labour manifesto 2005), and is actively developing a replacement system at Aldermaston, to be ready by 2020. If … the government … goes ahead with this new system it will have signed the death warrant of the NPT, and opened the way to a global free-for-all of proliferating nuclear-weapon states, an escalation which can only lead, sooner or later, whether by accident or by hostile or terrorist intent, to nuclear catastrophe.
- Oxford Times, January
Dr Lesley Morrison is a founder member of the Medical Campaign Against Nuclear Weapons … As health professionals, Medact say they wish to take a stand against a government whose policy is in contravention of their professional Hippocratic code, which states 'First do no harm'.
- Borders Today, 26th January
GP Frances Hogwood said “There are ill-equipped and exhausted British troops in Afghanistan yet Parliament is being asked to approve new nuclear weaponry which has no military value, no legal justification” … She plans to help set up a "Health not Nuclear Holocaust" clinic in a shopping centre in Glasgow. Doctors and nurses will talk to passers-by and hand out prescriptions for the prevention of nuclear war. They also plan to speak and leaflet hospitals and GP practices. - Evesham Journal, 16th January
One Northumberland man will be braving the elements this weekend, running 150 miles from Kielder to Faslane in Scotland to raise awareness of the debate over nuclear weapons…. he’s intending to run 150 miles in three days, from his home in Kielder, Northumberland to Faslane in Scotland …. “The whole point of the run is really to remind people of their own capacity for will power and the results it can achieve,” explains David. “I think that will power is important to the outcome of the coming debates over the future of nuclear weapons.”
- BBC Home Page, 22nd January
Through the mist a small group of hooded characters creep and crawl in silence through woodland, communicating only in hand signals. A patrol drives past and the group dive to cover, before dragging themselves to their feet and continuing their walk. This isn’t a Tom Clancy novel or a new Bond film involving terrorists and spies, this is the new wave of political action against Britain’s nuclear weapons.
– Brig, The Online Edition of Stirling University's Finest News Source 20 January
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5) DONATIONS
Donations to Faslane365 are always welcome and needed. Please send cheques to:
Faslane 365
Valley Farmhouse East Runton
Cromer Norfolk
NR27 9PN
UK.
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6) VOLUNTEERS
As Faslane 365 goes into a new year the steering group would like to ask for more people to get involved to keep the blockades successful. Let us know if you can help out with trainings, mobilising or website work. See contact details at the end of this newsletter.
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info@faslane365.org, www.faslane365.org, 0845 45 88 365, 07768 312676
Faslane 365, Valley Farmhouse, East Runton, Cromer, Norfolk, NR27 9PN, UK
Happy new year and welcome to the latest issue of the Faslane 365 Newsletter!
After three months of blockades at Faslane, we have now had a presence at the base for 59 days, and more than 400 people have been arrested!
In December, a lot of celebrities took part in the protests at Faslane. Mairead Maguire, Nobel Peace Laureate and honorary President of the Peace People was arrested with the Irish block. On the Power of the Word-day artist Billy Bragg, author and comedian AL Kennedy and poet Adrian Mitchell among others came out to Faslane to make a stand against Trident.
On Christmas Day the Christmas Crackers group held a Nagasaki memorial event, bringing candles and a banner made by children from Nagasaki.
Read more about the rest of the December blockades in this newsletter.
The Benelux group has already set the tone for the new year with their blockade:
http://faslane365.org/benelux/benelux_photo_gallery
Please follow their example and help bring Faslane to a standstill in 2007!
Read about how you can get involved:
http://faslane365.org/getinvolved
On the website you can find all of the reports, press coverage and photos not included in this newsletter: http://www.faslane365.org
CONTENT
1) Blockade Summary
2) Lock-ons of the Month
3) Press Coverage
4) Blockade Reports
5) Donations
6) Volunteers
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1) BLOCKADE SUMMARY
Blockade summary for December
81 arrests
10 groups
13 days of presence
Blockade summary so far
408 arrests
42 groups
59 days of presence
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2) LOCK-ONS OF THE MONTH
Old and Strong
http://www.faslane365.org/blockade_photos/remains_of_a_concrete_lock_on
Nine year old concrete lock-ons from Faslane Peace Camp
Nice Ass
http://www.faslane365.org/blockade_photos/at_the_north_gate_1
http://www.faslane365.org/blockade_photos/joseph_mary_and_their_donkey_in_the_road
Mary, Joseph and the Donkey
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3) PRESS COVERAGE
Some of the press coverage from December.
All press links can be viewed at
http://www.faslane365.org/press_coverage
"Yet another day of the Faslane 365 blockade ended as the police broke another weird and wonderful lock-on device. And tomorrow being advent Sunday, and thus, the beginning of advent, it seemed only appropriate that Mary, Joseph and the (lock-on-device-aka-) Donkey should arrive at the gate."
- Indymedia UK 2nd December
"About 50 demonstrators had clustered outside the submarine base's main gate, battered by gale-force winds and driving rain, to protest against yesterday's confirmation from Tony Blair that he wanted a third generation of nuclear deterrent for the UK."
- Guardian 5th December
"Tony Blair has announced plans for a £20 billion nuclear weapons' programme. But at Faslane, the anti-Trident protest goes on - we attend the 'Power of the Word' demo, and finds the pen can still be as mighty as the sword.
The day's packed line-up includes appearances from the legendary Billy Bragg, author and comedian AL Kennedy and poet Adrian Mitchell."
- The Big Issue in Scotland, December
"Civil disobedience is the only way to give voice to the majority of people who want the UK to champion, not undermine, the nuclear non-proliferation treaty, and who want the billions being sunk in the Clyde to be spent on ending the poverty that feeds violent conflict."
- Guardian 9th December, column by Hilary Wainwright
"Monday the 11th of December saw one of the most successful blockades of the Faslane nuclear submarine base since the start of the Faslane 365 campaign.
In a day that saw 20 people being arrested and the running total rising above 365 people, 3 of the blockaders have actually been summoned to court on charges of breach of the peace."
- Indymedia UK 13th December
"Around 20 anti-nuclear protestors from Leicestershire have been arrested during a demonstration outside a missile base in Scotland."
- BBC 16th December
"A pensioner who has lived through two