Protests

ANTI-nuclear protesters gathered in Westminster last night in an eleventh-hour demonstration against replacing the Trident missile system.

Several hundred people stood opposite Parliament as MPs voted on ordering a new generation of weapons.

The demonstration followed a day of anti-Trident protests to vent anger against the Government.

There were a number of arrests outside the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh and at Westminster where activists chained themselves to a mock missile, disrupting traffic in the heart of London.

Four protesters were arrested outside the Scottish Parliament, including a man who chained himself to a canopy.

Police barriers were set up directly below the area where Seth Ebdon had perched himself as passers-by made their way to work.

Speaking from the rooftop, Mr Ebdon, from the Faslane peace camp, said: "I want to raise publicity this issue, particularly the fact that this is going through Parliament today.

"We've been planning this over the past week or so and want to let people know how strongly we feel about this."

Passing motorists on Horse Wynd immediately in front of Holyrood sounded their horns in support of Mr Ebdon.

Fellow Faslane camp resident Stuart Kerr, 29, gave his backing to Mr Ebdon from outside Holyrood.

He said: "We want to raise awareness so that as many people as possible know about this issue and the vote about Trident, which we think is highly immoral, illegal and wrong."

Demonstrators also gathered outside the Faslane submarine base on the Clyde. They included Kerri Vaslot, 21, a student, who said: "The current threat to peace is from individuals, suicide bombers and terrorists, not other states. There is no justification for these weapons."

Four people were arrested at Faslane and two activists from Greenpeace ended a crane-top protest next to the Houses of Parliament and were arrested after spending more than 36 hours on top of the 200ft structure.

They unfurled a huge banner claiming that the Prime Minister loved weapons of mass destruction.

Earlier, a number of celebrities joined anti-nuclear MPs at a reception in Westminster to rally opposition to Trident ahead of the Commons vote.

Among them was Annie Lennox, the Scots singer, who said her faith in politicians had been shaken by the Government's support for George Bush, the US President, and the war in Iraq.

Bianca Jagger, the human rights campaigner, said that if Trident was ever fired it would be "the end of life as we know it".

Vivienne Westwood, the fashion designer, handed out leaflets to MPs and passers-by in Westminster.

A police helicopter hovered above Parliament last night as the banner-waving protesters gathered. Many riding bicycles arrived at Westminster just after 7pm as the first of the votes was being held.

They stopped in the road, ringing bells and blowing whistles and chanting "No Trident."

Dozens of police officers attempted to move the cyclists off the road and managed to clear a way for traffic within a few minutes.

Kate Hudson, CND chairwoman, announced the first of the Commons votes to the protesters gathered outside Parliament and said it was clear there had been the biggest back-bench rebellion by Labour MPs since Tony Blair came to power.

"It is a major victory for the peace movement and we will now build on that to make sure this decision is reversed," she said.

Ms Hudson said it was clear MPs from all parties had decided not to support replacing Trident and she praised campaigners for keeping up their protest right to the last minute.