Power of the Word: the Sequel

Writers and performers arrested in Second
‘Power of the Word’ Blockade Against Trident

Five writers and singers were arrested at the Faslane nuclear base after a five hour “Power of the Word” blockade against Trident on June 5 involving around 30 writers and performers from all over Britain.

Participants in the Power of the Word blockade included actor Roger Lloyd Pack, who read messages of support and sang a protest song with actor-musician Rebecca Thorn. Writer A.L.Kennedy performed a stand-up monologue about nuclear weapons, which began with an excruciatingly funny exposure of the bizarre madness of nuclear thinking, and ended with an excoriating indictment of the lies used to sustain nuclear policy. Poems about war and resistence were read by Scottish novelist and poet Allan Cameron, author of satirical novel Berlusconi Bonus, Gerry Loose, and Sean Legassick. Among the performers were a number of singer-songwriters, including Theo Simon, David Ferrard, Kieran Dorris and Paul Baird. Among the songs of protest of folk legend Leon Rosselson, was one about scrapping Trident that he had composed after participating in a previous Faslane 365 blockade last November.

“Today we have sung, read poetry and made speeches to express our dissent, and as long as Trident exists we will continue to do so,” said Edinburgh folk singer David Ferrard, who was arrested after sitting down in front of the Faslane gates. “Nuclear weapons are very unpopular in Scotland. They epitomize the antithesis of everything that art stands for: truth, beauty and life itself.”

John Rowley, a Trustee of the Gandhi Foundation, spoke of Gandhi’s legacy of nonviolence and responsibility before sitting down in front of the gates of the Trident base, linking his arms with David Ferrard, Allan Cameron, Theo Simon and Angie Zelter. Participating in his third blockade at Faslane, Theo Simon, the lead singer of well-known folk group ‘Seize the Day’, appealed to the Scottish executive and Strathclyde police to uphold the law and close the gates of the Trident submarine base for good.

“Even in a country more than used to its leaders spending obscene sums of money on illegal enterprises Trident remains abhorred by the majority of the population of its host country,” said Scottish author A.L. Kennedy, participating in her second Faslane blockade. “Now with manufacturers baying for new weapons systems and a ramped-up nuclear power industry to support them, we have to say that enough is enough.”

I want to raise my voice in protest because I feel the situation is urgent,” said actor Roger Lloyd Pack, best known for his role as Trigger in Only Fools and Horses. “The money could be so much better spent on other things, like funding alternative energy sources and, in particular , combatting climate change, where the real danger lies. I believe the continued deployment of Trident is immoral, illegal, and wrong in just about every way.”

Thousands have participated and more than 750 people have been arrested since the Faslane 365 blockades started on October 1, 2006.