Academics challenge new PM Gordon Brown to respond to public opinion and the Scottish parliament over Trident

Faslane, near Glasgow, June 27, 2007

Over 40 academics and students gathered today at the nuclear base of Faslane in Scotland in a bid to convince new Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, to scrap his plans to renew the Trident nuclear weapons system. The conference and blockade combined academic discussion with non-violent direct action blockading the base[1]. The academics insisted Gordon Brown justifies his commitment to Trident to the intellectual community, as well as to his deputy leader, Harriet Harman, as he has so far failed to do so. The conference and blockade was especially timely, occurring two weeks after MSPs voted overwhelmingly against Trident’s replacement, at odds with Westminster. There is also increasing public disquiet about the cost to UK tax payers exceeding £50 billion[2].

Participating in the academic blockade/conference were scholars and students from universities across the UK, Sweden, Spain and other countries. They were experts in areas as diverse as international relations, environmental impacts of the base, economic impacts, UK nuclear policies, and the history of protest. Papers addressed, amongst other things, 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.

Faslane hosts the Trident system which carries 200 warheads, 58 US missiles and 4 nuclear-powered submarines. The participants believe that Britain should comply with its obligations under the Non-Proliferation Treaty of 1968, according to which it commits to working towards global nuclear disarmament.

Conference delegate Professor Mary Kaldor (London School of Economics) said about the action: “I am strongly opposed to the acquisition of Trident and think that Britain’s acquisition of Trident could lead to nuclear proliferation. I would like to see Gordon Brown open negotiations about nuclear disarmament.”

At the end of the conference, there was a blockade of the base during which fourteen academics and students were arrested. They included student Anna Christiansson, from Gothenburg, who said: “Nuclear weapons create fear, fear creates violence, violence creates more violence. I want peace and Trident makes my wish impossible. That’s why I’m here”.

Among those arrested was Professor Bridget Fowler (University of Glasgow) who first took part in an anti-nuclear demonstration in the early 1960s at Aldermaston. Her arrest today shows that the issue of nuclear weapons is as controversial today as it was then.

The conference delegates concluded that Trident makes Britain a more dangerous rather than a safer place, and urged the government to take this historic opportunity to reconsider its decision to renew the nuclear weapons system.

The papers presented at this Faslane Academic Blockade are attached below. We are currently exploring the possibility of creating a powerful cutting edge academic and popular edited volume from a range of the papers presented at this and the previous academic blockade in January. If anyone has useful suggestions concerning a good publisher for this volume, or if anyone wants to send updated versions of their papers, please contact Justin at j.kenrick@socsci.gla.ac.uk