Make Love Not War

On St. Valentine’s Day about 500 people arrived at Faslane Nuclear Sub Base to take part in a massive blockade. 189 people including MPs and members of the clergy, were arrested in a totally peaceful action. Messages of support came from such notables as Sean Connery (!) and Kurt Vonnegut.

Co-ordinated by Trident Ploughshares, Scottish CND and British CND, the action was to publicise the true nature of nuclear weapons - immoral, dangerous in every respect, a vast waste of money, and above all, illegal under international law.

The first wave of protestors arrived at 7am, in time to prevent the early shift of workers getting into the base. Police set up a roadblock at the South Gate, but North Gate was successfully blocked at the point of entry by a 3-headed monster and a giant heart - actually elaborate lock-on devices. Further down the road at the Peace Camp, police were totally surprised by the appearance of two heavy lock-on barrels which created massive tailbacks of traffic. In spite of truly awful weather, protestors stayed at the gate and continued to block the entrance. People were still being arrested in the late morning. Virtually everyone arrested was taken to one of Glasgow’s 4 police stations, and many were not released until the early hours of next day.

Living ...

A Trident Ploughshares spokesperson said of the action’s success: 'The action shows that more and more people are grasping the urgency of the threat posed by Britain’s unlawful nuclear arsenal. We are delighted that so many have been to take this significant step towards preventing nuclear crime.’ A spokes person from the base gave his opinion, 'The workforce is sick and tired of these people trying to stop us earning a living'.

Dying

Faslane is home to 4 British Trident submarines HMS’s Vanguard Victorious, Vigilant and Vengeance . Trident began replacing Polaris in Britain’s arsenal in the I970’s, and is a major escalation in Britain’s nuclear capability. It is far more powerful and destructive than its predecessor. Effects of nuclear weapons include all kinds of cancers, heart disease, damage to environments, contamination of the food chain, radioactive fallout, and psychological stress and fear.

Illegal

An Advisory Opinion from the International Court of Justice in 1996 concluded “In view of the unique characteristics of nuclear weapons... The use of such weapons is scarcely reconcilable with the rules of humanitarian law.” This conclusion was based on a 100 year accumulation of International Humanitarian Law. The St Valentine’s Day action, dubbed “Crimebusters’ Blockade”, involved a mass of people wilfully laying themselves open to a charge of Breach of the Peace, under Scottish Law. This charge is risible, given that only yards from the site of the arrests, massive organised illegality which threatens the destruction of humanity is going on routinely. The 180-odd charged do not expect to go to court, but watch this space ...