It's a cold February morning, 7am, dark and pouring with rain, and we're meeting up with about another 400 people, who have come from all over the country and further afield to a blockade of the Trident nuclear submarine base at Faslane. Faslane is where all British nuclear weapons are based, and the 7am start was to time the blockade to coincide with the worker's shift change at the base. 185 people were arrested :- 87 women and 98 men of all ages and backgrounds. Amongst those arrested were 10 Scottish Church Ministers, Caroline Lucas MEP (Green Party), Tommy Sheridan MSP (Scottish Socialist Party), and lots of other wonderful people!
The blockade was jointly organised by Scottish CND, Trident Ploughshares 2000, and British CND, and was the first mass-action since the ruling by Sheriff Margaret Gimblett on October 21st. This ruling acquitted Angie Zelter, Ellen Moxley and Ulla Roder of their disarmament actions in June where they committed £80,000 worth of damage to a Trident related facility. The ruling has placed nuclear disarmament firmly on the agenda of the new Scottish Parliament through acknowledging the illegality of Trident under International Law. Both Angie and Ellen were once again arrested in the blockade.
People slept over the night before at the Friends Meeting House, or at Kinning Park Community Centre in Glasgow, and buses were arranged to leave at 5.30am for Faslane. Despite the unearthly hour, spirits were very much alive and in actively showing our opposition to Trident, both the two main gates to the base were blocked. The blockade lasted two hours leading to long traffic tailbacks. One of our group, (based in Edinburgh) had constructed an amazing 7 ft pink heart for Valentine's Day with a sparkly CND symbol on the front. Inside were tubes through which we were arm locked to one another. To our left were the Adomnan of Iona affinity group (also based in Edinburgh) who were chained to Morag's wheelchair, behind us were a group from Wales, and in front was a three-headed monster being arrested! People let us know that the south gate was also blocked and that Faslane Peace Camp had blocked the road near the camp.
The police, eventually broke our heart with boltcutters and pen-knives, and we were assisted towards the long queues of recently arrested people, before being transported in vans to different police stations in Glasgow. Most of us were charged with a 'Breach of the Peace' even though we were acting to uphold peace. We were all drenched and many people spent at least 11 hours in the cells, some not being released till 4 - 5am and facing a long journey back south the same morning. Nonetheless, most people were left smiling, as it had been an effective blockade, with a brilliant atmosphere due to so many people making a real effort to come and meet together and take action against Trident in a totally peaceful, open and non-violent way.
Trident Ploughshares 2000 needs as many people as possible to take part in the next actions at Aldermaston during 17th-25th May, so if you are interested in taking part, or coming along to support those being arrested, then contact David Mackenzie for details on (01324) 880744. There will also be a summer TP2000 camp at Coulport 1st - 15th August.