BY SARAH PEART
GLASGOW — At 5am on February 11 a convoy of mini buses, cars and vans carrying 500 anti-nuclear activists from across Europe made their way to the home of Britain's Trident nuclear missile submarine base at Faslane on the Clyde River, 48 kilometres north of Glasgow.
A Trident submarine carries 16 D5 missiles, each with a range of 4000 nautical miles. Each missile has 12 100-kiloton nuclear warheads. Each day of the year a Trident submarine sits at sea in anticipation — poised to unleash its nuclear missiles.
Anti-nuclear activists have been protesting against Trident since plans for its acquisition by the Royal Navy were revealed in 1982. A permanent peace camp has been set up outside the nuclear base.
The campaign has continued to grow, and over the last few years successful blockades of the base have taken place, organised by the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament and Trident Ploughshares. This year, beginning on February 11, three days of "rolling" protest action took place, beginning with a blockade of the base.
Activists were able to take part in the blockades by sitting in the gateways of the camp or by giving vital support without risking arrest. Around 450 protesters participated in the blockade with more than 100 being arrested, including Scottish Socialist Party MSP Tommy Sheridan. As he was being dragged away by the police, Sheridan said: "They shouldn't be arresting me they should be arresting the politicians that allow these weapons of mass destruction to exist."
Â鶹´«Ã½ Weekly spoke to protesters at the Faslane blockade.
Alan, 43: "Right across society in the UK there are cutbacks in areas of health, education and roads, yet millions are being spent on weapons of death. It's insanity and madness on behalf of humanity."
Leah, 17: "We don't need it. We could be spending money on much more important things. We need to protest so that we can get media attention and people can see that there is a strong force against the base 'cos then there's a better chance of getting rid of it."
John, 68 (20th time at protest at Faslane): "It's just absolutely disgusting. The majority of people in Scotland for years have voted Labour. They used to be in favour of nuclear disarmament and then they changed their position. This is one of the main reasons I left the Labour Party."
Mary, 26: "Trident pollutes the environment with radiation. Yet despite promises to engage in multilateral disarmament, the government has not got rid of Trident. We cannot shrug our shoulders and walk away. We have to do what we can to prevent this monstrous crime."
From Â鶹´«Ã½ Weekly, February 27, 2002.
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