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Press Releases & Updates 2009
31st August 2009
Summary of the week long disarmament camp at Coulport
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Twenty five members of Trident Ploughshares took part in the tenth annual week long disarmament camp near Faslane, Scotland, the homeport of Trident, Britain’s nuclear weapons system. Members of the group maintained a peaceful daily morning vigil at the gates of RNAD Coulport, the UK’s nuclear weapons depot and engaged in dramatic nonviolent direct actions calling for the disarmament of Trident.
Five members of the group kicked off the week of action on Monday August 17th, by walking past security guards through the main gate straight into Faslane. They reached the high security perimeter approximately one hundred fifty yards inside the base before being stopped by MOD Police. They handed out a letter calling on everyone within the base to join with them in beginning disarming Trident while one member of the group handed out flowers to police. The bandit alarm was sounded and the base was locked down for nearly an hour. The five were charged with entering a restricted area under SOCPA (Serious Organized Crime and Police Act). Their letter stated: “It is the presence of Trident submarines ... which constitutes a serious organized crime.” They cited the opinion of Judge Bedjaoui, President of the International Court of Justice, on a nuclear weapons system such as Trident “that deploys over 100 nuclear warheads with an approximate yield of 100 kilotons per warhead.” He stated: “that warheads of this size constitute around eight times the explosive power of the bomb that flattened Hiroshima ... and killed over 100,000 civilians. ... In my opinion, such a system deployed and ready for action would be unlawful.”
The statement, signed by Sylvia Boyes, Angie Zelter, Brian Larkin, Penny Stone and Mary Millington, noted “that the UK government, as signatory to the Nuclear Non Proliferation Treaty undertook more than 40 years ago to complete the disarmament of its nuclear weapons.” And the “Scottish government formed a working group for a future of a Scotland without nuclear weapons nearly two years ago but has failed to release a report let alone take any relevant action while the people of Scotland overwhelmingly oppose the presence of nuclear weapons in these waters. As long as the governments fail to begin a process of disarmament members of Trident Ploughshares are committed to nonviolent action to begin that process. Disarmament would not have to mean the loss of jobs in the area. We urge the government to redirect the resources currently allocated to Trident to meet real human needs. The skills of people working at this base could well be employed in building the infrastructure for renewable energy among other possibilities. Rather than continue to threaten millions of innocent civilians with nuclear weapons Scotland and the UK could lead the world towards nuclear disarmament by scrapping Trident. We invite others to follow us through this gate and restore humanitarian law.”
Later in the week Sylvia Boyes, 66 of Keighley, and Mary Millington, 61 of Glasgow, both Quakers, painted a rock outside Faslane with the slogan “SCOTS! SAY NO TO TRIDENT.”
Signalling ongoing resistance to the deployment of nuclear weapons three members of Trident Ploughshares joined three members of Faslane Peace Camp in blockading Coulport today. Work at the nuclear bomb depot was disrupted for three hours as traffic was diverted due to the blockade. Four of the group linked arms inside drain pipes made into layered lock-ons to block the main gate while two others attempted to block the construction gate. A specialist cutting team was called to the spot to remove the protesters.
Last updated: 31st August 2009
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