Press Releases & Updates 2000
2nd August 2000
83 Arrested yesterday on First Day of Ploughshares August Campaign
Peace Walkers To Be Officially Welcomed by Glasgow Lord Provost
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The total arrest count for the first day of the Trident Ploughshares
fortnight of disarmament action at the Clyde nuclear weapon bases reached
83 yesterday as two climbers came down from the tripod which had closed the
south gate for 13 hours.
Police had been unwilling or unable to remove the
fifteen foot high construction, made out of three long scaffolding poles.
The climbers eventually descended voluntarily. The blockade began at the
base’s two gates at 7am.
At the north gate the beginning of the blockade was signaled by the arrival
of the 30 walkers who had been on the road since June 26th from
Aldermaston, where the Trident warheads are made. After a brief ceremony
activists blocked the gateway by sitting down or locking on to each other.
After warnings police moved in to remove, arrest and charge them. Leeds MP
Harold Best and Scots writer A.L. Kennedy were present to give their
support and encouragement.
The day brought its own ironic twist, as many of the women on the Peace
Walk from Aldermaston who had received a warm and high profile
reception from West Dunbartonshire Council on their way through Clydebank,
found themselves today in the police cells in the same town after being
arrested at the blockade. Among those arrested were activists from Finland,
Scotland, Germany, England, Wales, The Netherlands; Ulla Roder and Angie
Zelter of the "Trident Three"; Ray Davies, a local councillor from Wales
and Japanese monks and nuns from Milton Keynes.
Today at noon the Lord Provost of Glasgow, Alex Mosson, will give a civic
reception at the City Chambers for the peace walkers. The walkers will hand
over to Mr. Mosson the 1000 Japanese paper cranes, symbols of peace, which
they made on the march together with their banner. These items will be
exhibited at Glasgow’s People’s Palace.
A Trident Ploughshares spokesperson said:
"Again we have been encouraged to
see so many people willing to confront this crime against humanity in such
a peaceful but determined way. We feel that there is a significant shift
away from complacency about Trident. There is more unease about it in
official circles and more ordinary people are realising that they can do
something about it. We are looking forward to continuing the good work over
the next 13 days."
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Trident Ploughshares,
0845 45 88 366
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