Thursday 7th February 2002

William Rae
Chief Constable
Strathclyde Police
173 Pitt Street
Glasgow
G2 4JS

The Big Blockade 2002, Faslane, 11th to 13th February 2002

Dear Mr Rae,

We're writing in response to comments made by Deputy Justice minister, Dr. Richard Simpson MSP in the Scottish parliament last week. Dr Simpson suggests that up to 750 police officers were involved in policing last October's demonstration at Faslane which involved a cost of "hundreds of thousands of pounds".

We feel that if true, such a level of policing of the peaceful protest is quite excessive and represents a gross mis-use of tax-payer's money.

As supporters and participants of the sit-down blockades of Faslane we call on you not to waste police resources in this way. The non-violent protests are striving to upheld International Law. Trident, an indiscriminate weapon of mass destruction, is patently illegal and all other avenues have clearly failed.

As you are well aware, the protest organisers liaise closely with Helensburgh police about arrangements for the protest and have shown that they strive to minimise any disruption to members of the public. In courtcases following previous protests your officers have repeatedly commented that the nature and mood of the protests at Faslane have been peaceful and good-humoured.

Organisers of the event work hard to maintain this non-violent and good-natured atmosphere. Many preparatory non-violence training workshops have been held across Scotland and the rest of the UK for the blockade and non-violence is stressed in all literature advertising the event.

There has also now been a series of acquittals as courts in Dunbartonshire have found that people taking part in the blockade had not caused the level of distress and alarm required to breach the peace. We'd also like to remind you of comments made by Justice of the Peace Tony Stirling calling into question the policy of mass arrests.

We therefore urge you to reconsider the way in which the sit-down protests at Faslane are policed and reduce the number of police officers deployed for such events.

In peace,

Brian Quail;
AL Kennedy;
Billy Wolfe;
John McAllion MSP
Lloyd Quinan MSP;
Tommy Sheridan MSP;
Carol Naughton;
Robin Harper MSP