PEACEFUL PROTESTS CONTINUE AT FASLANE NUCLEAR BASE

On Friday 10 May at 9am four protestors peacefully sat down and blockaded the north gate of the Trident nuclear submarine base at Faslane, Scotland. The main gates were closed for one hour until 10am when all four were arrested and charged with Breach of the Peace. They were all released at 2pm.

The four arrested were: Joy Mitchell (68), from Berwick Morag Balfour (28), from Glenrothes Jane Tallents (43), from Helensburgh David Mackenzie (57), from Tillicoultry

Faslane houses Britain's four Trident submarines, whose deadly arsenal is over a thousand times more powerful than the Hiroshima bomb which killed at least 140,000 people in 1945. Once again the simple but powerful and symbolic act of placing their bodies in the way to disrupt operations at this base gives the clear message that ordinary citizens will not allow the British government to continue this ongoing crime which is linked to so much of the terror and oppression in the world today.

On his release, David MacKenzie said "As UK citizens we are appalled that our government is actively threatening to use our Trident nuclear weapons. The least we can do is to put ourselves in the way of a terrible war crime."

Note: Faslane nuclear submarine base has also recently been the scene of protests by base workers opposing the government's privatisation plans for the running of the base. Workers say that safety will be compromised and jobs lost.