StirlingCND

5th October 2006

This week Faslane 365 kicked off with blockades by women's groups (an ex-Greenham group and Women in Black). There have so far been 26 arrests and those arrested were held overnight in police cells before being released with a warning letter from the Procurator Fiscal. This weekend there will be a blockade by a group from the Highlands, including Stirling CND former members Ellen Moxley and Helen Steven.

11th June 2006

In a response to a Freedom of Information enquiry about nuclear weapons travelling on weight restricted roads in the Stirling Council area the Ministry of Defence has admitted that the convoys are potentially vulnerable to terrorist attack and that the consequences of such an attach could be catastrophic. One paragraph reads:

"Of particular concern is that disclosure by MoD of information

ability to function effectively as a sovereign state."

What is implied is something more than an incident involving the dispersal of plutonium particles and nuclear expert Frank Barnaby takes the view that a nuclear detonation is implied.

See Sunday Herald article

The enquiry concerned a suspicion that a convoy seen on 1st April 2005 travelled on a road (B8075) which had a weight restriction of 7 tons (the convoy trucks have an axle load of 46 tons). Going on the road end notices visible at the time and the information initially received from Stirling Council, it appeared that the convoy had breached the regulations. Later information from the Council contradicted this and it seems from the copied correspondence that the viability of the road had in fact been checked with the Council.

The MOD refused to reveal the exact information asked for, on the grounds of national security.

A nuclear weapons convoy passed through Stirling at 2.50 a.m. Seven local people were at the roadside in protest.

An anti-war vigil was held in Stirling town centre to mark the third anniversary on the invasion of Iraq in solidarity with demonstrations worldwide.

A nuclear weapons convoy passed through Stirling on Sunday 5th March on its way to Coulport and passed again through the town on its way back south to Burghfield on Thursday 9th March.

Scottish CND has recently surveyed MPs and MSPs about the issue of Trident Replacement.

1. Do you agree that we need a full and open debate on the issue of Trident replacement ?

2. Do you agree that replacing Trident in the present international situation is a measure we don't need and can't afford ?

Two local MPs, Gordon Banks and Michael Connarty, and four local MSPs, Mark Ruskell, Cathy Peattie, Dennis Canavan and Bruce Crawford have said "yes" to both questions

"I think the Government's statements that there will be a full debate on the future of Trident should be reflected in their commitment to Parliamentary democracy, and translated into a full debate in the House of Commons with a free vote to decide on the renewal or not of the Trident missile system."

"Nuclear proliferation can only end when countries like the UK stop replacing weapons of mass destruction like Trident"

"In a world where global politics can be changed with the wielding of a craft knife on an aircraft - the case for nuclear weapons is as financially and strategically bankrupt as it is morally bankrupt."

"We should be spending more on Health and Education instead of weapons of war and mass destruction"

"I do not support the replacement of Trident. I have always considered the siting of weapons of mass destruction on the Clyde to be entirely unacceptable. Scotland cannot continue to allow herself to be used as the base for nuclear weapons. When there is still much to be done to improve Scotland's public services and such dire levels of poverty in the world this is an abhorrent waste of money."

Heavy Fines for Edinburgh "Submariners"

10 anti-Trident activists were each fined a total of £300 for being the crew of a large model nuclear weapon submarine which blocked the street outside the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh on March 10th .

The ten were accused under the Roads (Scotland) Act with placing an obstruction in the roadway without reasonable excuse and also of obstructing police officers who attempted to remove it. They made individual legal submissions but put forward a common defence. They argued that the reason for their action (the urgent need to bring the reality of the threat from an illegal nuclear weapon system to the Scottish Parliament) and the care and consideration with which they had acted, added up to a reasonable excuse. On the second charge they argued that it depended on the first and further, that it was inappropriate to bring two charges against them for the same action.

In her submission Sarah Whiteside said: "The advent of this nuclear age is a good example of a challenge to which the legal system must respond and in order for democracy and its mechanisms to function, there must be effective avenues for ordinary people to influence this response."

Sheriff Noel McPartlan rejected their defences to both charges, fining them £50 on the first and £250 on the second, claiming that the matter became more serious at the point when they refused to comply with police requirements to move. He conceded that the accused had acted in a civilised manner and had conducted themselves well in court.

The ten told the Sheriff that they would not pay the fines.

A supporter in court said:

"It is more than disappointing that we are still waiting for the penny to drop in the Scottish courts over Britain's weapons of mass destruction. The judges who deal with Trident related cases seem to have no real live conception of what a nuclear weapon is. Like so many before him Sheriff McPartlan has characterised as unreasonable those who do know and feel compelled to act. We are now considering what the next step will be in our effort to get the courts to respond to the Trident crime."

The ten protesters are: Sarah Whiteside (from Fife); Emma Bateman (Leicester); Brian Quail (Glasgow); Adam Conway (Southampton); Jane Smith (Grantown-on-Spey); Jane Tallents (Helensburgh): Angie Zelter (Norfolk); Rosie Kane (Glasgow); Peter Lux (Norwich); Janet Fenton (Edinburgh).

7th September 2005

UK Nuclear Weapon Depot Blockaded for Two Hours

This morning peace activists blockaded the nuclear weapon depot at Coulport on Loch Long, hampering day-shift worker traffic entering the base to a trickle and stopping it completely for almost an hour..

At 7 a.m. a group of 6 women lay down in the main entrance to the base and locked on to each other using plastic pipes. At the same time another group blocked the alternative entrance to the depot known as the Construction Gate using a tripod.

After a complex cutting out operation the police arrested and took into custody the six women at the main gate. They are: Pippa Robertson from Aberdeen; Carol Livingstone from Paisley; Angie Zelter from Cromer in Norfolk; Jane Smith from Grantown on Spey; Jane Tallents from Helensburgh; Sue Hushing-Tree from London. A little later the police assembled scaffolding and removed Andrew Simpson from Glasgow who was also arrested.

The aim of the activists was to disrupt the work of a base whose operation they is illegal under international law, and to draw attention to the reality of the UK's weapons of mass destruction.

The activists, among them David Mackenzie from Stirling CND and Sam Jones from Stirling University, are camped at Peaton Wood, a half mile from the Coulport base.

On Wednesday 20th July a nuclear weapons convoy passed through Stirling on its way from Burghfield to Coulport. On 22nd July, at 2.40 a.m. it again passed through Stirling on its return journey, reaching Burghfield at 7.45 p.m.

Stirling CND's "Jeely Peace" Cafe played its usual part in the highly successful blockade of Faslane. See BBC story.

Yesterday, 4th April, a nuclear weapons convoy passed through Stirling district between 10.30 a.m. and 12 noon on its way from Coulport on Loch Long to the atom bomb factory at Burghfield near Reading. It passed through Buchlyvie and Arnprior before going along the Raploch bypass and joinging the M9.

24th March Scottish Parliament Trident Debate

A full verbatim report of this debate is available on the parliamentary website

You can find the report at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/business/officialReports/meetingsParliament/or-05/sor0324-01.htm

and the voting at
http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/business/officialReports/meetingsParliament/or-05/sor0324-02.htm#Col15809 (see columns 15813 to15817)

Here is a personal report from David Mackenzie:

"The debate was on an SNP motion, fronted by Roseanna Cunningham, not to replace Trident. Roseanna spoke well, giving moral, legal and economic arguments. Liberal and Labour spokespeople attacked her unilateralist stance. Richard Brown said that Trident was not a threat to world peace. He also brought in the NPT as an example of multilateral disarmament to which the UK was making a good contribution. Tory spokesmen said that the UK's nuclear weapons had helped to keep the peace.

Mark Ruskell said that the UK, along with the other nuclear weapon states, was undermining the credibility of the NPT by having double standards, backing up his case with a quote from Chris Patten. He also mentioned the fact that nuclear weapon convoys were now running through Stirling in the hours of darkness. Chris Ballance mentioned the Maytime action by the Trident Three ("three elderly ladies"!) as an example of the risks coming from poor security at Trident installations and he brought in the pollution caused by depleted uranium at Dundrennan.

Labour voices countered with the argument that many thousands of jobs would be lost if Trident was not there at Faslane. Tommy Sheridan, pointed out that the money spent on Trident could provide between 20000 and 30000 jobs of a socially useful nature. Tommy accused those who wanted to hold on to Trident because of jobs of a "pathetic lack of ambition".

The voting is complex, given the number of amendments, but the Labour amendment only won by 59 to 50, with the voting along strict party lines. The Labour MSPs who we would have expected to support Roseanna's motion were absent.

Unfortunately the public gallery was practically empty during half of the debate. In the second half it began to fill up and in the school group in front of me there was obvious appreciation and support for Tommy's passionate contribution. "

20th March 2005
Stirling CND has again written to local MP Anne McGuire about the position of the British Government (and her own position) on the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) in the run-up to the Treat's review conference in May.

We ask:

"We would be grateful if you would confirm whether it is now the policy of the UK government to support a decreased emphasis within the NPT on the obligations of nuclear weapon states to disarm."

"Finally, as a local Stirling group, we would ask for your own views on the future of the NPT."

Local anti-nuclear activists, already concerned at the regular transit of nuclear weapon convoys through Stirling District and the city itself, are now additionally worried following a change by the MoD in the running pattern of the convoys, which includes travelling in the dark.

Daytime running has been the norm for 50 years of nuclear weapons road transport. In the past the journey took three days to complete but the MoD are now aiming at "continuous running", involving only brief stops and crew changes.

The changes being undertaken by the MoD are believed to reflect a high risk assessment of the terrorist threat. Continuous and running and running in the dark add rather than reduce risk.

"Stirling CND believes strongly that local communities should be informed about the convoys travelling on our roads and about the new and additional risks in particular. This is why we have written to the Emergency Planning Officer in Stirling Council to ask whether the Council is aware of this change and what action it is taking to adjust the emergency plan and inform the public.

When travelling north to Coulport the convoys leave the M9 at the Craigforth junction at the Prudential complex, go along the Raploch by-pass and turn on to the A811, then through Arnprior and Buchlyvie to Drymen, and then on to Coulport."

27th January 2005

At Stirling Sheriff Court Phill Jones, from Glasgow, was given a deferred sentence after pleading guilty to a breach of the peace during a protest against a nuclear weapon convoy near Stirling last year, while the crown accepted the not guilty pleas of two others, Seonad Forbes and Ludd Appeltans, also from Glasgow. All three were arrested last September as anti-Trident protesters stopped the convoy on the Dumbarton road, two miles to the west of the city.

In his plea in mitigation Phill pointed out that the protest had been entirely peaceful and nonviolent. He referred to the fact that today was the 60 anniversary of the liberation of Auschwiz and explained that the contents of the truck he had climbed aboard during the protest had an equivalent potential for the mass killing of innocent people. Sheriff Cubie deferred sentence until July, for Phill " to be of good behaviour".

16th Dec 2004

A nuclear weapons convoy passed through Stirling today day on its way to Aldermaston. It reached the arms depot at Coulport yesterday. More on nuclear weapon convoys

Morag Forbes was at Stirling Sheriff Court regarding stopping the Nuclear Convoy in Stirling in May of this year. She was fined £70 for breach of the peace and the charge of resisting arrest was dropped. The Sheriff took into account lack of previous convictions, that others were involved and a genuine peaceful protest had developed as he put it to step over the line of the law.

4th Nov 2004
This morning Tove Ladberg from Stockholm was released from Cornton Vale prison after serving 4 days of a 7-day sentence for refusing to pay a fine for blockading Faslane last April. Tove came specially from Sweden to deal with the outstanding warrant for her arrest. She handed herself in on her arrival at Prestwick Airport and was interrogated for three hours by officers who seemed to be looking for information about the G8 protests next year. In Cornton Vale she found her fellow prisoners friendly and supportive and the officers good-humoured.

There were six arrests near Stirling on 14th September as anti-Trident protesters stopped a nuclear weapons convoy traveling from Burghfield in England to the warhead storage depot at Coulport on Loch Long.

The convoy stopped voluntarily in a large layby a mile west of Stirling on the A811 but when it moved again, at around 4.30 p.m., protesters were able to halt it 500 yards further on by lying in the roadway and by climbing on board one of the warhead trucks. It took 30 minutes for the police to remove and arrest the protesters and allow the convoy to move again.

Phill Jones, Seonaid Forbes, and Ludd Appeltans, all from Glasgow, appeared on 15th September at Stirling Sheriff Court and were released on standard bail conditions by Sheriff Robertson. Their trial will be on 27th January. Tony Francis and Beth Cane, from Faslane Peace Camp, and Roz Bullen from Edinburgh were not required to appear and further proceedings against them are thought to be unlikely.A Nukewatch spokesperson said: "It was particularly distressing to see this horrifying traffic on Scottish roads yesterday when we all knew that another 50 people had died in Baghdad because of the UK/US war on Iraq, conducted on the pretext of eliminating weapons of mass destruction. The hypocrisy is quite sickening. It is also very disturbing to see local civilian police, whose task is supposed to be community safety, helping to defend these appalling weapons from peaceful and nonviolent protest."

2 Sept 2004 76 people, including four members of the Scottish Parliament, have been arrested during the blockade of Faslane naval base on the Clyde.

From 6.30 this morning there were long tailbacks of worker traffic as the protesters besieged the gates of the base, sitting down in the roadway and locking on to each other. Two climbers scaled lampposts and hung across the main gate of the base a large banner reading "Nuclear Free Scotland". The base was disrupted for almost nine hours as gates cleared by police were blocked again by activists.

Members of Stirling CND were present, most of them involved in running the Jeely Peace café which offers drinks and snacks to protesters close to the north gate of the base.

The MSPs arrested are Mark Ballard, Francis Curran, Rosie Kane and Patrick Harvie. Along with the others they are likely to be released from police custody this evening.

Overnight two Scandinavian activists, Tiina Sarkinen, 23, a plant scientist from Finland, and Anna Goransson, 24, a student from Sweden, swam into the high security berths where the Trident submarines are berthed and got 200 metres inside the boom before being apprehended. Early this morning Petter Joelson (27), from Goteborg in Sweden, and Per Hilkrstrom (22), from Nosrkoping in Sweden breached security at the Trident nuclear warhead store at Coulport on Loch Long, five miles from Faslane.

A Big Blockade spokesperson said: "We are delighted that so many people have been willing today to take a stand against Britain's weapons of mass destruction."

2 Sept 2004 As the Trident Ploughshares camp at Coulport ended anti-Trident activists have declared themselves well satisfied with the two-weeks of direct action against the Clyde WMD bases and are looking ahead to continuing and intensifying the campaign.

In spite of intense police surveillance protesters were able to blockade, break into and swim into Faslane and paint peace slogans on walls and buildings in order to expose the ugly nature of the business being conducted behind the security fences. Trident Ploughshares has also decided to continue its "Non-Stop Nuke-Stop" campaign which aims to cause disruption to Faslane and Coulport all year round through secret and unannounced blockades and intrusions. There were 95 arrests.

Stirling CND member David Mackenzie, who attended the camp, said: "It would be all wrong if these illegal bases only had to tolerate disruption for a couple of weeks in the summer or at mass actions like the Big Blockades. Those involved in this ongoing crime need to have regular reminders of how appalled ordinary people are by Trident. There is a growing understanding that these massive nuclear weapon systems are a key and integral part of the process by which powerful nations gang up together to dominate and exploit the rest of the world. If a government is amoral enough to threaten others with nuclear weapons, we should not be surprised when it deceives and defies its own people in order to pursue an illegal war in which thousands are killed or when it uses the threat of "terrorism" to erode civil rights."

23 June 2004 Stirling CND welcomes the the Scottish Green Party's debate initiative in the Scottish parliament on the promotion of peace.

We support the proposal for a cross-sectoral review in order to establish an integrated strategy regarding conflict resolution and the promotion of education for peace.

The Scottish Parliament actively supports and furthers the actions being undertaken already by individuals and communities across Scotland in the interest of building a more peaceful society. This work includes school, workplace and community mediation and conflict resolution programmes, restorative justice initiatives, anti-bullying initiatives and the use of the equalities legislation to challenge harassment and victimisation in the workplace.

Above all, we ask that the Parliament condemns the hypocrisy of preaching commitment to peaceful conflict resolution in the playground whilst in the 'adult world' it rattles the sabre of weapons of mass destruction in the face of potential aggressors. The Trident nuclear weapons system is indefensible on any grounds. Government has a fundamental responsibility to lead by example and we look to the Scottish Parliament to reject the harbouring of the Trident nuclear weapons system at Faslane.

We recognise that reserved powers inhibit our political capacity to immediately rid Scotland of nuclear weapons. However, reserved powers must not be used to excuse inaction nor paralyse the Scottish Parliament's capacity to think to the future. We ask that the Scottish Parliament invests in research and development to establish environmentally sound, socially productive and sustainable alternative employment for workers with nuclear weapons in Scotland.This reflects our concern and shared responsibility to prepare the ground for a productive, positive and peaceful future for 21st century Scotland and its inhabitants.

23 June 2004 Yesterday morning (22nd June 2004) three Trident Ploughshares activists were arrested at RNAD Coulport as they carried out a citizens, weapons inspection of the Loch Long nuclear weapons depot.

Morag Balfour from Glenrothes, Jane Smith from Granton-on-Spey and Stirling CND member David Mackenzie from Tillicoultry, made their way through an outer security barrier and reached the secondary entrance to the base, known as the 'construction gate', which is used by nuclear weapon convoys bringing Trident warheads to and from Coulport. No security personnel were in view and the trio set about cutting their way through the fence beside the double gateway, watched by intrigued maintenance workers. Good progress was made before police arrived.

The three were held at Faslane naval base and charged with malicious mischief before being released.

David Mackenzie said: "Every UK citizen ought to be a weapons inspector. For one thing, you know that the allegation that Britain possesses and actively deploys WMD is factual rather than mythical. Also, finding the labs, the storage and the delivery system is easy just follow the signs. But Trident is psychologically hidden, partly because for many people it is too big a concept to take on and something they feel they can do nothing about. So it is really important that people go and see for themselves the arrangements that are in hand to commit mass murder in their name".

13 May 2004 Protesters Stop Nuclear Weapons Convoy in Stirling. There were six arrests on 9th May as anti-Trident protesters twice stopped a nuclear weapons convoy traveling from Burghfield in England to the warhead storage depot at Coulport on Loch Long.

The first interruption took place just beneath the Stirling castle. One activist waved the leading truck to a standstill and then climbed on top of its cab while others went in front to block its advance. It was 20 minutes before the trucks could set off again. There were four arrests: Jane Tallents and Sam Jones from Helensburgh, Roz Bullen from Edinburgh and Morag Forbes from Faslane Peace Camp. They were taken to Stirling police station and released on an undertaking to appear at Stirling Sheriff Court on Thursday 13th May.

When the convoy reached Balloch on Loch Lomondside there was a heavy police presence but in spite of this the convoy was again halted. Two people were arrested.

The convoys are a regular feature on the roads of Central Scotland. Their task is to take Trident warheads to and from the Burghfield assembly plant to the Coulport store to be checked and maintained. Each warhead is believed to have the destructive power of 8 times the bomb which was dropped on Hiroshima.

Stirling CND members were able to explain to large numbers of passing motorists that they were close to Britain's very own weapons of mass destruction."

08 March 2004 Stirling CND member David Mackenzie was one of four activists who this morning blockaded the north gate of Faslane naval base, causing long delays for worker traffic waiting to enter. At 7.30 a.m, David, from Tillicoultry, Jane Smith from Granton -on -Spey, Eric Wallace from Helensburgh and Monique D'Hooghe from the Netherlands, lay down at the gateway, locked together with plastic tubes. It was 9.25 a.m. before a specially trained MoD team was able to cut them loose and disruption to base traffic was considerable. The four were arrested and charged with a breach of the peace. They were released from custody early in the afternoon after giving an undertaking to appear at the local court tomorrow morning.

The blockade is part of the Non-Stop Nuke-Stop campaign which has caused frequent, regular and unannounced disruptions to the Clyde Trident bases.Jane Smith said: "It's not me who is breaching the peace, it,s what lies behind the gate we blockaded this morning. Trident is a horrifying weapon of mass destruction and I cannot sit back and pretend that the activity at Faslane is normal, lawful or decent."

19 October This week a nuclear weapon convoy passed through Stirling twice. On Monday, at the end of its long journey from Burghfield, it traveled west on the A811 to Coulport. It was held up twice due to the actions of protesters, for over an hour and a half altogether and five people were arrested. Three were released later that night while the other two were held in custody until Tuesday morning. On Thursday the convoy set off on its return journey. This time it was mechanical trouble which held it up for over an hour on the A82 at Arden on Loch Lomondside.

6th August. On Hiroshima Day, two Stirling CND members, Ellen Moxley and David Mackenzie, were arrested on charges of vandalism at Faslane naval base after painting red footprints on the roadway at the base's north gate. The footprints were to represent the victims of nuclear war. They were released later that day. The event was part of the two-week Trident Ploughshares disarmament camp at Coulport which has attracted activists from nine different countries and has so far led to 28 arrests.

17th June. Ulla Roder Trial to be Adjourned. The trial of Ulla Roder for damaging a Tornado jet at Leuchars airbase in March, which was due to begin on 30th June, has been adjourned, possibly until late July. Ulla is being held on remand at Cornton Vale prison in Stirling. When she appeared at a plea hearing today in Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court a defense submission to adjourn the trial was accepted by Sheriff Liddell. The plea hearing was continued until 24th June in the same court, when a new date for the trial will be set.

16th May. The Nuclear Weapons Convoy which went up to Coulport on Monday 12th May came back through Stirling today on its way south. It was greeted by the Stirling CND banner at the roundabout on Dumbarton Rd. As it left the lay-by north of Stirling, a car on the other side of the carriageway crashed into the one in front, presumably due to some late braking to avoid the convoy as it crossed to its own side of the road. No one seemed to be hurt. Again, as 12th May, lots of supportive reaction from motorists (well done our banner) including one enraged motorist who had also passed on Monday when we were there.

12th May. A three-truck Nuclear Weapons Convoy left Albemarle near Newcastle this morning and we lost track of it until it reached Stirling round about 4 pm, where it was met by a group of Weapon Inspectors, from Falkirk, Bo'ness, Tillicoultry, Glasgow, Drymen and Helensburgh. It then stopped for the regulation break at the big lay-by on the Buchlyvie road and we had another look at it from close up, with a line of police keeping us to the verge. There was some press interest and a couple of radio interviews.

22nd April. About 50 Stirling people went to the Really Big Blockade of Faslane on Tuesday last, when the base was disrupted for most of the day and 171 were arrested. Overall about 650 people took part (not counting police!), from all over the UK, from Finland, Sweden, Belgium, France, Germany and the Republic of Ireland. Stirling CND member Tor Justad (who now lives in Strathpeffer) was among those arrested and charged with a "breach of the peace" as was former CND chair Bruce Kent. As usual the Stirling CND cafe Jeely Peace played a vital part in keeping hungry and thirsty blockaders going for the day. (more)