Anti-war action

This year the annual 4 July demonstration was on a Monday, it was pouring with rain, and lots of people were at the G8.

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We wondered if anyone would come. But amazingly people di

On 16 April, tens of thousands of people marked the 90th anniversary of the Easter Rising against British rule at a massive parade in Dublin.

Irish campaigners used the opportunity to communicate with the public about current struggles, including Shell to Sea and the Rossport camp, anti-racism campaigns, opposition to US “special renditions” taking place via Ireland and - a reminder that much remains unresolved on the island - the right of the Irish to the “ownership” of Ireland. An…

Those pesky horticultural pioneers were at it again when they visited the Ericsson Microwave arms factory in Mo”lndal, near Gothenburg in Sweden, on 14 April. Best known for their mobile phones, the Swedish company also produces components and systems for military and border control purposes.

Continuing with their professed “non-protest” approach, six of the group were arrested inside the factory, after using ladders to hop the fence and proceeding to “planting an orchard” in its…

A week or so ago the Local Heroes affinity group conducted a gentle forensic raid on the Labour Office in Airdrie, in order to out a dubious hombre by the name of John Reid who has been linked to Al McKayda. This unsalubrious shop is the hole-in-the-wall for the same Reid, when not providing the muscle and the sweet-talking on behalf of the business operations of one Tony Blair.

The complaints against this Saruman lookalike are many and various, but also peculiar due to his…

On the third anniversary of the invasion of Iraq, protesters coordinated events around the globe to demonstrate their continued opposition.

In London, anti-war demonstrators, estimated at between 15 000 and 100,000 (Met and STWC numbers, respectively), marched from Parliament Square to Trafalgar Square to condemn the war and Britain's continued involvement, and to call for the withdrawal of British troops. Activists in Glasgow, Newcastle and Dublin also held events raising awareness…

In the early afternoon of Sunday 26 March, Brian Haw was standing with fellow campaigner Barbara Tucker when the police came by and decided that a crime was being committed. Barbara was wearing a pink sparkly banner that read “Bliar, war criminal” and was not keen to give her name and address for no good reason. This was enough to get her arrested under the new law banning unauthorised protest near parliament.

Brian Haw was then arrested on “suspicion of obstructing police” for…

After months or torturous legal proceedings, harassment and imprisonment, good news from Brighton's SmashEDO as, in March, the legal cases brought against them began to crumble.

Two anti-war activists have had a temporary injunction against them lifted and indemnity costs awarded to them by a High Court judge who issued a damning indictment of EDO MBM's conduct of the trial. Mr Justice Walker accused arms manufacturer EDO of “woeful neglect” of the issues in its preparations towards…

A county-wide campaign against the renewal of the Trident nuclear weapons system has taken off in Somerset.

Following a talk by Bruce Kent in Bridgwater, eight Somerset peace/CND groups formed a campaign coalition. Towns around the county will be targeted, with supporters handing out leaflets about Trident and collecting signatures for the CND Petition Against Trident Renewal. They started in Taunton, which does not have an anti-war/anti-nuclear group. However, due to the…

On 16 March, Milan Rai, author, activist and founder of Justice Not Vengeance, went on trial for organising an unauthorised demonstration within the 1-km exclusion zone around parliament on 25 October 2005, contrary to the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act (SOCPA). If found guilty, Rai faces a fine of up to #3,000 and/or three months imprisonment.

The “demonstration” in question consisted of Milan and one other person, Maya Evans, reading the names of those who have died in the…

On 7 February, eight of us appeared at Newbury Magistrates' Court for planting vines and fig trees inside the Atomic Weapons Establishment Aldermaston last August (see PN2465).

Throughout our action we've tried to challenge both nuclear weapons and traditional protest practices and mindsets (see PN2467). One of the workshops we did during our trial preparation was entitled “Treating court as a gig”. At the time I felt it was a bit of a leftfield approach, but it…

Back in the summer of 2002, Britain's Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE - the place where British nuclear weapons are manufactured) published a document in which they outlined a raft of new facilities they intended to build over the coming years. Entitled the Site Development Strategy Plan, the contents of the document, combined with the recruitment of new scientists at the nuclear sites, provoked some antinuclear campaigners to consider whether a new generation of nuclear weapons was on the…

On Sunday 12 February, a group of anti-nuclear campaigners and activists gathered in front of the Camel's Head Gate at the Devonport Dockyard in Plymouth to protest against the agreement between the city of Plymouth and the Ministry of Defence to refit Britain's Trident nuclear submarines.

HMS Vanguard was refitted at the dockyard between 2003 and 2004 and, in early 2005, HMS Victorious came in for its refit; it is expected to remain there for two to three years. Refits of the other…

This month sees the launch of a new interactive website from Conscience The Peace Tax Campaign. From 2 March, visitors to PeacePays.org will be able to see how nonviolent peacebuilding initiatives are not only desirable, but are actually less costly and more effective than current approaches to security.

The UK is the third largest military spender in the world and almost 10% of our taxes go to the military. Out of a military budget of over #33 billion, only 3% is spent on conflict…

As Peace News went to press, campaigners were making a last ditch attempt at halting the planning process for AWE Aldermaston's controversial Orion laser facility. Janet Kilburn reports...

At a meeting on 25 January, a small group of local councillors is expected to rubber stamp the plan - despite hundreds of objections and a growing call for a public inquiry. Campaigners, locals, parliamentarians - and even another nearby local authority - have been lobbying both…

Doors continue to swing open for Faslane 365, the ambitious plan to blockade Faslane naval base continuously for a year. It seems to be catching the imagination.

Perhaps one of the reasons for this lively response is the fact that these days people working for social change are showing an increased readiness to express solidarity across a wide range of connected problems and injustices, such as war, debt, poverty, abuse of asylum seekers, arms sales, drugs, corporate scams,…