Nuclear weapons

On 28 September, 27 people appeared at Kansas City municipal court for nonviolent witness in May at the site of the new Kansas City nuclear weapons plant. Together with 26 others, mainly Catholic Workers, they had been arrested after walking into the road to the site. Nine pleaded guilty, two were acquitted because prosecution witnesses could not identify them, and the rest were found guilty after trial. All received light sentences of probation and community service, with fines for those in…

On 28 October, the ministry of defence began a public consultation on its proposals for dismantling 27 out-of-service nuclear powered submarines and for managing the resulting radioactive wastes. The nuclear submarine forum (NSF), a network representing 16 local campaign groups, is calling for responses to the MoD’s proposal to place radioactive waste from the submarines in “interim storage” until a proposed long-term disposal facility opens in... 2060.…

It is a common view in Scotland that the high road to the removal and dismantling of the UK Trident system is Scottish independence. Alex Salmond has recently given a “100%” guarantee that Trident will go once Scotland can make its own decisions.

There are concerns about this. Independence may not happen. SNP leaders are adamant that there is no question of a dirty deal where Scotland would be granted a form of independence in return for continuing to host the business end of Remnant…

The weekend of 14-17 October saw the delectable women of Aldermaston Women’s Peace Camp descend on Faslane, home of Britain’s Trident nuclear weapons system. The theme of the invasion was “Domestic Extremists At Large” and they did her majesty’s Royal Navy a service by closing off the North Gate of Faslane naval base for a few hours on Saturday 16 October and giving the Ministry of Defence a much needed lesson in domesticity!

A few of us from the Faslane Peace Camp joined our sisters…

11 activists found guilty on 11 May of trespassing at the Y-12 nuclear weapons fabrication plant in Tennessee on 5 July 2010 began being sentenced in mid-September. (Six had been held in prison since May.) Bill Bischel, 83, was sentenced to an additional three months. Jean Gump, 84, was sentenced to time served plus a fine of $500. Bonnie Urfer, 59, was sentenced to eight months, with credit for time served (four months and three days). Mary Dennis Lentsch, 74, was sentenced to time served.…

In July, the Edinburgh Peace and Justice Centre received a promising reply to an open letter sent to the Scottish government immediately after the Scottish elections in May. The letter was concerned with the Scottish government’s role regarding the removal of Trident and the wider debate on nuclear non-proliferation.

In the reply, Bruce Crawford MSP, the cabinet secretary for parliamentary business and government strategy, restated the government’s opposition to the possession and…

Women for Life on Earth left Cardiff on 26 August 1981 to march to Berkshire to protest against the siting of Cruise missiles at Greenham Common. The marchers stayed and camped; hundreds of thousands of women came and went, lives were radicalised and liberated. Cruise missiles left 10 years later.

This song by Peggy Seeger, Carry Greenham Home, describes the day of Embrace the Base, an action that was organised in six weeks by chain letter.

Hand in hand, the line…

I was about 24 at the time, and I was there with my small son. The diversity of the women was incredible. For some women Greenham gave them an alternative to our society, it gave a community. Many women came back to Greenham because of the benefits of women living together in co-operation. Despite the hardships that life was preferable. There was concern for each other and support. People got together on an open piece of land, not designed for living on. How they improved their lives,…

Walker is reflecting on the 1969 moon landing and the planting of the US flag. The magic of that silver disk, with its message that there are places still untainted by human greed and malice, had been diminished forever.

Many of us have the same feelings about the sea, although the illusion of freedom from contagion is even more difficult to maintain, given the quantity of plastic debris that litters all our coasts, to say nothing of our knowledge of the huge and terrible changes we…

The upcoming Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) review conference could be the beginning of the end for nuclear weapons.

Under the terms of the NPT “nuclear weapon states” – the US, Russia, UK, France and China – promised 40 years ago to pursue nuclear disarmament but have failed to do so.

But momentum for a nuclear weapons convention is building across civil society and governments. The mayors of 3,680 cities in 135 countries are calling for abolition by 2020.…

In the spirit of the protests against Menwith Hill and against the “long arm” of US militarism, 35 Finnish and Swedish peace activists set up an action camp in Fauske, in northern Norway, between 17 and 20 June.

Fau

Morning vigils are being planned to take place during parliamentary sittings up ’til the end of 2008. The aim is to maintain awareness amongst MSPs about Trident replacement by creating a presence at the entrance to the Scottish Parliament.

Following the decision of the Scottish Parliament in June 2007 not to replace Trident, a Scottish Parliament working group on Trident replacement was set up to take this further.

The group, chaired by Bruce Crawford MSP, (see photo)…

It’s hard to imagine what it’s like at Faslane. If you think about a port, then images of dockland housing, pubs and assorted services spring to mind. But Faslane is an isolated port, with none of the usual hinterland, surrounded by an impenetrable perimeter fence. It sits in a fabulous loch-side setting with a jagged mountainous backdrop.

Military bases focus our minds on the reality of what state power is and what that power represents. Power created through the acquisition of…

The Big Blockade Faslane 365, street demonstrations are familiar lively, colourful, noisy campaigning experiences.

Lobbying MSPs to get rid of Trident, leafleting their staff and the civil servants at the Scottish Parliament, was quieter and greyer. It was accentuated by the day – 11 November, Remembrance Day – and by being a soberly-dressed, placard-wearing group of seven anti-nuclear campaigners from around Stirling.

Standing at the two Canongate entrances at 8am, the…

During the Big Blockade of Faslane on 1 October 2007, Emily Freeman was arrested. Charged with breach of the peace, she was finally brought to trial in Helensburgh on 18 May 2008. Reflecting rather badly on police competence, the case was dropped due to lack of evidence. Here is an excerpt from Emily’s defence, which deserves a hearing:
Breach of the peace is defined as “conduct which does present as genuinely alarming and disturbing, in its context, to any reasonable person…