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Category: Faslane

  • An independent Scotland should also be nuclear-free

    HM Naval Base Clyde, known as Faslane, is the Royal Navy’s main base in Scotland and home to the UK’s Trident “nuclear deterrent”. It also houses a “new generation of hunter-killer submarines”, which are the Royal Navy’s most powerful and advanced submarines ever.  According to the perverse logic of doomsday weaponry supporters, Trident ensures peace. This is based on a sort of ‘reassuring’ belief that nobody would dare attack the UK for fear the UK would retaliate with a nuclear strike.

    Protesters have had an anti-nuclear peace camp outside Faslane for almost 40 years. They more realistically describe Trident as being:

    ready and willing to blast even the last remains of the realm of the living beyond survival instead of noticing that killing for peace is like – pardon the language – copulating for virginity.

    On Saturday 28 August, some members of the Scottish independence movement are holding an anti-nuclear rally at Faslane:

    The dangers of nuclear weapons

    An explainer video by filmmaker Phantom Power succinctly outlines the dangers and cost of nuclear weapons:

    Archive footage in the video explains that:

    A one-mega-tonne bomb exploded 7,000 feet above the House of Commons would create a fireball over a mile across. Houses would simply explode; people would disappear.

    The video goes on to say that Faslane houses eight nuclear-powered submarines, with “4 more due to arrive”. It claims there have been “over 500 ‘significant’ health and safety incidents since 2006” at the naval base. One such incident involved a near miss between a ferry and a nuclear submarine. Lorries transporting nuclear materials to and from the base, pass through populated areas once every two months. And since the year 2000, there have been 180 safety incidents on these convoys.

    The video also claims that the nuclear bombs carried on a number of Faslane’s submarines could, if detonated, be as detrimental as “800 Hiroshimas”.

    In 2016, the UK government decided to “renew our nuclear deterrent”. This renewal is reported to cost £205bn. According to Phantom Power’s video, this would be enough to fund two NHS budgets or “100 years of free public transport”.

    The protests continue

    Today’s protest takes place shortly after the 40th anniversary of the start of a women’s anti-nuclear camp at Greenham Common. This movement of women opposed the storing of US nuclear warheads at an RAF base. And at its height, the movement:

    gathered more than 70,000 women for direct action and became the biggest female-led protest since women’s suffrage

    That was just one year before the peace camp at Faslane started. Today, a diverse range of people and independence groups are taking part in the anti-nuclear protest:

    Time for an independent and nuclear-free Scotland

    As the campaign for Scottish independence appears to be gaining momentum, the movement is outlining its nuclear-free vision. All Under One Banner says:

    These weapons of mass destruction play no useful roll and they put all of us at risk. They only exist as a means of providing the UK Govt with a seat at the table with other imperialist powers who seek to dominate, both politically & economically, the world by military power.

    There are already 197 countries who don’t have nuclear weapons, and there’s every reason for an independent Scotland to join them.

    Featured image via Pixabay – WikiImages

    By Peadar O'Cearnaigh

    This post was originally published on The Canary.

  • Climate activists blockade nuclear base with giant plant pots

    Climate activists have blockaded the Faslane nuclear base by attaching themselves to giant plant pots.

    Members of Extinction Rebellion Scotland and Trident Ploughshares, are staging the blockade at the north gate of the base on the Gare Loch in Argyll and Bute.

    The group placed three planters, which contain plants and flowers and are painted with the words “Safe”, “Green”, and “Future”, on the road on Friday morning.

    A protester is locked on to each planter so they cannot be moved, preventing access to the base, though emergency vehicles can still access the site via the south gate.

    The activists said they are demanding a future safe from the “threat of nuclear weapons and environmental destruction”.

    Protest at Faslane
    The activists are staging the protest at the north gate of the base (Extinction Rebellion Scotland/PA)

    Sarah Krischer, an archaeologist and Extinction Rebellion (XR) Scotland activist, said: “Nuclear weapons are an existential threat to the entire world.

    “Stockpiling weapons with the ability to wipe out all life in order to appear tough does nothing to keep either the UK or any other country safe.

    “The ongoing environmental degradation caused by uranium mining and nuclear testing continues to be felt, particularly among Pacific island nations that are also the most threatened by climate change.

    “We must come together to build a safe, more just future for all.”

    Police Scotland said they are aware of the incident and officers are at the scene.

    HM Naval Base Clyde, known as Faslane, is home to the UK’s nuclear deterrent.

    Extinction Rebellion said the action is part of the Peace Lotus campaign, a global day of anti-war resistance celebrating the anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War.

    By The Canary

    This post was originally published on The Canary.