EAN Article

Faslane 365 is a one-year continuous peaceful blockade of the Trident base at the Gare Loch, Faslane, near Glasgow. It is taking place from 1st October 2006 to 30th September 2007. A wide range of local, national and international groups from all sections of civil society are taking part, each group taking responsibility for a two-day overlapping presence.

I joined a group of 85 Quakers from the South of England, several of them from Sussex on, 28-29 October. On the first day it rained continuously but the message rejecting Trident and all its works remained clear as two gates, North and South, were blockaded. We were thankful for the tea, coffee and soup thoughtfully provided by the Faslane Peace Camp.

My affinity group arrived quite late and missed the initial singing and dancing. By this time ten blockaders had sat in the road in front of the North Gate. They were rapidly arrested. Some walked, others had to be carried away. The next action was taken by three frail-looking elderly women. We heard they might be kept in custody until Monday, but the two 80-year-olds were not actually detained. Other quiet blockades followed.

The last action at North Gate came when five women sat down in the road, in front of a huge tanker. Police numbers now seemed somewhat depleted and none of the officers did anything for a while. Eventually the two women who were blocking the path of the tanker were arrested, but the others stayed put. Everyone sang. Then the police put high blue screens around the blockaders to isolate them. Everyone sang louder. The atmosphere was charged. Then suddenly the women were walking away, free, apparently not arrested because there were no cells available. At the South Gate several people were arrested for refusing to stop circle dancing in the road. In all there were 25 arrests, one group of blockaders having an average age of 71.

There were no charges. After a fairly short period in the cells arrestees were basically told not to do it again and can expect an official letter to this effect. The police probably had other priorities linked to the regular drunken brawls in Glasgow on Friday nights. This may explain the rumour put about that people would remain in custody over the whole weekend. It was probably meant to put people off. This succeeded with some people, including myself. One policeman pointed out to us that they were much happier processing inoffensive peace activists than drunks.

The next day some of us took a minibus trip around the heights above Gare Loch. It is a compelling natural landscape desecrated by a facility dedicated to potential crimes against humanity. This sort of action is fraught with irony. Part drizzle and tedium, part good humour from both activists and police. Decent people doing what they must against a backdrop of mass destruction.

Parts of this report are adapted from the report provided for Faslane 365 by the South of England Quaker group.