Disarmament Diplomacy

Issue No. 43, January - February 2000

Anti-Trident Protests in Scotland

On February 14, the Trident Ploughshares anti-nuclear campaign blockaded the Faslane naval base in Scotland, home to Britain's Trident nuclear force. Some 500 protestors demonstrated outside the base, with 185 arrests being made. Those arrested included ten Church ministers, Scottish Socialist Party member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP), Thomas Sheridan, and Dr. Caroline Lucas, a Green Party member of the European Parliament (MEP). The protest also received support from a number of celebrities, including the actors Emma Thompson and Sir Sean Connery.

As featured in recent editions of Disarmament Diplomacy, the British anti-nuclear movement was given a significant boost last year with the acquittal of three activists - Ellen Moxley, Bodil Ulla Roder and Angie Zelter - on charges of malicious damage at Faslane on the grounds that Trident was illegal under international law. The Scottish Lord Advocate, Lord Hardie, is currently reviewing the ruling of Sheriff Margaret Gimblett; Lord Hardie does not, however, have the power to overturn the verdict.

Reports: Judges to examine Trident case, BBC News Online, January 17; 150 held in Trident protest, BBC News Online, February 14; 185 arrests at Faslane, Trident Ploughshares Press Release, February 14; Police arrest 150 at British nuclear sub base, Reuters, February 14.

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