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In the run-up to the 1 October "Big Blockade" of the Faslane nuclear submarine base in
Scotland, a leading anti-Trident activist looks back on the year-long blockade called
"Faslane 365".
Besieging the bomb
Anna-Linnéa Rundberg
On 4 July 2005, during the G8
summit, 2,000 people block-
aded Faslane Naval Base,
home of Britain's Trident
submarines, armed with
nuclear missiles, and closed it
for the day. The police strate-
gy was to leave the street
party and not attempt to clear
the gates. At 5pm folk got up
and went home. And for
Faslane, it was business as
usual.
A few weeks later an email
arrived with a "Proposal for
year-long blockade". The concept was simple: get 100 people
to arrive each day and blockade
Faslane for a year. After all,
"36,400 people (100 people for a
year) is only 0.7% of the Scottish population!"
The plan was bold and ambitious. And so crazy it just might
work.
With the Trident renewal
decision looming, the already
strongly anti-nuclear sentiment
in Scotland, and a foundation of
previous "big blockades" to
build on, it was clear that Scotland was the place and the time
was now.
In October 2005, a group of
us decided to go ahead, and the
project, previously known as
"the mad plan", became "Faslane
365".
Looking back
As the campaign draws to a
close with a Big Blockade on 1
October, this is a good opportunity to reflect on what was
achieved.
Have we got rid of nuclear
weapons? No, but in Scotland
we are a bit closer.
Did 100 people come every
day and blockade? No, but at
the time of writing 123 groups
have done so over 179 days
(more than half the year so far).
To date there have been 944
arrests and only 51 prosecutions.
The BBC recently reported that
the policing of the protests has
cost more than £5m, even
though we have repeatedly told
the police that we are capable of
blockading without their assistance.
Collectively, Faslane blockaders have spent over two and a
half years imprisoned in Clydebank and Dumbarton police
cells. The youngest person
arrested so far was 13, the oldest
92. And this is with several
more groups and the Big Blockade still to come.
Creative nonviolence
People have locked on to giant
CND symbols, staged Highland
Games, concerts and academic
seminars in front of the gates,
superglued themselves together,
covered themselves in paint and
even stripped off entirely for the
"nudes against nukes" action.
The Japanese delegation,
including survivors of the
Nagasaki bomb, laid paper
cranes in front of the gates and
locked on through tubes of
green bamboo. Scottish councillors, MSPs [Members of the
Scottish Parliament], MPs
[Members of the British Parliament], nurses, teachers, asylum
seekers, lawyers, authors,
singers, students, grannies,
choirs, Quakers, lesbians,
cyclists, peace walkers, runners,
a bishop and a rainbow-coloured
icebreaker have been just some
of the participants in F365.
Makes you wonder how
advanced we are in newspeak
when a Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, sitting peacefully in front of
a nuclear weapons base, is arrest-
ed for "breach of the peace".
DIY disarmament
One of the fundamental principles of F365 is decentralisation.
Each group is responsible for its
own blockade, support, message
and practical arrangements.
The steering group has provided information and some
support, such as direct action
workshops, how to do media or
legal support, internet access at
Faslane Peace Camp, accommodation suggestions, as well as
maintaining the website, producing various briefings, and
always making sure someone is
at the end of a mobile phone in
case of an emergency.
Taking direct action against
something as powerful as the
state can be quite a scary thing
to do, especially if it's your first
time. Feeling supported by people who've done it before and
know the ground is often comforting, and encourages you to
do it again. And again!
Campaign profile
The campaign has frequently
put Trident into the Scottish
newspapers and radio over the
year, but hasn't yet made the
really big headlines, especially
south of the border.
Apart from mainstream press
having a tendency to only pick
up protests containing riot porn,
one reason might be the length
of the campaign - after a while
the blockades are not considered
"new news" anymore.
The decision not to have a
planned, centrally-coordinated
media strategy has perhaps had
the drawback that Faslane 365
lacked a single, continuous contact point, but it has borne fruit
in the confidence many activists
have gained while doing their
own media work, as well as
ensuring great coverage in local
papers and specialist magazines.
Action friends
In my view, the formation and
revitalisation of local affinity
groups has been one of the most
interesting things to come out
of F365.
Functioning affinity groups
which plan, prepare and carry
out actions, and support each
other through the potential
long-term consequences, is
something that will live on long
after 1 October.
Having a bunch of action
friends you can call up and do
stuff with, whether it is to continue mischief at a local nuclear
bomb factory or take part in
mass mobilisations, makes all
the difference and increases your
ability to have an impact.
This year-long focus on direct
disruption of Faslane has pushed
the mobilisation beyond the
usual suspects and brought in
numerous new people to the
struggle against Trident.
The political situation in Scot-
land looks more hopeful now
than it has for a long time. F365
will end with a great Big Block-
ade on 1 October, but anti-nuclear campaigning and nonviolent direct action will and must
continue. Please join us! Put
your body where your heart is,
and your bum in front of the
gates of Faslane!
Faslane 365: 0845 45 88 365;
www.faslane365.org/1oct
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