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From: "Jo Makepeace" (webmaster@schnews.org.uk)
Subject: SchNEWS 572, Friday 8th December, 2006
Date: Mon, 11 Dec 2006 18:43:18 -0000

Faslane 365 rolling blockade update - December 2006

TRIDENT TESTED

Direct action at Faslane nuclear submarine base continues against the backdrop of Ex-CND supporter Tony Blair announcing this week that he's already decided to give the green light to the replacement for Trident (UK plc's 'independent' deterrent). The police continue to rack up a ridiculous amount of arrests, and have even outdone themselves by managing to get a prosecution. The crazily ambitious target we set them of notching up 365 arrests in 365 days now makes us look statistically naive. The total number of arrests is already 330, with 296 days of blockading still to go! Proving that opposition to nuclear policy is a broad church, recent arrests include 4 members of the Palestinian Solidarity Campaign (PSC) on 8th November, and 15 at a Quaker's demo on 13th November. Other groups who did the decent thing and lately completed their 48 hour protest shift are the London Singing group, Power of the Word (writers) and a Performers blockade.

Sussex students managed to block the A814 outside the base twice during their stint.(25-27 November) Using arm tube lock ons, they held the road for over an hour each time. Strathclyde police are obviously getting a bit hacked off with the continued protests - the first load of arrestees were held for 26 hours while those from the second day were released after just two hours - but only after being forcibly strip-searched in custody.

To find out how to sign your group up for yer couple of days of anti-nuclear duty, see -

http://www.faslane365.org  -  or phone 0845 45 88 365

** The replacement for Trident is projected at £20 billion quid - er...and the rest - since when has any government contract ever been delivered on budget? (Some estimates range all the way to £100 billion). Even taking for granted the fact that simple pacifist, humanitarian and common sense arguments are bound to be ignored by politicians, the Ministry of Defence itself now reckons that there are no major military threats to the UK or NATO. So we have the inevitability of climate change on which the government is reluctant to spend any cash at all, but when we face not even a remote possibility of nuclear attack - out come the mega bucks! Blatantly ignoring the Non Proliferation Treaty is apparently a price worth paying so that UK Plc can continue to 'punch above its weight' and get a seat at the 'top table' with other bullies like China and the US of A. Dishing out juicy contracts to prop up the welfare state for defence companies involved is, of course, an added bonus.

So with politicians making the world an ever more dangerous place, collective action against nuclear weapons has never been more needed. Although neo-Labour is still 'considering all the options' and promising a parliamentary vote, more realistic campaigners have launched a pre-emptive strike at building work on the Atomic Weapons Establishment at Aldermaston. The bomb-making factory is being made "fit for the purpose" of building the UK's new generation of weapons of mass destruction. Block the Builders will be at Aldermaston on Monday (11th December) to blockade construction traffic entering the site.

** See http://www.blockthebuilders.org.uk/pledge for more info.

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