The Nuclear page 2004 and earlier - news archive

"The defeat over the weekend of President Bush's attempts to fund research and possibly development of a new family of nuclear weapons was hailed Monday by arms control advocates as their biggest success in more than a decade. They were reacting to the approval by the Senate and House of a spending bill that eliminates funding for the nuclear "bunker buster" as well as other "advanced concept" tactical nuclear weapons. "

"A train carrying "Castors" of nuclear waste from France to Germany ran over a protestor who had chained himself to the tracks, severing one of his legs.Paramedics offered him emergency treatment and tried to get him to surgery but he died before reaching hospital. The 23-year-old lay down and chained himself to the track as the train passed near the town of Avricourt, eastern France. The train was carrying nuclear waste being sent back to Germany after reprocessing in northern France and had already been delayed for two hours while police cut free two other protesters who had chained themselves to a section of track."

"Today, Monday 11 October, peace activists from all over Britain have brought a huge model Trident submarine to the seat of British governance to challenge Labour to abandon its WMD and to comply fully with its international treaty obligations. During the first minutes of the blockade, at the gates of Downing Street, Trident Ploughshares supporters including Parliamentarians handed in a letter to the Prime Minister, Tony Blair, calling on him to ensure that Britain will refuse to renew the 1958 nuclear cooperation pact (Mutual Defence Agreement (‘MDA’)) with the United States, and will comply fully with the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (‘NPT’), which requires Britain to take steps to engage in nuclear disarmament."

"Britain owns 200 nuclear warheads each 8 times stronger than the one that exploded above Hiroshima. The nukes are stored and handled in Coulport in Scotland. These scary nuclear Weapons of Mass Destruction are of a delicate design and they need to be checked regularly. That's why the nuclear warhead convoys are a regular feature on the English and Scottish roads. The nukes are maintained in Burghfield in the south of England. Why the MoD chose to build the home in the north and the maintenance facilities in the south and so far apart remains a mystery to me. But the long distance between those locations means that it takes the convoys 2 or 3 days to make a single trip. The lorries that carry them are also so large and heavy that they can only take certain routes and can only stay at certain -overnight stop- places. The fact that the convoy is so predictable makes it not really hard to spot them by our network (or any one else for that matter)

Let it be no surprise then that we managed to intervene with the transport once again!"

"In March 2002 I attended one of the regular Foreign and Commonwealth Office meetings on nuclear non-proliferation. We were told by a senior official that Iraq had reassembled its nuclear scientists and was reconstituting its nuclear weapons programme, which had been completely disbanded by UN inspectors after the 1991 Gulf War. In September 2002, Downing Street published its dossier claiming that Iraq had 'sought . . . uranium from Africa' and had imported hundreds of aluminium tubes alleged to be for use in uranium enrichment. Both claims, if true, would be signs of renewed Iraqi nuclear activity. Yet Dr Imad Khadduri, who worked in the Iraqi nuclear programme from 1968 until he left for Canada in 1998 and was involved in most major Iraqi nuclear activities in those thirty years, wrote in November 2002 in a Canadian journal that he found the 'allegations about Iraq's nuclear capability, as continuously advanced by the Americans and the British, to be ridiculous'.

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"Four members of the Scottish Parliament were among dozens of protesters arrested yesterday during an anti-nuclear demonstration at the Faslane naval base on the Clyde, home to the Trident nuclear submarines. More than 40 people were detained after 350 people tried to block the three entrances. Those arrested included the two Green Party MSPs, Mark Ballard and Patrick Harvie, and the Scottish Socialist Party MSPs Rosie Kane and Frances Curran. Mr Harvie, MSP for Glasgow, added from the back of a police van: "I'm proud to do anything to resist weapons of mass destruction. If Blair wants to rid the world of WMD he need only travel to the Clyde." "

"From 6.30 this morning there were long tailbacks of worker traffic as the protesters besieged the gates of the base, sitting down in the roadway and locking on to each other. Two climbers scaled lamp-posts and hung across the main gate of the base a large banner reading "Nuclear Free Scotland". The base was disrupted for almost nine hours as gates cleared by police were blocked again by activists. The MSPs arrested are Mark Ballard, Francis Curran, Rosie Kane and Patrick Harvie. Along with the others they are likely to be released from police custody this evening."

"Seven men and two women have been arrested during protests outside a naval base which houses Britain's nuclear deterrent. The Campaign For Nuclear Disarmament (CND) said 350 people had attempted to block the three main entrances to HM Naval Base Clyde at Faslane. Politicians and peace activists from across Europe took part in the protest. Activists were arrested for breach of the peace after linking themselves together with pipes and chains."

"The enrichment of uranium fuel for nuclear power uses 93 percent of the refrigerant chlorofluorocarbon (CFC) gas made annually in the United States. The global production of CFC is banned under the Montreal Protocol because it is a potent destroyer of ozone in the stratosphere, which protects us from the carcinogenic effects of solar ultraviolet light.
...
Uranium enrichment is a particularly energy intensive process which uses electricity generated from huge coal-fired plants.
...
Conclusion: Nuclear power is neither clean, green nor safe. It is the most biologically dangerous method to boil water to generate steam for the production of electricity.

"At 12.30 am, three peace activists entered the high security Faslane Naval Base on the Clyde and remained inside the base for over 2 hours. On the anniversary of the US bombing of Nagasaki, the two women and one man highlighted the continuing and illegal development of the UK's own weapons of mass destruction."

"Yesterday, Saturday 7 August, saw the launch of a new campaign at Aldermaston to disrupt the building of a proposed new laser facility using non-violent means. Around two dozen people, including several Oxford activists and your intrepid Indy reporter, gathered at the main gate of AWE Aldermaston and gave the gentlemen of the MOD a first taste of how we plan to ‘Block the Builders’."

"CND have launched their new report 'Fighting for Space- The developing threat of Space Weapons', The report details alarming plans to place weapons in Outer Space and explains how UK support for the US "Missile Defence" system is helping the US in their stated aim of "dominance" and "control" of space. The report, was written by the Yorkshire Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament and explains how the US plans to deploy the world's first working space weapon - the experimental NFIRE - next Summer. The NFIRE is a test weapon which is being deployed under the guise of Missile Defence, yet it will supply data on the effectiveness of what the US calls "kinetic-kill technology" - a satellite based weapon capable of attacking other objects in space. In the report CND details past cold-war attempts to deploy space weapons but more disturbingly details plans and proposals for space weapons of the future. The US, it explains, is keen to control and dominate space and to deny others access to space. This, the report explains, will provoke nuclear proliferation on the Earth and may provoke a space arms race. Copy of the report are available from CND for £2 by calling the national office on 0207 7002393 or calling Yorkshire CND on 01274 730795. You can also access a copy of the report for free online at www.cndyorks.gn.apc.org/yspace/overview.htm "

"A wheelchair user was amongst those who breached security by breaking into a top UK nuke base yesterday. Veteran campaigner, Roz Bullen, spent several minutes painting, "No WMD" and other peace slogans on buildings before being arrested."

"Ludd, 33, received the unusually high fine for performing a civil inspection on a heavy goods vehicle leaving the home base of the Vanguard submarines at Faslane Naval Base in Scotland. Growing opposition against nuclear weapons and waste is increasingly pushing anything nuclear north inside Scotland. The ‘heavy goods vehicle’ which was inspected by this citisen continued on its deadly way despite this activist’s and others’ attempts. The nuclear submarines that the vehicle services can fire nuclear missiles, which can obliterate every major and semi-major city in the world and put the rest of the world in dire straits."

"Four East Anglian peace activists were yesterday found guilty of criminal damage to the perimeter fence of RAF/USAF Lakenheath. They had cut a hole in order to gain access to the base and carry out a weapons inspection, to get photographic evidence of the nuclear weapons facilities in October 2003. Jennifer Berry (65), Katie Cooke (35), Mell Harrison (33), and Irene Willis (59) were given a three year conditional discharge, and ordered to pay a total of £2000 costs. The judge said that they were misguided, and presumed that all activities on the base were legal, and that the military could not break the law. He made it clear that he was doing all in his power to try to prevent them from taking further actions, and said he had considered imposing an Anti Social Behaviour Order."

"There were six arrests sunday afternoon as anti-Trident protesters twice stopped a nuclear weapons convoy traveling from Burghfield in England to the warhead storage depot at Coulport on Loch Long, Scotland."

"ELEVEN mutinous sailors have refused to sail on a "death trap" nuclear submarine. The crewmen quit refitted HMS Trafalgar furious it was passed as seaworthy despite claims it had 270 safety defects. They face possible court martial and military jail. In November 2002 she ran aground on rocks off the Isle of Skye while in the charge of unsupervised trainee officers. Her starboard hull was torn open. The sub then underwent 15 months of repairs at Devonport. But, according to a document seen by the Mirror, Trafalgar emerged with hundreds of defects. They included a faulty nuclear reactor, sub-standard escape, safety and emergency equipment, oil contamination in water supplies, unexplained high radiation levels and shoddy workmanship."

"A group of Royal Navy submariners have been given permission to leave HMS Trafalgar, after they expressed fears over their safety. The commanding officer agreed to the 11 sailors leaving the submarine before operational tests, following repairs at the Faslane nuclear base on the Clyde. No disciplinary measures are currently being considered against the 11 men, the MoD added."

"Citizens Weapons Inspections in the absence of the United Nations For Mother Earth presents a report about secrecy surrounding US nuclear weapons in Europe to the UN in New York"

"Four peace campaigners today marked the release of Israeli nuclear whistleblower, Mordechai Vanunu, by evading security and breaking into the command and control centre for Britain's nuclear weapons programme. The campaigners from Trident Ploughshares, dressed in Vanunu masks and "whistleblower" suits to gain entrance to the top security RAF Northwood. They searched for evidence of the deployment and threatened use of nuclear weapons in contravention of International law."

"Faslane, on an inlet of the Firth of Clyde called the Gare Loch, is home to Britain’s 4 Trident nuclear submarines. Just 30 miles from Glasgow as the wind blows it was the rallying point for the Easter CND march and rally. Coaches came from Glasgow and Edinburgh and the 200 or so protestors assembled outside the Faslane Peace Camp. There whistles and shouts of “Tony, Tony, Tony, out, out, out!” “All we are saying is shut down Faslane” “Who let the bombs out? Bush, Bush and Blair!” and “This is what democracy looks like! That is what hypocrisy looks like”. Banners and placards `CAAT – Campaign Against the Arms Trade`, `Greens for Peace`, `CND Scrap Trident`, `Pace`, `WIB [Women In Black] say no to Depleted Uranium`, `Globalise Resistance`, `WMDs are here, stupid` and `No More Lies`."

"Around 250 people walked from London to Aldermaston, starting on Friday 9th of April and arriving on Monday 12th of April, with stops at Southall, Slough, and Reading."

"Activists from Faslane Peace Camp have blocked the entrance to Faslane naval base this morning, for a second morning of direct actions in a row. Police refrained from arresting the campaigners, who are calling for the immediate disarmament of Trident."

"On 10th April, 50 young people set out on the 40 mile march to Aldermaston Atomic Weapons Establishment. The march, organised by Youth & Student CND, was to protest against Britain's nuclear weapons."

"sheffield samba band with some rhythms of resistancers were waiting at aldermarston today for the arrival of the 2004 march from london. as they arrived everyone was dancing, and a great atmosphere was created. tired marchers were greeted with food, water and music as the perimeter fence was adorned with peace slogans, flags and flowers. police surveillance was quite intense although in general the policing was reasonably low-key as the demo seemed mostly very fluffy. sound systems and samba combined to give a carnival atmosphere to the afternoon. the aldermarston march has been running yearly since 1958, and this year focussed attention on the new breed of battlefield nukes, bunker busters, and other newly developed weapons of mass destruction that our government is hypocritically creating."

"All this time we've been looking for weapons of mass destruction, and then WMD programmes, in Iraq, but it turns out that there's a WMD programme going on right under our noses! To highlight this hypocrisy, a group of dedicated souls marched from London to AWE Aldermarston over the Easter bank holiday weekend. These photos are from the final day, between Reading and Aldermarston. "

"a few small pics from the aldermarston march launch on good friday in london"

Short report of the feeder march from Oxford to join the Aldermarston 2004 march at Reading.

"Pictures of the Rally in Trafalgar Square and the beginning of the four day March to Aldermaston Atomic Weapons Establishment." 1: http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2004/04/288892.html 2: http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2004/04/288871.html 3: http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2004/04/288850.html 4 (samba band): http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2004/04/288834.html 5 (theatre of war): http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2004/04/288820.html 6 (theatre of war): http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2004/04/288807.html

"More than 1,000 people gathered in a sun-bathed central London this morning for the first stage of the London-Aldermaston march. The colourful rally, held in Trafalgar Square, marked the beginning of the four-day march to the Atomic Weapons Establishment Aldermaston in Berkshire. "

"This Easter will see an historic weekend of action to say no to a new generation of nuclear weapons being developed in the UK. People are marching in 2004 to call on the British government to stop the upgrade of the Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE) Aldermaston, Berkshire, and prevent any further and unlawful development of Britain's Weapons of Mass Destruction."

"The Depleted Uranium saga continues: returning military policemen in New York, men and women who had no combat role, but merely were posted in areas in which DU munitions were used, test positive for radiation poisoning. The security services whores (eg sceptic) who have attempted to deprecate the DU threat to the world, should all volunteer for a tour of duty out there."

"Long before the illegal war on Iraq, physicians and NGOs had implicated Depleted Uranium in the epidemic of birth defects and cancers in Iraq since 1991, Yugoslavia since 1999, and Afghanistan after 2001, and of serious health problems among American and British personnel who had served in these regions. The Pentagon there, and the Ministry of Defence here, made repeated denials, asserting the safety of DU, which is used as a penetrating material in munitions (including cruise missiles) and as a protective material on tanks. Now - Jane's Defence Weekly, on April 2, a key Defence establishment journal, notes that there is serious "political fall-out for Washington and its allies" "

"Aldermaston Atomic Weapons Establishment, where Britain's nuclear warheads are designed and built, has been the focus of anti-nuclear protests since the first march to Aldermaston of 1958. In support of the march from London, young people and students will be marching from Oxford to Aldermaston AWE over the Easter weekend. Come along to Bonn Square at 9.30am on Sat 10th April to support them and give them a good send off. "

"There is a strong danger that Aldermaston Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE) near Reading, Britain’s own nuclear bomb-making factory, is planning to collaborate with the US to test and develop new nuclear weapons - like ‘bunker busters’ - designed specifically for future pre-emptive wars. This is why hundreds of people are marching to Aldermaston – please consider joining them. Rally in Trafalgar Square 11.00am Friday 9 April to give the marchers a big send off! Surround the Base, 1pm Aldermaston AWE, Monday 12 April."

"In the run up to Mother’s Day 2004, Mothers Against War ran a postcard campaign calling on Tony Blair to clean up depleted uranium and cluster bombs left behind in Iraq. To mark the end of this campaign, a group of mothers, grandmothers, 4 children and other supporters gathered opposite Downing St on Mother’s Day, a year and a day after the war began. We decorated the barriers with Mother’s Day messages “Make Mother’s Day Special – Clean up Iraq”, “Remember the Mothers of Iraq”, “Cluster Bombs Kill” “Depleted Uranium is Dangerous”. About 300 leaflets were given out to passers by who were in the main very supportive. We also signed cards to send to women’s groups in Iraq. "

"CODEPINK will be donning its apron and pink rubber gloves at the London anti-war demo to give Tony Blair some lessons in cleaning up his mess in Iraq. Doesn't that boy know how to clean up after himself and put those broken war toys out of harms way? All those cluster bombs, all that depleted uranium... Shame on him! CODEPINKers are aiming to meet up at Hyde Park shortly before noon on March 20th. You're welcome to join us! Wear pink and bring any of the following; funky cleaning utensils, pink umbrellas, pots or pans to drum on, or placards telling 'Teflon Tony' to clean up the mess he's made... "

"Linked to the Aldermaston March 2004, activists from the D10 group, a direct action collective, are calling for the Aldermaston Bike Ride 2004. The Aldermaston Bike Ride is closely linked to the march."

"The Devonport 3 were all found guilty today on all charges, after they were denied the use of their legal defence by Plymouth Judge Overend. A spokesperson for Trident Ploughshares, Joss Garman, explained, “It was almost inevitable that the jury should find the campaigners guilty, when the judge refused the activists the right to put their legal defence of International law to the jury.” "

"Aldermaston is now required to maintain the Trident weapons system, consisting of four nuclear-armed submarines. Each submarine is loaded with 16 missiles, each of which takes up to 8 warheads; although according to the 1998 Strategic Defence Review they will carry only three. Even if this is true, it adds up to a destructive power 1344 times that of the bomb dropped on Hiroshima, which killed 140,000 people on impact, and costs the British taxpayer between £1,000billion and £1,500billion each year. But our generation are no more willing to stand aside and watch a vast amount of resources be ploughed into building weapons of immense destructive capacity. On the 10th – 12th April, as a part of national protests, young people and students from around the country will be joining a Youth March from Oxford to Aldermaston against a new generation of nuclear weapons. The people on this march will be from many different viewpoints, many faiths and many different political backgrounds, but united in their desire for an alternative to the destructive cycle of nuclear proliferation. "

"Report on whats DU is, what its used for, how it affects the body, and some insights from Dr Jawad Al Ali, cancer specialist at the Al Talimi Teaching Hospital in British Occupied Basra"

"Yesterday, the 19th January, three activists blockaded the main gate at RNAD Coulport, the storage facility for Trident warheads. Morag from Faslane Peace Camp, Roz a Trident Ploughshares pledger from Edinburgh, and Raggy Jason from Bristol, blockaded the main gate at Coulport for two and a half hours from 6.55 am till 9.25 am. Workers traffic tailed back and eventually a subsidiary gate was opened to which police redirected traffic further along the road. It took some time for the MOD cutting team to cut the three free, in the pouring rain, from two steel lock-on tubes using a steel cutting saw. All three were arrested for a breach of the peace and held in HMNB Faslane for a few hours. One of the activists said, "Only Weapons of Non-Existence have so far been found in Iraq. Meanwhile the UK blatantly stores and loads WMD from here, ready to be used at any time against innocent civilians in any country deemed to be a threat. We ask whose interests are being served here?!" "

"All this year the UK & US have been searching Iraq for the missing WMD - but they're not in the Middle East, they're in West Berkshire! Come and join our hunt for the missing WMD next Easter, and show the world the hypocrisy of our "leaders". " See http://www.aldermaston.net

"Upon the shingled beach at Seaton, a new challenger, picks and rolls selected pebbles in his hands, as he gently tosses them into the morning breakers. This person goes by the name of Richard David, or Nibby to his friends. He is set to start in motion one of the most controversial and difficult civilian claims against an employer over direct “toxic kill” levels and radiological contamination, unprecedented, in that the main cause of the collapse in Nibby’s health is claimed to be depleted uranium (DU)."

"Trident Ploughshares pledger Susan Brackenbury, and Shirley Law, a member of South West Women for Peace, entered the dockyard in the early hours of this morning with the intention of boarding Trident nuclear missile submarine HMS Vanguard and doing damage to either delay its re-fit or take it out of service. They are being held at the city’s Charles Cross police station."

There are weapons of mass destruction all over Iraq and they were used this year. Iraqi children continue to find them every day. They have ruined the lives of just under 300,000 people during the last decade - and numbers will increase. The reason is simple. Two hundred tonnes of radioactive material were fired by invading US forces into buildings, homes, streets and gardens all over Baghdad. "

"The North Gateway into Faslane Naval Base is currently closed to vehicles by the protests of five activists. They are demanding that the UK fulfil its international obligations to work towards nuclear disarmament. The peaceful direct action started at 7am, and long tailbacks formed as workers arriving for the morning had to use an alternative entrance, bringing traffic speeds to below walking pace."

"Some 500 protestors were arrested Saturday while trying to break into NATO's military command centre for Europe to protest against nuclear weapons, organizers and police said. In all up to 55 people managed to enter the compound and three were slightly injured while scaling the fence, but there was no violence, organizers said. Police at one point used water cannon to disperse demonstrators trying to enter via the main entrance to the Supreme Headquarters Allied Forces Europe (SHAPE) compound near Mons in southern Belgium. Those arrested were released later in the day, after being held to prevent them re-offending."

"On Monday and Thursday a group of Citizens’ Weapons Inspectors harried a British nuclear weapon convoy as it passed through Central Scotland on its way to the Trident base at Coulport on Loch Long. It was forced into a lay-by on its return due to the breakdown of a nuclear warhead carrier."

"Two peace activists have been arrested during a demonstration outside a dockyard where a Trident nuclear submarine is undergoing a refit. The pair, who were detained for obstruction, were among three people who staged a sit-down protest in the road outside the Devonport Dockyard main gate in Plymouth. Four other arrested activists were released without further action. The 10 activists - eight women and two men aged between 27 and 71 - were detained as they drove towards the dockyard. The Trident nuclear submarine HMS Vanguard is currently undergoing a refit there. When their van was stopped by police, equipment capable of being used in a "lock on" protest was found, said the police. They were arrested for conspiracy to cause a public nuisance."

"This morning, an international "citizens inspection team" from Voor Moeder Aarde, Gent, were arrested inside the illegal US nuclear weapon base of Lakenheath, in the South East of England. The group of 5 people from Belgium joined local activists to take part in a day of nonviolent direct action organised by the "Lakenheath Action Group". They have been arrested for criminal damage after entering the base, where they had intended to carry out a citizens weapons inspection. The group is opposed to the presence of nuclear weapons at the base, which have been declared illegal under international law."

"At 7.15 this morning three activists locked themselves to each other using steel tubes and lay down in the gateway of the Loch Long base, preventing any traffic getting in or out. The action was timed to coincide with the arrival of hundreds of workers for the morning shift. Traffic was diverted to a subsidiary gate for three hours wile the blockaders were in position. This the first action in Trident Ploughshares' Nonstop Nukestop campaign in which the Trident bases on the Clyde, Faslane and Coulport, will be disrupted by direct action all year round."

"1st Sept- Buchel (Germany) - This morning an international team of thirty citizens inspectors closed the three gates of Buchel air force base in Germany to carry out a war crimes inspection. It is a public secret that 11 US B-61 tactical nuclear weapons are stored on the base"

"Around 35 people from around the country joined in the 'Reclaim the Bases Summer Camp' at Aldermaston in Berkshire. Organised by the D10 group - http://www.thed10group.org.uk/ - the camp brought together activists from around the country to share information and skills to widen the network of non violent direct activists taking part in actions against militarism."

The grammar is rather strange but that's probably because it's been translated by a computer. Includes photos. "The camp is finishing today. Over 70 people participated at the camp, the numerous actions and workshops. In total the police took 41 custodies. Yesterday the attempt of 12 activists failed to break through the fence of the nuclear weapons basis Faslane."

Photos from a Hiroshima Day commemoration in Sheffield, plus links to news reports and background information.

"Controversial anti-tank shells tipped with depleted uranium may be phased out if an alternative material proves its worth. The US Army is expected to award a contract this week for the manufacture of prototype ammunition incorporating a "liquid metal" alloy. The new rounds could be in service within two years."

A list of questions to pose to those in power about depleted uranium

"A new kind of nuclear war is being waged. It's already being fought in Scotland and the combatants are you and me. Our attackers are the Ministry of Defence, a force which has already poisoned its own soldiers and threatened the health of the civilian populations of the former Yugoslavia, Kuwait and Iraq."

A programme from BBC radio 4 about Depleted Uranium. Scroll down to 'listen again' to hear the programme in Real Player.

"In the Iraq war the Allies made extensive use of weapons containing depleted uranium (DU) - a toxic and radioactive material that has been the subject of heated controversy since it was used in the first conflict in the Gulf 12 years ago.
Faced with increasing public concern, the Ministry of Defence is offering a medical test to those who have been exposed to DU on the battlefield.
But as Jenny Cuffe reports, some members of the government's DU Oversight Board, a committee of scientists and officials from the MOD and British Legion, say the testing does not go far enough."

"More than a hundred anti-nuclear protesters been arrested at the Faslane Naval Base on the Clyde. Police used cutting equipment to remove some demonstrators who had linked themselves together with plastic pipes. The protesters are calling for the nuclear base to be closed and are accusing the government of hypocrisy over weapons of mass destruction. Former chairman of CND Bruce Kent was among those arrested as protesters sat down outside the north gate and refused to move. "

A letter from an anti-war activist about DU, and a reply from Dr Lewis Moonie MP.

"A total of 42 campaigners have been arrested during the second day of protest at the Faslane nuclear submarine base on the Clyde. Organisers of the protest, Trident Ploughshares, said about 150 people, including SNP MSP Bruce Crawford who represents Mid Scotland and Fife, had attended the blockade. The detentions came as peace activists blockaded the north and south entrance of the base, home to Britain's Trident nuclear submarine fleet. "

"A total of 170 people have been arrested during an anti-nuclear protest at Faslane naval base, according to police. Scottish Socialist Party leader and MSP Tommy Sheridan and Scottish National Party MSP Lloyd Quinan were among those detained on Monday morning at the home of Britain's Trident missile fleet. Irish Green MEP Patricia McKenna and two Church of Scotland ministers were also arrested during the protest. Protesters said their actions had been given added resonance following the attacks on the US and the offensive against the Taleban. "