Support Faslane

Recent reports confirm what we have known for a long time: that the British state is a military state and a military state is a secret state.

Rob Edwards has reported in the past few days about a new lockdown (“Black-out: MoD suddenly censors all Trident safety reports“): “Annual reports from the MoD’s internal watchdog, the Defence Nuclear Safety Regulator (DNSR), have been abruptly classified as secret. Published for the last ten years, the reports have repeatedly warned of the dangers of spending cutbacks, staff shortages and accidents.”

This at the same time as a massive increase in “nuclear infrastructure” is revealed under FOI by the same journalist: “Details released under freedom of information law shows that the MoD is aiming to complete a “nuclear infrastructure” project at Faslane by 2027 and a similarly named project at Coulport by 2030.”

Presumably such a massive increase in the capacity for destruction will be relayed back to us as “good for jobs” by Jackie Baillie.

The Green MSP for the west of Scotland, Ross Greer, has argued that the UK’s approach was now illegal under international law. “Public safety is being put at risk and public money is being wasted by a UK government hell-bent on maintaining an outdated approach to human security,” he said.

“While the growing calls against nuclear weapons fall on deaf ears at the MoD, the case for investment in new jobs for the region that don’t rely on weapons of mass destruction grows ever stronger.”

The SNP has attacked the nuclear projects as “massively waste and expensive” pointing out also that over 120 countries had recently backed a new United Nations’ treaty banning nuclear weapons.

So it’s time to support the heroic and tiny amount of people that sustain Faslane Peace Camp. Here’s their appeal blurb – please donate after reading. They need a tiny amount of money for things such as paint for banners, travel to and from various sites of protest – and courts costs.

These good people need our support. Let’s smash their appeal fund in one day:

“We are Faslane Peace Camp.
We are a independent anarchist community taking action against Trident Nuclear Weapons.
We occupy land beside Faslane Naval Base, where the UK’s nuclear submarines are housed. We have occupied this land since 1982.
We are a non-violent-direct-action campaign. We blockade roads, disrupt the work inside the base and exist as a permanent reminder of opposition to Trident. We help track illegal convoys as they travel on public roads and try to raise awareness of this important cause through public stalls, open days, and media appearances.
To maintain an all year round presence at the camp we rely heavily on donations of money, food, tools and building materials. We couldn’t exist without support from the public, and we encourage all those who donate to come and visit the camp for themselves to see their contributions making a difference.
Money raised through crowdfunding will enable us to buy better tools and building materials, build longer-lasting structures, and most importantly, be better resourced in our campaign against nuclear weapons. This means buying paint for banners, materials for lock-ons and travel to and from various sites of protest (and, inevitably, court!)
Huge thanks to anyone who donates – come visit us at camp and join our campaign – all are welcome!”

Go here to donate.

Comments (3)

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  1. Paul Carline says:

    For the best analysis of why this might be happening I recommend readers to watch yesterday’s UK Column Report at https://www.ukcolumn.org/ukcolumn-news/uk-column-news-13th-november-2017.
    It presents the context within which this disgraceful and disgusting reinforcement of Britain’s nuclear capabilities is being justified i.e. in the already signed-and-sealed new compact between the EU and NATO, within which – despite Brexit – the UK will have a major role.

  2. SleepingDog says:

    How exactly is crowdfunding page of this (extremely worthy) cause authenticated? There does not seem to be an official site with a link to the fundraiser.

    The UK electorate has not really had much opportunity to significantly change foreign policy since mass enfranchisement. The vital point this article makes beyond that, is that state secrecy makes informed consent impossible: we do not know what the government and state actors are doing in “our name”. If we were citizens, we might have some constitutional resort to withdrawing consent. As subjects, the remaining options are unfortunately more revolutionary (or breakaway) in character.

    Some of our nuclear holocaust near-misses have been classed as “accidents”, and of course classified top secret and hidden from the public for decades, as this Chatham House report details:
    Too Close for Comfort: Cases of Near Nuclear Use and Options for Policy
    https://www.chathamhouse.org/publications/papers/view/199200
    “For as long as nuclear weapons exist, the risk of an inadvertent, accidental or deliberate detonation remains.”

    so this secrecy is greatly (existentially) concerning. I would welcome UN inspectors to investigate these illegal weapons of mass destruction, but then, with the UK still occupying a permanent seat on the parcel-of-rogues Security Council, we may need UN reform before that happens.

    1. Hi Sleeping Dog the Crowdfunder is promoted by Scottish CND. I trust them. You should too.

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