WPJF takes part in Faslane 365 campaign
Just got back from Faslane, along with about 100 other activists from across Wales who took part in the rolling 1-year Faslane 365 campaign between 13th and 15th November. Different groups from across the country and beyond are taking on 48-hour blocks to maintain the pressure of an ongoing blockade in protest at Trident and government plans to spend an estimate £75 billion on a new generation of nuclear weapons to replace Trident.
The South and Mid-Wales group brought with them a contingent of the Rebel Clown Army, a giant red dragon and assorted politicians, while the North Wales group included a sizeable group of "Merched Beca" (Daughters of Rebecca) with voluminous skirts, bonnets and blackened faces. The actions of Merched Beca in 1839-44, where protesters dressed up in women’s clothes and destroyed much-hated toll gates in Wales, led directly to a Royal Commission to examine the issue, and by 1844 most of the remaining toll gates had been legally removed, allowing ordinary people to move freely along the roads. The 21st Century Daughters of Rebecca hope that their nonviolent direct action as part of Faslane 365 will bring about the decommissioning and dismantling of Britain’s nuclear weapons, allowing taxes to be diverted to more useful purposes.
19 protesters including eight teenagers, some of whom were as young as 14, were arrested for blockading the nuclear base on the 13th and 14th. Those under 16 were almost immediately de-arrested by the police, but those aged 16 and over are treated as adults in Scottish law and were detained overnight in police cells along with everyone else. My (not very) exciting account of 27 hours in police custody is here. Having spent most of my time in Scotland in a police cell, I didn’t have much else to write about.
Warning letters from the procurator fiscal were issued to arrestees on their release. Since the campaign began on October 1st, only one Faslane 365 case has been referred to court but this looks set to increase as groups and individuals return for a second and third blockading visit. We were certainly talking about next time on the way home and will be getting together in December to discuss how the action went and to do some early planning for another visit.
