Hundreds blockade nuclear bomb factory

Up to eight hundred anti-nuclear campaigners from England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales and a number of other countries joined a blockade of the Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE) at Aldermaston in Berkshire from just before 7am in the morning. Every gate was closed by blockaders in the course of the morning. Twenty-six arrests were reported, on suspicion of criminal trespass (for entering the site) and highway obstruction.

War Resisters' International co-ordinated the participation of activists from several European countries, including Belgium, Finland, Germany, Sweden, and Spain.

The blockaders either sat or stood in front of the gates or lay down, linked together with arm tubes and locks, or with their hands superglued together. The police had to deploy specialist cutting teams to release many of the protesters. Most of those blockading were removed without being arrested, even though many were in place for several hours.

Brian Larkin, a Trident Ploughshares (TP) activist who travelled from Helensburgh, Scotland, said: “This is the biggest blockade of Aldermaston in years and comes at a time when even major political parties are questioning the logic of spending up to £97 billion on useless weapons. It demonstrates the depth and breadth of determined civil society opposition to Trident and its planned replacement. Although the government now seems to have delayed the next phase of Trident replacement until after the general election, the ongoing construction of facilities at the AWE for the design, development and manufacture of new nuclear warheads is illegal and immoral and will only lead to further proliferation of nuclear weapons.”

Angie Zelter, co-founder of TP, who travelled from Knighton, Wales, added: “In May, world governments will meet to review the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT); but this program of modernisation of UK nuclear weapons violates the treaty and could lead to a disastrous failure of the Review Conference. Over forty years ago, when it signed up to the treaty, the UK made a deal to negotiate multilateral nuclear disarmament in exchange for states without nuclear weapons agreeing not to obtain them. Not only have we failed to keep that promise but now we are preparing to build a new generation of nuclear weapons. If the government wants to halt the proliferation of nuclear weapons it should get rid of its own nuclear weapons first. We are calling on the UK to abide by its agreement to achieve nuclear disarmament - that means taking Trident off patrol, halting all work and preparations for any new generation of nuclear weapons and using the AWE only for disarmament and verification.”

Sarah Lasenby, a TP activist who travelled from Oxford, added: “The time has come for the UK to disarm its nuclear weapons. Instead of building a new generation, the government should go to the upcoming NPT Review Conference in New York and commit to negotiations for a Nuclear Weapons Convention to abolish nuclear weapons worldwide.”

Each of the gates to the nuclear weapons site is themed: Scotland, Wales, England, internationals (from Sweden, Finland, Switzerland, Germany, Belgium and Spain), cyclists and environmentalists, faith groups, women and students. Choirs, medical professionals, academics and politicians are also present.

Images from the blockade: http://www.flickr.com/photos/cnduk
Video from the action: http://wri-irg.org/node/9816