CANdLE (Cumbria AND Lancashire Etc) at Faslane

We arrived in cars and a minibus, from all over the region, and were assembled outside the North Gate of the Clyde nuclear sub base Faslane by midday on Halloween. Mini-marquess protected us from the soon-to-pass rain, colourful banners were erected, pumpkins were carved, soup was thawed and distributed. Music and later drums played, re-aquaintanced made, and the predominant Quaker contingent held a Meeting of around 10-15 minutes in silence in the 'free speech' pen on the south side of the gate. At 2 o'clock the majority of the gathering (40+? short of the desired 100) moved into the road and walked around the roundabout singing together, of loving, singing, walking forward, never going back. As we approached the gate, a chain was pulled across the front of the gate, with a banner attached against Trident. People sat on the road and symbolically held on to the chain. Behind, two people attempted to lock-on with arm tubes around the front tyre of the first van to pull up at the blockade. The police were fairly unrestrained in their treatment, nearly dislocating the thumb of one protestor simply holding the (unsecured) chain, others were pushed to the floor, the lockers-on were pulled apart and arm-locked. Those who took up the request to move did so, others sat and laid in the road maintaining a blockade of all traffic through the gate for around half an hour. The Fire and Rescue vehicle (for lock-ons) approached and was waved away by the police. Then the predictable removals, searched, arrests and 23 hours of amiable custody for those who blockaded.

Highlights? The police officer who made a point of sitting in both vans of arrestees, and ranted about capitalism, BAe, Eurofighter, Iraq, land ownership and more, in a personal capacity, whilst also asking about theism as part of pacifism in Quakerism. The swapping of police roles as they discovered there was no officer old enough to drive the hire vans we were held in. The WPC allowing us cigarettes before processing, hissing at us to hide them when her superior walked past. The chats about music, drink, drugs, clubbing, anything really. The three hot meals in the cells (quantity not quality, vegan and hal-al options available). Finding graffitti by other blockaders in the cells. The knowledge that we were going to be released without charge (so far the only response). Of the 9 arrested, I think only 3 had been arrested before, and this was certainly the nicest introduction to a first arrest.

If you were wondering about going to Faslane, do so, get arrested, add to the numbers that will be thrown at the Government as the year rolls on. This is civil disobediance at its simplest and truest.

And, make sure your arm-tubes are the right length, and take enough wrist chains, so that you can stretch the blockade beyond the symbolic to the truly effective (this requires enough numbers to do all gates, too)!

As a group, we were relieved by the arrival of a bloc of mostly Catholic priests in warm wooly cloaks, who announced they were not intending to camp for the night! I wish I could have witnessed those arrests too!

Keep up the pressure!

[any chance of an action topic for faslane 365?]