Faslane Peace Camp

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Camp's Side Entrance
Enlarge
The Camp's Side Entrance

Faslane Peace Camp is a controversial permanent peace camp sited outside Faslane Naval base gates in Argyll and Bute, Scotland. It has been occupied continuously since 1982.

Contents

[edit] The Site

Faslane Peace Camp as seen from the road
Enlarge
Faslane Peace Camp as seen from the road

The site and look of the camp has varied considerably over the years, depending on the number and attitude of the residents. At one point there were two sites (one at each main gate) with distinct political attitudes (roughly characterised as anarchist and socialist).

[edit] Protests

Another view of the peace camp from the road
Enlarge
Another view of the peace camp from the road

Camp residents have occasionally breached the security of the Naval Base by getting inside the fence or by disrupting the road transportation of the Trident missile warheads. They are also active, with Trident Ploughshares and CND in large public blockades of the base, attended by members of the public and a few politicians. Such annual events aim to keep the base closed for as long as possible by preventing its staff from arriving for work, and usually involve large numbers of protestors being arrested.

[edit] Faslane 365

F365 16th October
Enlarge
F365 16th October

The Faslane 365 campaign is an effort to establish a continuous protest at the base for a 365 day period using autonomous groups of 100 people.[1]

The campaign was launched in September 2006 with the first protest action commencing on 1 October 2006 carried out by a campaigning group of women associated with protests at Greenham Common.

Arrests were made on 2 October of 12 women, and on 9 October of 7 unspecified people.[citation needed] On 16 October 23 Swedes and 19 Finns were arrested.[2] As of 20 November 2006, there have been 301 arrests, mostly for breach of the peace, but only one prosecution.[citation needed][3]

[edit] Politicians and Faslane

The presence of Faslane is also an issue in Scottish politics. The Scottish National Party, the Scottish Socialist Party and the Scottish Green Party all oppose the deployment of nuclear weapons, although the Scottish National Party have made assurances that they would retain the base for the servicing of conventionally-armed and powered naval units. It is not unusual for members of these parties, and indeed some from the Labour Party, to attend rallies outside Faslane. The issue of Trident is however a reserved matter dealt with at Westminster.

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

[edit] News Coverage

 This article about an organisation in Scotland is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.
 This article related to the politics of the United Kingdom, or its predecessor or constituent states, is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org../../../f/a/s/Faslane_Peace_Camp_978d.html"