Press Releases & Updates 2001

In their letter to John Orr they say that "the prima facie evidence for Trident’s unlawfulness is now ever more firmly in the public domain. This means further that a civil police force, especially one in whose area the operations under question are being conducted, has even less excuse than before for failing to engage in at least preliminary investigations on its own behalf, or for failing to review and revise its current policy of impeding and arresting those who are acting to uphold the law."

The letter notes that the case against Trident has been implicitly accepted by the government in its recent statement on the new thermobaric weapon: "... we do not wish to have a weapon which is indiscriminate and causes excessive collateral damage." Yet the same Government continues to keep in a state of constant readiness a weapon which everyone acknowledges is massively indiscriminate. The weapon in question is being deployed on your patch. At the very least you should be asking the Government to explain this blatant contradiction."

It is clear from correspondence last year between the campaign and Mr. Orr that he has given thought to the issue of Trident’s illegality. The campaigners hope that he will move from a "What’s official must be legal" stance and allow the activists on February 12th to carry out their peaceful crime prevention unimpeded.

Trident Ploughshares activists have been greatly cheered by the acquittal last week in Manchester Crown Court of Sylvia Boyes and River, on charges of conspiracy to commit criminal damage. In November 1999 Sylvia and River had attempted to decommission the Trident submarine Vengeance in its dock in Barrow. They claimed that their action was justified since Trident was illegal and immoral. The jury agreed.

It is now expected that the Big Blockade will attract around 1000 people to Faslane, from as far as Belgium and Denmark.

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