29 June 2021:
Peaton Peace Pirates, a Trident Ploughshares affinity group, gathered outside the UK’s Scotland Office in New Street, Edinburgh in a protest against the Westminster decision to increase the number of nuclear weapons which it deploys from Faslane and Coulport on the Clyde.
The group took up position on the piazza just outside the main
entrance to the complex and displayed banners and placards that catalogue the UK’s disregard for Scotland’s parliamentary and public opposition to nuclear weapons and which challenge the Westminster government to engage with the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. One special placard, reproduced in honour of stalwart campaigner Eric Wallace of Helensburgh, who died in 2016, read: “YOU’RE OUT OF ORDER BY THE WAY.”
Janet Fenton said: “After years of the UK saying they are reducing the number of warheads, Boris Johnson has announced that the UK will increase the cap on the number of its nuclear bombs to 260 – an increase of 40%.We know that this increase has already begun and it looks like they already have about 250 – enough to destroy 2000 cities. By this increase the UK is taking part in the new nuclear arms race which threatens the whole planet. Boris Johnson also wants to make the UK’s nuclear operations even more secret than before – that is how dictatorships behave, not democracies.
Nuclear weapons are the most inhumane and indiscriminate weapons ever created. They violate international law, cause severe environmental damage, and divert vast public resources away from meeting real human security needs. The UK is showing complete contempt for Scotland’s parliament, government and people. No longer do we want to be both a target and a launch pad for mass murder.
When Scotland is independent and joins the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons we will have worldwide support and the backing of international law as we rid ourselves of these hideous weapons. There is so much we can do right now as a people, a parliament and a government, to prepare for that day.”