Peaton Peace Pirates Plague Praetorian Palace.
Well, actually, it was the Peaton Pirates but the praetorian palace was merely the Scotland Office which is to be found in a douce, even plush area of Edinburgh that is the haunt of various consulates, including the Japanese one which is next door to the said Scotland Office, and from which a variety of non-Japanese faces glowered their disapproval at our goings on.
We were Janet Fenton, Douglas Shaw, David Mackenzie, Brian Quail and Jean Oliver and throughout the episode we had huge practical and moral support (tweeting and such stuff; hot soup and bananas; cheering smiles and jokes and the promise of blankets should affairs go in that direction) from Susan Nagle and fellow TPer Eoin McCarthy. There was also sterling Facebook activity from Jane (She’s a Brick) Tallents.
The Scotland Office had been selected for attention since it is the outpost, within the devolution settlement, of the Westminster government north of the Tweed. The letter we carried with us is copied below and that gives the rationale for being there.
We announced our arrival through the speak- box at the door. Eventually a man called Glen came round to us from somewhere round the back and said he was the Deputy Policy Officer or something. The Secy of State, Mr Mundell was not present. Glen looked at the letter, then he asked if he could take it inside to read it and then come back to talk to us. He had, as duty bound, informed the police of our presence. Then the police arrived and asked if they could facilitate the delivery of the letter. Can you facilitate us getting a real live response? No, they couldn’t, sorry and all that but since you are doing nothing wrong we are just going away now and have a nice day, more or less. Before they went we did have a discussion about the police duty to uphold the law and at least one of the officers seemed to be paying attention.
So we just sat there on the steps at the door with the banners displayed around until we decided to engage in some gentle chalk decoration of the walls, the steps, the door itself and the pavement outside, carrying messages related to the preference of child-welfare over military hardware, the suggestion that dropping bombs to bring peace is a bit like trying to retain virginity through copulation, a suggestion that the Viceroy was in hiding, a nice quote from Tacitus (they have made a desolation and they call it peace) as well as lots of pretty CND signs. David and Brian helped each other with the clambering about, as you can see from the pictures. This brought more scowling and even some muttering from next door, so the next chalk wave pointed out that Hiroshima and Nagasaki must never be repeated.
Meanwhile the promised return of Glen was not happening so eventually at around 2 pm Janet got on to the speak-box again and asked for him to come out. She was polite but importunate and eventually she was told he would be out by a quarter to three. This deadline slipped past and Janet was on the box again, still polite-ish but markedly more importunate. After she explained that we would be duty bound to inform the (social) media of Glen’s broken promises, and explaining that 2 of us were The Sec’s constituents, at last he appeared. Not the bearer of a response, only the promise of one “very soon” so off we went to find a nice cup of tea and a warm up.
Janet and David
David Mundell MP
Secretary of State for Scotland
7th December 2015
Dear Mr Mundell,
In May’s general election the people of Scotland voted overwhelmingly for candidates whose anti-Trident stance was a key part of their platform. This was as clear a message as you can get. And it was not merely about getting the UK’s nuclear weapon launch-pad out of Scotland – it was underpinned by a realistic grasp of the horrific nature of these weapons and a longing to join the growing surge for a global ban.
The position taken by our representatives at Westminster on not replacing Trident is reflected by the whole of our elected representation. The Scottish Parliament has discussed and voted overwhelmingly to reject the continuation of nuclear weapons being deployed here, and supporting the 121 states who endorse a global ban . Our First Minister has signed a statement supporting this ban, and expressed a willingness for Scotland to be able to participate in the negotiations that will bring it about. Civic Scotland has also spoken through church leaders, the trade union movement, local authorities and other highly respected leaders of civic and cultural society. In every arena the message is clear and we should need to do no more.
In response Westminster has shown a complete and cynical disregard. It is determined to develop a new version of the system that for a further generation will retain the UK’s status as a rogue state willing to deploy weapons of mass destruction. Use the current democratic structures to get your views across, we are told. Well, we have done so. Over the years we have painstakingly prepared the case against nuclear weapons and have presented it to a public which has overwhelmingly endorsed our stance through the ballot box. Yet you still pay absolutely no attention.
Any Scotland office that is fulfilling its stated function of representing the interests of the people of Scotland to Westminster must now address the UK government’s arrogant disregard by the for people in Scotland who carry the highest risk associated with the weapons and have made clear their abhorrence of the possibility of millions of deaths and the disruption of global bio-diversity.
A public and immediate response is required to explain how Trident could possibly be used in accordance with international humanitarian law. If the UK government does not have or will not provide an answer to this question will the Secretary of State agree to represent our demand that the UK disarms and dismantles these weapons.
Most recently the decision to bomb Syria has been taken with a similar a total disregard for the position taken by the Scottish MPs at Westminster. Given the possible consequences of these actions, this reflects badly on our democratic process and we need to know how the Scotland Office will communicate with the UK government on our behalf for an end to attacks on Syria.
We are waiting here until you are prepared to go on the record and discuss the matter in this public space.
In peace,
Jean Oliver, Douglas Shaw, Brian Quail, Janet Fenton and David Mackenzie
Peaton Pirates Affinity Group of Trident Ploughshares