THREE anti-nuclear activists were arrested yesterday after mounting an early-morning protest at the Faslane submarine base on the Clyde – home of the UK’s Trident weapons system.
The demonstration came as it emerged that the US Government had pressured then prime minister David Cameron’s office not to comment on the failed test of a Trident II D5 missile last June, when it veered away from its target off Africa towards the Florida coast.
A military source revealed: “It was the Obama administration that asked the Cameron administration not to comment on this. The US administration may have been worried that there could be similar problems on other missiles.
The British submarine successfully carried and launched the missile. The bit that went wrong was the US proprietary technology.”
Four activists from the Faslane Peace Camp interrupted morning routines at the base by walking into the line of traffic approaching the south gate, pulling a banner across the road which read “You Can’t Cover Up A Nuclear Disaster”
Three of the protesters sat down on the road, effectively shutting the entry and leading to a substantial traffic jam.
However, they said an unmarked MoD Police car and regular police vehicle arrived shortly after their protest began, and the trio were arrested. They are expected to be released today.
The group said its action was a direct response to the Royal Navy misfiring the Trident missile, which was launched from HMS Vengeance, one of four RN Vanguard-class submarines that carries the weapons.
The Faslane Peace Camp said in a statement: “There was also a discrepancy in the awareness of the event among elected officials who, weeks later, voted in favour of renewing the missile defence system. It also emerged that Prime Minister Theresa May was briefed about the test and its results and did not inform MPs.”
The group said aside from the politics of the matter there was also a technical issue, as the Trident missiles held by the US and UK are identical, and most of the tests are carried out by the American Navy.
One activist, known as Nick Timer, said: “How can UK’s nuclear destiny be claimed to be in safe hands when the country is surrendering its power structure to the Chinese, allowing the Americans to build these haphazard missiles and freely sharing vital secrets to a pres-ident whose views and opinions are as vague and inconsistent as they are bizarre and provocative.”
Following July’s parliamentary vote, the UK Government decided to spend £40 billion to renew Trident, although estimates have put the cost in excess of £200bn.
Another activist, known as Molly, added: “We have to ask how effective a deterrent Trident is when the world’s superpowers can’t be assured that any retaliatory strike would even reach its intended target. Instead of heading towards a new arms race, we need to simply find a way to scrap the nukes, and getting rid of Trident would set a good precedent.”
A spokesperson for the MoD Police said: “We can confirm that three males were arrested for attempting to block entry to HM Naval Base Clyde. At no point was the security of the base compromised but, with investigations ongoing, it would be inappropriate to comment further.”
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