Any mobile phone that can send photo attachments by email can submit images, or you can email them in afterwards from a computer.
Your pictures will be published automatically on http://www.cnduk.org and other websites.
The subject line of your email will be used as the image title and any text in your email will also be published, so please do not include anything you would not wish to be made public.
You retain ownership of your photos, but by submitting them agree that they can be freely used by others.
*Follow @TridentPlough on Twitter for live updates from the blockade*
From Stop Pegasus: Big demo at West Berkshire planning committee meeting on Wednesday (10th) February: 6pm, Calcot Centre, Highview (off Royal Avenue), Calcot RG31 4XD - join us!
Calcot is just to the west of Reading, just off the M4.
The nearest train station seems to be Theale.
Map: http://tinyurl.com/CalcotMap
Campaigners to shut down nuclear bomb factory as they call for disarmament of Trident and abolition of nuclear weapons
On Monday 15 February, from 7am, hundreds of campaigners from England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales and other countries will block access to every gate of the Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE) at Aldermaston, Berkshire, England.[1] The blockade, initiated by Trident Ploughshares (TP) and supported by the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND), the Aldermaston Women’s Peace Camp(aign) (AWPC)[2] and other groups, aims to halt construction of multi-billion pound facilities for research and development of a new generation of nuclear warheads. [3, 4]
Individuals coming to the blockade include Nobel Peace Prize laureates Jody Williams and Mairead Maguire (who led the successful campaign for the Convention on Cluster Munitions and worked to end violence in Northern Ireland respectively); Jill Evans MEP; the Anglican Bishops of Bristol, Mike Hill, Reading, Stephen Cottrell, and Bath and Wells, Peter Price; and the Catholic Bishop of Brentwood, Thomas McMahon.
Each of the gates to the nuclear weapons site will be themed: Scotland, Wales, England, internationals (a sizeable contingent will represent mainly European countries, including France and Belgium), cyclists and environmentalists, faith groups, women and students. Choirs, medical professionals and politicians will also be present.
Brian Larkin from TP, travelling from Scotland, said: “This is the biggest blockade of Aldermaston in years and comes at a time when even major political parties are questioning the logic of spending up to £97 billion [5] on useless weapons. It demonstrates the depth and breadth of determined civil society opposition to Trident and its planned replacement.[6] Although the government now seems to have delayed the next phase of Trident replacement until after the general election, the ongoing construction of facilities at the AWE for the design, development and manufacture of new nuclear warheads is illegal and immoral and will only lead to further proliferation of nuclear weapons.”
Angie Zelter, also from TP, travelling from Wales, added: “In May, world governments will meet to review the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT);[7] but this program of modernisation of UK nuclear weapons violates the treaty and could lead to a disastrous failure of the Review Conference. Over forty years ago, when it signed up to the treaty, the UK made a deal to negotiate multilateral nuclear disarmament in exchange for states without nuclear weapons agreeing not to obtain them.[8] Not only have we failed to keep that promise but now we are preparing to build a new generation of nuclear weapons. If the government wants to halt the proliferation of nuclear weaponsit should get rid of its own nuclear weapons first. We are calling on the UK to abide by its agreement to achieve nuclear disarmament – that means taking Trident off patrol, halting all work and preparations for any new generation of nuclear weapons and using the AWE only for disarmament and verification.”
Sarah Lasenby, also from TP, travelling from Oxford, added: “The time has come for the UK to disarm its nuclear weapons. Instead of building a new generation, the government should go to the upcoming NPT Review Conference in New York and commit to negotiations for a Nuclear Weapons Convention to abolish nuclear weapons worldwide.”[9]
Media contacts: Daniel Viesnik 07506 234 091; Brian Larkin 07768 312 676; Angie Zelter 07835 354 652
ENDS
Notes to editors:
1. For more details about the Aldermaston blockade see:
Images from the blockade will be available on the day via a link on the home page of the Trident Ploughshares website: http://www.tridentploughshares.org
Live updates from the blockade will be available via Twitter:
3. Blockades of AWE Aldermaston took place most recently in October 2008 and June 2009.
4. For further information on the Ministry of Defence’s current planning application for an enriched uranium handling and storage facility, Project Pegasus, at AWE Aldermaston, which has drawn around 900 objections and is due to go before West Berkshire planning committee later this month, see the following briefings from the Nuclear Information Service: http://nuclearinfo.org/view/item/a2038 http://nuclearinfo.org/view/item/a2040
8. Article VI of the NPT, ratified by both the UK and the US, stipulates: “Each of the Parties to the Treaty undertakes to pursue negotiations in good faith on effective measures relating to cessation of the nuclear arms race at an early date and to nuclear disarmament, and on a treaty on general and complete disarmament under strict and effective international control.”
9. For further information on the international campaign for the NPT Review Conference to commit to negotiations toward a Nuclear Weapons Convention, see: http://www.icanw.org (Last edited: 10 February 2010, 08:35)
Message of support from Andrew Smith MP, Oxford East:
"I send my best wishes and support to you peacefully demonstrating opposition to the renewal of Trident nuclear weapons. These weapons are abhorrent, do not contribute to our defence or security, and consume vast resources which could so evidently be better deployed elsewhere, in combating poverty and climate change as well as better equipping conventional forces. It is encouraging that public opinion increasingly understands this, and I hope your campaigning effort today raises further the profile of this vital issue and wins support for saying no to Trident."
The following upcoming workshops have been arranged to help prepare groups and individuals for the Aldermaston Blockade on Monday 15th February. If you would like to take part in one of the workshops, please get in touch with the contact person indicated.
England
Sat 23rd Jan, London - Friends House, 175 Euston Road, NW1 2BJ, Room 2, 11am to 4pm. For training in nonviolent direct action - to include blockading techniques, legal briefing and support roles. Please book in advance.
Sat 6th Feb, London - Friends House, 175 Euston Road, NW1 2BJ, 9.45am - 12.45pm. Contact Chris - chrisandgwyn [at] phonecoop.coop Directions: As Above
Scotland
Sat 6 Feb, Edinburgh, 2 - 5pm, St John's Church Hall, Prince's St. Contact Jane: tp2000 [at] gn.apc.org
Sun 7 Feb, Glasgow, 2-5pm, Anderston Kelvingrove Church, 759 Argyle Street (at Elderslie Street) Contact Jane: tp2000 [at] gn.apc.org
Transport and Accommodation for the Blockade
Groups are strongly encouraged to organise their own transport and pre-blockade overnight accommodation, if needed. Crash space and vegan food will be available after the blockade, on Monday evening.
Transport
We know about the following regional transport being arranged. If you know of others, please let us know and we will publish.
From England:
Cumbria and Lancashire CND - r.allwright [at] lancaster.ac.uk 01524 33991 Mid Somerset CND - msomcnd [at] aol.com 01749 830741 Southern Region CND - 02380 328335 London Region CND - david.lrcnd [at] cnduk.org 020 7607 2302 Yorkshire CND - hannah [at] yorkshirecnd.org.uk 01274 730 795 West Midlands CND - wmcndall [at] gn.apc.org 0121 643 4617 East Anglia and Norwich CND - mellcndeast [at] cnduk.org ; Lesley - 07711298214 Greater Manchester and District CND - gmdcnd [at] gn.apc.org 0161 2738283
For all of the above, please book your seat in advance as places are limited.
From Scotland:
Minibuses from Edinburgh (Waterloo Place), Glasgow (George Square, in front of City Chambers) and other locations in Scotland at 8:30am on Sunday 14 February, returning by 6:30pm on Tuesday 16 February.
Thanks to a generous donation from Scottish CND the cost is only £15 per person (£5 Deposit). Sponsorship is available if you are unable to pay the full cost.
To book your place, call Edinburgh Peace and Justice Centre: 0131 229 0993 or via the website: http://peaceandjustice.org.uk
For all of the above, please book your seat in advance as places are limited.
Accommodation
For advice on places to stay and how to get there, contact Chris Wood on 020 7700 2393 or by e-mail at chris [at] cnduk.org .
Briefing Pack
If you are planning to come to the blockade, PLEASE READ THE BRIEFING PACK as soon as possible. It includes Trident Ploughshares's nonviolence action guidelines, information on how to register your affinity group, maps of the site and lots of other essential practical information.
As dawn begins to break on a Monday morning in February, hundreds of dedicated individuals from all around Britain and beyond will descend upon the Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE) at Aldermaston, determined to block the base and halt work on facilities for a new generation of nuclear warheads.
The Aldermaston Blockade on 15 February 2010 will highlight the illegality, immorality and criminal waste of resources involved in the multi-billion pound expansion of the nuclear warhead factory in West Berkshire and the wider Trident replacement programme, aiming to put a stop to the developments and begin the process of disarmament. Initiated by Trident Ploughshares and supported by CND, the Aldermaston Women’s Peace Camp(aign) and others, the action comes on the back of the Faslane 365 year-long blockade of the Trident submarine base in Scotland (2006-7) and major blockades at Aldermaston in October 2008 and June 2009.
The AWE sites at Aldermaston and nearby Burghfield are where Britain’s nuclear warheads are developed, maintained and decommissioned. In 2005, work began on a multi-billion pound expansion of AWE on the scale of Heathrow Terminal 5, accompanied by a massive recruitment drive. The government and AWE claim all this expenditure is necessary to maintain a “capability” to design a new warhead should one be needed, but have always publicly denied that any decision has been taken. Taken at face value and ignoring reports suggesting that research may in fact already be underway to develop such a warhead, this hardly signals a meaningful commitment on the part of the government to its requirement under the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, due for review at the UN conference in New York next May, to negotiate “in good faith” to achieve nuclear disarmament “in all its aspects”, an obligation affirmed unanimously by the International Court of Justice in 1996.
On 9 September 2009, during the parliamentary recess, Quentin Davies MP, Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Ministry of Defence, slipped out a brief written statement which went unreported in the press and, to date, remains undebated in parliament, announcing that AWE is to receive an average of £1bn per annum of taxpayer’s money until March 2013. This appalling waste of public funds, announced just as drastic cuts to public spending are being proposed to pay for the banking crisis, comes on the back of areport by Greenpeace calculating that the lifetime cost of replacing Trident would be £97bn (In the Firing Line, September 2009). Surely this colossal sum of money would be better spent on tackling climate change, healthcare, education, social care, public transport…?
There is also hardly any discussion of the fact that much of the work carried out at AWE is for the US warhead programme, under the auspices of the 1958 US-UK Mutual Defence Agreement; and that the company that runs AWE is now two-thirds owned by US corporations.
And so to the blockade: mobilisation is already well underway; it is anticipated that numbers will easily surpass the three to four hundred that came last October. Groups are expected from Scotland, Wales and the north and south of England, as well as from overseas; and specific gates will be covered by women, faith groups, cyclists and environmentalists, students, academics, parliamentarians, choirs and even Nobel Peace Prize laureates (though President Obama and Henry Kissinger are yet to confirm(!) ). Affinity groups will be as autonomous as possible, organising their own transport directly to Aldermaston, nonviolent direct action training and, if necessary, pre-blockade accommodation to enable them to arrive by 7am. Assistance with training, where needed, is offered in advance, as well as support on the day, including vegan food, legal and gate support, police station pick-ups, a general debrief and post-blockade accommodation. If you are unwilling or unable to risk arrest, many important “non-arrestable” roles also need filling. The earlier that groups can get themselves organised and start formulating their plans, the better. Get in touch if you need help finding contacts in your area or to find out how you can get involved.
Download the Aldermaston Blockade briefing pack here:
The Ministry of Defence has submitted a planning application to West Berkshire Council for an enriched uranium handling and storage facility (codenamed "Project Pegasus") at Atomic Weapons Establishment Aldermaston. This facility would be used to develop a new generation of nuclear warheads.
*The deadline for objections to the application is *FRIDAY 15 JANUARY*
The Atomic Weapons Establishment at Aldermaston, Berkshire is in the process of spending billions of pounds of UK taxpayers' money building the facilities for a new generation of nuclear warheads. Britain's submarine-launched Trident nuclear missile system already endangers us all, encourages global proliferation and undermines international law and disarmament negotiations. Instead of building new nukes, we call for global leadership by disarming now.
Come and join the blockade at Aldermaston on Monday 15 February, 2010 and help us make it BIG. The action will begin at 7am and continue for as long as possible. You can sit, lie down, "lock-on" or perch atop a tripod, or you can support and entertain blockaders (arrest is optional). Please encourage your friends and relatives to join what promises to be an empowering and fun day out for all the family (best leave pets at home though).
There will be groups travelling from all over the UK and abroad, so we can put you in contact with a group near you well in advance for nonviolent direct action training, transport, logistics and support. Specific gates are allocated for groups of internationals, environmentalists and cyclists, women, faith groups, students, choirs, parliamentarians, academics and Nobel Peace Prize laureates, as well as groups travelling from Scotland, Wales and the north and south of England.
We will organise pick-ups from police stations as people are released and somewhere warm we can all meet after the action to share our experiences and eat a delicious hot vegan meal together. Overnight crash space accommodation will also be available after the blockade.
For more information on how to get involved, phone 0845 45 88 361 or e-mail blockawe [at] yahoo.co.uk . Our current flyer is downloadable here, and a briefing pack is now available here: http://www.tridentploughshares.org/article1577
Trident Ploughshares is a campaign to disarm the UK Trident nuclear weapons system in a nonviolent, open, peaceful, safe and fully accountable manner.
Please note that Trident Ploughsharesactions are strictly nonviolent and alcohol- and drug-free. This includes not having alcohol or (non-medicinal) drugs in the bloodstream during the action and not carrying any weapons. We ask participants to be respectful and non-aggressive to all whom we meet, and to leave abusive placards, banners, T-shirts, etc at home. We will clear the blockade if necessary to allow emergency vehicles to pass, then resume the blockade afterwards.
Four people who took part in the Aldermaston Big Blockade on 27 October 2008 were found not guilty on Thursday (12 November, 2009) of obstructing the highway by a District Judge at Reading Magistrates' Court, Berkshire, south-east England.
District Judge Peter Dixon Crabtree OBE ruled that the prosecution had failed to prove that the defendants were in fact on a highway or obstructing a highway. The defendants successfully argued that their blockade took place on the access road to the Tadley Gate entrance to the Atomic Weapons Establishment Aldermaston, which they claimed lies on Ministry of Defence land, and that their action to impede the development and deployment of nuclear weapons did not significantly affect traffic flow on the adjacent main road, the A340.
The successful defendants, who have each been awarded costs, are Jean Oliver from Lanarkshire in Scotland, David Polden and Emma Sangster, both from London, and Renate Zauner from Switzerland.
The trial took place on 21-22 October, 2009, but the defendants were required to return to court on Thursday to hear the judgment.
A fifth defendant, Barbara Dowling, from Glasgow, pleaded guilty on 21 October and was given an 18-month conditional discharge and ordered to pay £85 in costs.
ENDS
Notes:
1. Trident Ploughshares is a campaign initiated in 1998 to disarm Britain's Trident nuclear weapon system in a peaceful, nonviolent, open and accountable manner. http://www.tridentploughshares.org
3. Photo (credit D. Viesnik) shows defendants with counsel and supporters outside Reading Magistrates' Court on the first day of the trial, 21 October 2009
Kat Barton blocks access to AWE Aldermaston atop tripod, 27 October '08 (D. Viesnik)
Contact details:
General info:0845 45 88 361 (landline) blockawe [at] yahoo.co.uk Legal support (NOT on the day of the blockade): David (office hours)020 7607 2302 david.lrcnd [at] cnduk.org
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