Activists block entrance to UK's Faslane nuclear base in Scotland
Anti-nuclear weapon activists have gathered outside a naval base in Scotland in an attempt to stop workers from entering the base.
Protesters from the Scrap Trident Coalition’s Bairns Not Bombs said they will continue to block every gate of the Faslane naval base, which is home to the UK’s fleet of nuclear submarines, for several hours on Monday.
The protesters aim to see the shutdown of the base, where the UK’s nuclear weapons system dubbed Trident is kept.
The anti-Trident protest is part of a series of protest rallies organized by the group to draw attention to the UK’s multi-billion pound military nuclear program.
In a latest gathering on April 4, protesters marched through the city of Glascow, carrying banners and the Scottish flag and calling on British politicians to end the UK’s nuclear weapons program.
Nicola Sturgeon, Scotland’s first minister and leader of the Scottish National Party (SNP), and Partrick Harvie of the Scottish Greens addressed the crowd in the April 4 rally.
Sturgeon said the next UK parliament, to be elected in the May general elections, will have an important decision to take on whether to spend tens of billions of pounds on renewing the UK’s nuclear arsenal.
“One of the biggest decisions that MPs will take in the next parliament is whether to waste £100 billion ($149 billion) on renewing these morally obscene weapons,” said Sturgeon, adding, “Broken down, that’ll be around £3 billion a year, peaking at an eye-watering £4 billion in the 2020s.”
The Scottish first minister added that the large sum of money could instead be used for public services across the UK. The remark was made against the backdrop of the current Tory-led coalition government’s imposed cuts over the past few years.
The UK’s Trident program is said to have been in operation for fifty years; however, the program was officially announced in July 1980.
XLS/HJL/HRB
Putin: Russia will use force to achieve goals if Ukraine stalls peace negotiations
Trump: Zelensky doesn’t have anything ‘until I approve it’
Zelensky: ‘General consensus’ reached with US on Ukraine peace plan
Religious coexistence in Iran
Italy arrests Palestinian activist amid crackdown on anti-Israel voices
VIDEO | Myanmar's capital goes to polls amid civil war, humanitarian crisis
Israeli forces invade Syrian village amid continued aggression
UN experts warn Palestine Action hunger strikers at risk of death
Putin: Russia will use force to achieve goals if Ukraine stalls peace negotiations
The Year That Was: Best of ‘Iran First’ in 2025, the year of major Iranian breakthroughs
German journalist says Israeli forces raped her after abducting her from Gaza flotilla
PressTV NEWSLETTER
now
This makes it easy to access the Press TV website
