Trident Ploughshares Press Release

20 November 2009 - For immediate release

Anti-nuclear activists held a banner which read "Disarm the Seas" on the Rhu Spit as the first nuclear-powered Astute Class submarine sailed through the Rhu narrows on the west coast of Scotland at 10:45am this morning (20 November, 2009). Rainbow peace flags and a colourful CND banner fluttered in a brisk wind to greet the crew of HMS Astute, who stood at attention on the deck of the brand new hunter-killer submarine as it sailed into Faslane Naval Base for the first time. The demonstration was organized by Helensburgh CND and Trident Ploughshares.  

 Photos form todays anti-nato protest in Edinburgh

More photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/filkaler/

 A new convergence point has been announced for Smash NATO via their texting system: The Edinburgh International Conference Centre at 1:30 PM. Protesters have already started going in small groups to the centre, and protesters are still in front of the conference centre with their banner. 

 The police are now engaged in excessive and extreme brutality against the Smash NATO sound system, ripping it apart and tearing its cables to defend innocent bystanders against the heavy bass-lines of "Rage Against the Machine."

The Smash NATO protest has dispersed, with some going back to the convergence centre for lunch and around a dozen gathering outside the conference centre itself.

The police kettle has now loosened and is no longer effective, so the Smash NATO demo has dispersed. Currently people are moving the sound-system out and dispersing in small groups, with some going for the conference centre. It does not appear particular activists are being actively gone after

 The Smash NATO Demo was kettled in the Meadows and was treated fairly heavy by the police. They were given a Section 60 and people with masks were being detained and searched. Some people have gotten out of the kettle and are re-assembling elsewhere.

 In a quick update, around 50 protesters have gathered in the Meadows, and the police have arrived, and are trying to contain them as other protesters arrive. Some protesters have also made it to the conference centre, where with an anti-NATO banner they are refusing to enter the "official and approved" protest-zone.

This is the Fuck the War Coalition and we are bringing the war home to those who profit from imperialism. This morning we broke 10 windows on the Selex Galileo building.

A spokesperson said "Corporations like Selex Galileo play a vital role in the military industrial complex. They have the blood of the innocent Afghani, Iraqi and Palestinian people who suffer at the hands of the capitalist system."

Another added "The war in Afghanistan has nothing to do with democracy, women's rights, opium or the war on terror. Its about oil pipelines, making money for big corporations, and establishing permanent military bases near China, India and Pakistan.

"Working class people from Scotland are joining the Army and getting killed in Afghanistan so that the bosses and shareholders of companies like Selex and BP can make more money."

NOTES

The Fuck The War Coalition does not exist, but is merely a name used by those taking action against the war machine. Property destruction and other acts of direct action have been claimed by the FTWC across the UK for the last two and a half years and will continue until global militarism has ceased. FTWC have attacked army recruitment centres, arms factories, and the American consulates and embassies.

 Around the country billboards containing Poppy Appeal posters from the Royal British Legion are displaying images of British soldiers in Afghanistan, or their grieving widows and family. While the appeal tried to raise it's annual £30 million, most people think the best way to help the troops is to bring them home and prosecute the politicians who sent them. Below we outline how to modify these billboards yourself to carry the messages 'BRING 'EM HOME' and 'PROSECUTE BLAIR'