ANTI-nuclear campaigners yesterday staged a protest at a Glasgow landmark as part of a campaign to mark 30 years of the Faslane Peace Camp.
Three men scaled the city's Finnieston Crane at around 6am yesterday and attached a banner reading: "Nuclear disarmament – if not now, when?"
Last night police negotiators were on the scene, along with a handful of onlookers.
The men, who are all from the Faslane Peace Camp outside the gates of HM Naval Base Clyde – home of the UK's Trident nuclear submarine fleet – said they planned to stay up there until the police brought them down.
However, a spokeswoman for Strathclyde Police said the force did not intend to take any action if the protesters did not pose a threat to anyone.
One of the protesters, who declined to give his name, told the Sunday Herald that it was the first of 30 days of action.
He said: "I'd rather not spend two nights in a police cell. The police will probably arrest us. We're going to hang out here."
The protester added that he wanted to raise awareness of the threat of nuclear weapons and voiced his concerns that the SNP would go back on their pledge to get rid of Trident.
The 30 days of protest, which will run until July 9, will include a two-day "peace march" from Glasgow's George Square to Faslane on June 21.
Faslane Peace Camp member Leonna O'Neill said there would be similar protests to the Finnieston Crane action, but declined to give further details.
She added: "I think it is really important to keep the Trident debate in an open forum. We need to really keep reminding people of the connection with Scottish independence, there is very real chance of forcing the UK to get rid of its nuclear deterrent.
"The anti-nuclear campaign has been waning so much in recent years, we are trying to create a resurgence as now is the time to be doing stuff against nuclear weapons."
However, she also cast some doubt on whether the protesters would make it through the night.
"I think they were expecting the police to remove them before now, but they are prepared to stay up for as long as their rations last.
"They brought sandwiches and books and things. They have done well to stay up that long so we are proud of them," she said.
The original Faslane Peace Camp was set up by Margaret and Bobby Harrison in 1982 to protest against the UK's Trident nuclear submarine fleet being based on the Clyde.
High-profile names have been arrested after taking part in protests there, including MP George Galloway in February 2001. He was later fined £180 after being found guilty of committing a breach of the peace.
In the same year, then SSP leader Tommy Sheridan was arrested and served seven days in jail for his part in a demonstration.
The issue of Britain's nuclear weapons system – the four submarines based at the Faslane naval base – is viewed as a key issue in the independence debate.
While the UK Government has committed to replacing Trident, the SNP have said they are committed to the removal of nuclear weapons from the Clyde.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article