MANY of us remember the setting up of the Faslane Peace Camp in June 40 years ago. For more than 50 years, Britain has had a continuous nuclear armed patrol at sea. And for 40 of those years, there has been a dedicated peace camp to protest. The 40th anniversary comes at a time when debate over nuclear weapons is more prominent than ever. The Ukraine war has made it more obvious that nuclear weapons do not prevent war.

A Trident submarine is always on patrol in Britain’s waters, with three others on standby. The MoD says they "deter the most extreme threats to our national security and way of life, which cannot be done by other means". Submarines can carry up to 40 nuclear warheads and up to eight operational missiles. Each warhead is said to be "around eight times as destructive" as the bomb which decimated Hiroshima in 1945, killing more than 140,000 civilians. Trident submarines are housed in Argyll & Bute. Public roads carry nuclear materials. Scotland bears most of the risk of attack or accidents due to having nuclear submarines and facilities near the most populated part of the country. Should either occur the devastation would be beyond our capacity to cope.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has previously said her party would retain Faslane’s naval base for the servicing of conventionally armed and powered naval units. The location is ideal for maritime servicing of all kinds. The Trident submarine programme is said to provide around 30,000 jobs, according to the Institute of Economic Affairs. The cost of replacing Trident is £31 billion. A programme can be devised to protect the skilled workers when these weapons of mass destruction are removed bearing in mind these vast figures.

Last year the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons came into force. Countries which sign are banned from having nuclear weapons or assisting anyone to engage in these activities. The PM told Parliament that there would be spending of £190 billion on defence by 2025. In 2020 the UK Government committed to a multi-billion-pound replacement of Trident with nuclear warheads based on US technology.

The UK should negotiate and work towards disarmament. Can anyone feel secure knowing that the current PM is in a position to sanction the use of nuclear weapons?

Ann Bowes, Aberdeen.

FOND MEMORIES OF BRUCE KENT

ALL of us in the Scottish peace movement are mourning the sad passing of Bruce Kent, who spent many decades campaigning for peace and against nuclear weapons.

He was an inspirational leader of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament. He will be greatly missed in our ongoing campaign to rid the world of nuclear arms.

Margaret Forbes, Blanefield.

ONE OF THE CRAZIEST PLANS EVER

SOMEBODY somewhere is already writing a play, possibly a film, certainly a book, about one of the craziest schemes ever planned by a UK government: Rwanda.

Sending seven asylum seekers, who fled persecution and death threats in their own countries, on a Boeing 767 flight to East Africa at an estimated cost of half a million pounds was outrageous and absolute nonsense. But when it comes to sense, Priti "Vacant" Patel, the Home Secretary, has little in her wardrobe, or even among her colleagues in the Cabinet ("Anger as Patel ‘determined’ to go ahead with Rwanda refugee plan", The Herald, June 16).

Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab said the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) was "wrong" to intervene in the legal action supported by action groups including Freedom from Torture and stop the flight. And he blustered that UK Government ministers may ignore such rulings in future. Really?

Does he not know his history? It was Winston Churchill who originally proposed the ECHR in 1953. The man Mr Raab's boss Boris Johnson would love to emulate.

But then, Mr Johnson probably didn't know the Churchill link either. And if he did, he doesn't care anyway.

We have the most incompetent, irresponsible, ignorant and arrogant government I've ever known, and I did live through the Thatcher years.

Andy Stenton, Glasgow.

GO AFTER THE PEOPLE TRAFFICKERS

SO, we spent half a million pounds on an aborted airlift to Rwanda. Here's a thought: could we not have spent it in gathering information and pursuing the gangsters and people traffickers who organise sending poor unfortunate immigrants here?

Someone (in France) must know who organises the inflatable ribs and crafts used to get them here.

Now if only we were members of some Europe-wide organisation within which we could work towards such an end...

Brendan Keenan, Glasgow.

HOW TO GET ELBOW ROOM

CLARK Cross (Letters, June 16) writes about the menace of e-scooters being used on pedestrians' pavements. In London recently, I've seen that the problem is out of control. Until proper action is taken, there is an old cycling trick that may help.

It's a vestige of the days when a bunch of riders would be daft enough to spread across the road, racing each other to 30 mph signs at the entrance to villages. The trick is to lift your elbows. It still works well, as one of the menaces in Fulham discovered to his surprise the other week.

Gilbert MacKay, Newton Mearns.

A SHINING EXAMPLE TO US ALL

WHEN I was a boy Davie Wilson and Willie Henderson were my heroes. I never saw them play other than on TV because at that time my cousin Bob played in Rangers reserves and third team and I went with my dad and my uncle to watch him instead.

I read Davie's autobiography recently, and tributes this week ("Wing wizard’s Rangers love affair will always be remembered", Herald Sport, June 15), and not only was he a fantastic player but his modest lifestyle, relationship with his father and keeping himself in shape all these years should be an example to all sportsmen, dads and sons.

Allan Sutherland, Stonehaven.