An 89-year-old Prestwich woman has been arrested while demonstrating outside of Faslane Naval Base near Glasgow. Betty Tebbs, of Ostrich Lane Prestwich, was among 10 activists from Greater Manchester to be held by police following a successful blockade of two of the base’s entrances at 3pm this afternoon.
Betty was arrested with two local septuagenarians - Neville Ball (71) and Alan Johnson (70). Along with three other activists in their early thirties: Matt Favier (32), Matt Forsett (32) and Ben Gilchrist (33), they had blockaded the gate for an hour before being removed by police. The three thirty-year-olds locked on with their arms inside metal tubes and had superglued their hands together inside to delay police cutting teams.
Meanwhile, at the heavily defended North gate, other veteran campaigners from Greater Manchester and District CND lay down in the road to disrupt traffic to the base. Rae Street, Pat Sanchez and Mai Chatham from Littleborough, and Hilary Williams from Liverpool were all arrested for breach of the peace after being removed by the police. Pat Sanchez has been a regular visitor to Faslane for some years.
The purpose of Betty's blockade of Faslane was twofold: to bring people to witness and impede the nuclear base where Britain's nuclear weapons are deployed, and enable them to demonstrate the range of serious concerns - from human rights to climate change - that people in the real world consider to be the vital challenges for the 21st century.
When Betty was asked 'why continue to campaign if the decision has been made to replace Trident?' she said: "Margaret Beckett has said that the decision to replace Trident "is reversible" and there will be another vote at the end of the concept period. This gives us two years to strengthen our campaign and build on the huge revolt we saw amongst the back benches on the 14th March this year." Betty continued: "My age is no impediment to my commitment to nuclear disarmament. I have been campaigning for over 40 years and I am not about to stop now."
At a time when Tony Blair has put on the political agenda the prospect of spending some £76 billion or more to keep nuclear weapons in Scotland until at least the year 2055, Betty’s action has focused attention on the dangerous insecurity and waste of resources inherent in the Trident nuclear system.
Meanwhile, at the heavily defended North gate, other veteran campaigners from Greater Manchester and District CND lay down in the road to disrupt traffic to the base. Rae Street, Pat Sanchez and Mai Chatham from Littleborough, and Hilary Williams from Liverpool were all arrested for breach of the peace after being removed by the police. Pat Sanchez has been a regular visitor to Faslane for some years.
The purpose of Betty's blockade of Faslane was twofold: to bring people to witness and impede the nuclear base where Britain's nuclear weapons are deployed, and enable them to demonstrate the range of serious concerns - from human rights to climate change - that people in the real world consider to be the vital challenges for the 21st century.
When Betty was asked 'why continue to campaign if the decision has been made to replace Trident?' she said: "Margaret Beckett has said that the decision to replace Trident "is reversible" and there will be another vote at the end of the concept period. This gives us two years to strengthen our campaign and build on the huge revolt we saw amongst the back benches on the 14th March this year." Betty continued: "My age is no impediment to my commitment to nuclear disarmament. I have been campaigning for over 40 years and I am not about to stop now."
At a time when Tony Blair has put on the political agenda the prospect of spending some £76 billion or more to keep nuclear weapons in Scotland until at least the year 2055, Betty’s action has focused attention on the dangerous insecurity and waste of resources inherent in the Trident nuclear system.
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