We arranged to deliver a letter to the Base Commander in preperation for the camp starting on 18/05/06 and found the arrangements altered at the last moment.
TRIDENT PLOUGHSHARES TREATED POORLY AT HMNB DEVONPORT
Representatives of Plymouth Trident Ploughshares went at 2:30PM today to deliver a letter from Trident Ploughshares to the Commander HMNB Devonport, Commodore Simon Lister. We were to visit Camel’s Head gate to deliver the letter. NO OTHER ACTION was planned or even intended.
Having had a telephone conversation over a week ago with one of the MOD Press Officers, a conversation that is now being denied by the Base, I was informed that there would be no problem with our delivering the letter at any time as the Royal Navy is a public organisation.
With only two hours notice, after today’s press releases had been sent out, I was informed by telephone that the rules had been changed and there were the following conditions:
We would not be allowed to go up to the gate.
There would be no photo opportunity.
That security at the gate may not even accept the letter, much less deliver it to the Commodore.
The security guards were not prepared to be filmed or photographed, which we felt was entirely reasonable given their occupation.
That the gate could not be filmed or photographed.
These conditions were given us within 20 minutes of my leaving for a final conference with the other Trident Ploughshares members who attended with me. We apologise fully to those media representatives who were inconvenienced by the sudden, last munite and barely workable change of plan, but we were forced to improvise in order to make the event ourselves.
To be fair to HMNB Devonport, we were allowed to deliver the letter to a Press Officer outside the Pass Office near the Camel’s Head gate and we are assured it has been delivered to the Commodore. We are happy with that at least.
Given that HMNB Devonport has accepted letters from CND on previous demonstrations in the past, with Royal Navy officers to receive them, we are given to wondering why we are so different, especially as we had NO OTHER ACTIONS planned aside from delivering this letter.
We would also like to know why, if the conditions given us today were part of standing security arrangements, why we were not informed of them when we contacted the Press Officer at the base over a week ago.
Once again, we apologise fully to any media representatives who were inconvenienced by a decision not of our making.
A Trident Ploughshares member said: ‘Having attempted to go through the proper channels, we feel we have been treated shabbily and with disrespect. But this will not soften our resolve’
UNANNOUNCED ACTIONS CAN HAPPEN AT ANY TIME.
Notes to editors:
Trident Ploughshares is an internationally-known non-violent direct action organisation dedicated to non-violent, open, peaceful and accountable disarmament of the UK’s Trident missile system. For more information visit: www.tridentploughshares.org.
In 2002, members of Trident Ploughshares successfully penetrated the security at HMNB Devonport and were able to board and inspect the Trident missile submarine HMS Vanguard.
Comments
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solidarity with th protest, 'and please don't scrimp on the safety budgets Mr..'
17.05.2006 18:49
"..maybe th security manager would like to approach 'dick' cheney or a member of his staff and ask him to make public assurances of safety and a commitment to a full level of recommended safety provision- from the highest and most proffessional levels of power- in regards to american involvement in DML operations."
"..especially in regards to any future collaborations between our countries involving 'the high technologies'."
please note-
Commitee on Radioactive Waste Management; press release April 2006
general statements from corwm's consultations so far..
Why we need to consult
The decisions the Government have to make about managing radioactive wastes must protect us, protect the environment and protect future generations for tens of thousands of years. Each one of us living in the UK (and beyond) is therefore a 'stakeholder' in these decisions - a 'stakeholder' is someone with an interest in the outcome, and in the way the decisions are reached. In a democracy the decision-making process about such an important issue has to be open, accountable, informed and above all in the public interest. (See our Guiding Principles.)
Each one of us in the UK is also a financial stakeholder, since the Government has taken the liability for the wastes into public ownership. As UK taxpayers, we all now bear the financial liability for the radioactive wastes produced in the past, present and future. The liability for just some of these wastes is estimated at £48 billion, assuming no further nuclear power stations are built. We are paying for storing the wastes now, and we will all bear the financial costs of the decisions that are made for the future.
For press enquiries, please contact 0207 618 9187
In the past, decisions about the management of nuclear waste were not made in a way which was open to public scrutiny. Nowadays, things are different. More and more policy makers now regard the scrutiny of the nuclear industry by government inspectors, environmental organisations and the public as essential. CoRWM sees open consultation as a necessary route to identifying the public's issues and priorities for the way in which the UK manages its nuclear waste in the long-term. We believe this input will help us to find the best solution or combination of solutions that can be trusted by the public.
This is why we want to hear from individual citizens as well as from organisations. To ensure that our recommendations are informed and robust, we have to bring together the insights, concerns and experience of lay people, of NGO's, of nuclear companies and their employees and of the relevant Government departments.
Ultimately, the priorities for the UK Government, and the standards the nuclear companies have to meet, are important to all of us as citizens and so have to be guided by us all. So please take part where you can.
-its your life, its our world. time one- earth future.
fishboyAi