Last week, on Monday 15 April 2013, Faslane naval base was shut down for three solid hours by hundreds of people in a peaceful blockade of the gates to the base, including people from across Scotland, England Wales, France, Germany the Netherlands and New Zealand.
Activists from a dozen campaign groups and political parties laid down in the entrance to the base and locked themselves together with metal and plastic tubes, chains and thumb cuffs. Police used specialist cutting equipment to cut them out before they were able to lift them out of the road.
There were 46 arrests and, all in all, the blockade was a great success, keeping to non-violent principles throughout and getting some fantastic media coverage in the process. You might even recognise some individuals from the Edinburgh Greenpeace group in some of the photos from the day!
The blockade was organised by the Scrap Trident coalition, who are asking for Scotland to lead the way to a world free from nuclear weapons and are organising around the independence referendum to push the issue to the forefront of debate, whether you agree with the arguments for an independent Scotland or not.
You can sign a petition to Scrap Trident here, or get involved with us in Edinburgh Greenpeace to learn more about nuclear weapons and hear about upcoming events in Scotland.
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