Aldermaston Blockade, 12 November 2007
Building work at AWE Aldermaston is now well under way on new facilities which will
enable the development of the next generation of nuclear weapons. ‘Block the Builders’, a group using
non-violent direct action to physically stop the building work, holds regular
blockades of the site and was supported in November by KPC/CND.
Five members set off from Twickenham at 5.30am and were joined at
Aldermaston by Sheila who had spent a cosy night at Newbury Friends’ Meeting
House with 60 other protesters. It was
just getting light as we arrived at the base on a very cold and frosty morning. We assembled at Tadley
Gate at 7am and tied some of our banners to the fence by the
entrance: the big KPC/CND banner, ‘Use
Your Skills for Life & Peace’ and ‘Peace will come when the Power of Love
overcomes the Love of Power’. Other
banners were held silently at the roadside.
‘Beep for Peace’ attracted a surprisingly large number of toots and
waves from passing motorists (as well as the more predictable unsupportive
signs!).
Three lock-ons (two or three protesters
chained together through drain pipes set in concrete) severely restricted
traffic flow along the Aldermaston perimeter roads and there was another one at
Burghfield.
Our member Kit was very concerned when she found that a young woman
locked on 100 yards up the road from us was extremely cold but the police
refused to allow her to be given a blanket or extra clothing. Perhaps one can’t expect the police, who had
spent two hours working to unlock the protesters, to be very sympathetic but
that shouldn’t blind them to their professional responsibilities to protect the
well-being of all members of the public.
(As Baroness Helena Kennedy pointed out at the recent MAW lecture, we
should always remember that Parliament and the police are there to serve the
public and not vice versa.)
Soon after 9am when most of the workers had entered the base and most of the
protesters were frozen to the marrow, we made our way to Mackie’s café for
breakfast and met up with those who had been protesting at other sites around
the base. We from KPC felt it had been a
worthwhile trip and one we should try and make on a more regular basis since
Aldermaston is only just down the road and we should be helping to keep
attention focussed on what is going on there.
Incidentally, a few months ago, Ed fell into conversation with the
man sitting next to him at an organ recital at Farnborough Abbey. It turned out that the man works at AWE Aldermaston and waxed
lyrical about the facilities “equivalent to a University” and about what an
altogether wonderful place it was to work – “as long as you don’t think too
much about what goes on there, I suppose”.
He asked Ed if he had ever been inside, to which Ed replied that he
hadn’t, and was more likely to be found outside the fence with the protesters!
Hilary Evans