Glenrothes Socialists Wed Bush and Blair
At Faslane Blockade

Glenrothes SSP Press Release Monday 18th February 2002
Members of the Glenrothes Branch of the Scottish Socialist Party were among the crowds at the three-day blockade of Faslane Nuclear Submarine Base last week. During the blockade, gates were blocked for long spells and resulted in nearly two hundred arrests, mainly for public order offences.

Monday was a resounding success, said the organisers Trident Ploughshares, Scottish CND and Faslane Peace Camp, with every entrance to the base blocked for three and a half hours.

On Tuesday the protesters succeeded in shutting the North Gate at Faslane for eight hours, with one man spending three hours on top of the gate, having climbed up while police were distracted.

Glenrothes Branch Chair Morag Balfour was among those arrested on Wednesday as part of an action conducted by members of the Iona Community on the theme of Ash Wednesday.

"Ash Wednesday would have no meaning without the symbol of Ashes. For centuries, Christians have used them as a very vivid reminder of the biblical idea of public penance. Another value is that they remind us that one day we shall all return to dust and ashes. Should Trident be used, millions of people will be reduced to ashes out of due time. Vast swathes of the earth will be turned to radioactive dust for centuries."

Later on Wednesday, other members of Glenrothes SSP were involved in a theatrical presentation entitled "Four Weddings and Millions of Funerals". The satirical performance saw George W Bush married to Tony Blair; Public Services – gagged, brought to their knees and noosed – married to Private Finance. World Finance was married to the Arms Industry at gunpoint; and Kofi Annan of the United Nations was married to Lord Robertson, Secretary General of NATO "to the glory of Donald Rumsfeld". Millions of funerals, they claimed, would be the result of these marriages.

Although numbers were significantly down, this did not prevent the demonstrators from delaying a party of high-ranking naval officers from entering the base. Among these officers was none other than Commodore Timothy Laurence – husband of Princess Anne. Arrests around this time included Felicity Garvie – Glenrothes Branch secretary and SSP National Co-chair Carolyn Leckie.

Speaking afterwards, an unrepentant Mrs Garvie stated, " Our performance may have been light-hearted, but these ‘marriages’ have already taken place. Agreements are being made around the World which could cost millions of lives, and that is no laughing matter. At a time when we desperately need investment in public services, we are spending billions every year on these horrific weapons which are utterly useless and are illegal under International Law." **

**Note: Nuclear weapons were declared generally illegal by the International Court of Justice on 8^th July 1996 due to their inability to distinguish between military targets and civilians.