CND IN THE NEWS

CND in the News: 18 - 24 April 03
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Police used cutting equipment to remove some demonstrators who had linked themselves together with plastic pipes.

The protesters are calling for the nuclear base to be closed and are accusing the government of hypocrisy over weapons of mass destruction.

Former chairman of CND Bruce Kent was among those arrested as protesters sat down outside the north gate and refused to move.

Big blockade
Scores of demonstrators, many carrying placards and waving flags, had arrived at the base, the home of Britain's Trident nuclear submarines, at 0700 BST.

The Big Blockade Rally, organised by anti-nuclear weapons group Trident Ploughshares, aimed to disrupt the base by attempting to prevent workers from getting inside.

Tigger MacGregor, a spokeswoman for Trident Ploughshares, said the aim of the demonstration was to maximise disruption at the base.

She said: "That's why some of the demonstrators are wearing plastic piping, it makes it harder for the police to move them away from the area.

"It maximises disruption and it allows the blockade to continue as long as possible."

A spokesman for Strathclyde police said 135 people were arrested and that the force had been well prepared for the demonstration.

He said: "Months of planning have gone into getting ready for today's demonstration and there have been meetings between both sides in advance.

"They know what to expect from us and we know what to expect from them, so far everything has gone as planned and there has been no surprises."

The protest was disruptive for workers arriving at the base.

Extra day
However, three coach-loads of workers were able to get into the site.

A Faslane base spokeswoman said: "Obviously these people have a right to express their feelings but our workers have an equal right to come to work.

"Some of our workers have taken an extra day off as Easter holidays or are working from home.

"But the protest is disruptive for our workers and people trying to get into Helensburgh."

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2
News in brief
Daily Telegraph
23 April 2003
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=%2Fnews%2F2003%2F04%2F23%2Fnbul23.xml

100 arrests at Faslane peace demo
More than 100 people, including the former chairman of CND, Bruce Kent, were arrested yesterday as peace protesters blocked the main gate at Faslane naval base for eight hours.

Protesters started arriving at the base on the Clyde from about 7am for a rally organised by anti-nuclear group Trident Ploughshares.

Tommy Sheridan, the Scottish Socialist Party leader, and several of his party's parliamentary candidates chained themselves together and refused to move.

Mr Sheridan said: "We are doing what we can to prevent the use of weapons of mass destruction."

Also at the protest was the Green Party leader Robin Harper and SNP candidate Fiona Hyslop. Strathclyde Police said the number of protesters was lower than expected.

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3
Sculptor searching for the essence of people, animals and plants
The Guardian and The Independent
April 24, 2003
http://www.guardian.co.uk/obituaries/story/0,3604,942379,00.html
http://news.independent.co.uk/people/obituaries/story.jsp?story=399880

Jim Mathieson, who has died of cancer aged 71, was a sculptor whose most public monument was his lively sculpture of William Hogarth with his pug in Chiswick High Road, west London. Commissioned by the local community, it was unveiled by Ian Hislop and David Hockney in October 2001.

Jim devoted huge energy to this project, researching his subject very thoroughly, coping - with some charm and only a little exasperation - with the late decision of the steering committee to add Hogarth's dog to the statue, and becoming a cheerful and exuberant "exhibit" with his maquette at fundraising events for the work. Though he was already ill during the three-year life of the project, his determination and enthusiasm ensured its success.

Born in Calcutta, he went to the Lawrence Royal Military School in the Simla Hills. The family left India in 1947, at the time of independence, and lived in both Arbroath, Scotland, and London. Jim did his national service in the intelligence section of the Gordon Highlanders. He worked in the insurance business, managing a small team, but he longed to pursue his passion for art. When his father refused him financial help to go to art school and he could not get a grant, Jim decided to become a psychotherapist and studied successfully at evening classes for his O- and A-levels.

Around 1960, he became involved in the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, helping to set up the Bermondsey and Southwark branch and becoming its chairman. He joined the Committee of 100 (a direct action offshoot of CND, disowned by the wider movement), which led to his first arrest and imprisonment for three days before he was brought to trial. He also joined the Communist party. As his political activity grew, his studies ceased, and he did not go on to become a psychotherapist. He looked back on those days of struggle with pride, and his strong political convictions stayed with him throughout his life.

Jim married Edna Skinner in 1959. After the death of their baby daughter, Julia, in 1964, he decided to go to art school and, at 34, gained a place on a four-year course at City and Guilds Art School in Kennington, south London. Edna supported him and they had another daughter, Catherine, in 1966.

His love was sculpture, and while a student Jim gained a commission to cast the crown for the Prince of Wales's investiture at Caernarvon Castle in 1969. After he had completed the course, Jim and Edna split up, and were later divorced. In 1981, Jim married Judy Craig, also a sculptor, who went on to become the head of the portrait studio at Madame Tussaud's.

To supplement his income, Jim taught part-time, between 1969 and 1979, at the Sir John Cass and Ealing schools of art, where his enthusiasm, dedication and enormous energy inspired his students. His generosity in sharing his knowledge, from sculptural techniques and structure through to the intricacies of casting in all media, was much appreciated. From 1979, he worked full-time as a sculptor.

Jim wrote in January 2003 that his work was "an obsession done with a sense of love in creating something tangible. The satisfaction comes from making, as I do not actively try to sell it. Money is only of interest to me to pay for materials."

While he occasionally accepted portrait and figurative commissions and did some freelance work for Madame Tussaud's (including portraits of Nelson Mandela, Oprah Winfrey, Prince Andrew and Darcey Bussell), Jim's focus and love was his abstract work. "I am basically a naturalist," he said, "who reduces human, animal and plant forms to arrive at an essence of an idea that transcends realism."

In these abstracts, he was attempting to capture the "essential qualities that express this miracle of life". Through the exploration of the sexuality of plant and animal forms, Jim tried to create a simplicity of
structure that was none the less continuously evolving and changing. He was constantly excited by the endless possibilities of the variations in his work.

Jim is survived by his wife, his daughter, his stepson Scott and three grandchildren, Melissa, James and Anna.
• James William Mathieson, sculptor, born June 21 1931; died April 12 2003

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4
Protesters from across Europe to join Faslane blockade
The Scotsman
22 April 2003
http://news.independent.co.uk/people/obituaries/story.jsp?story=399880

PEACE activists from across Europe are due to blockade Faslane Naval Base this morning in the latest of a string of protests against Britain’s nuclear weapons.

The "Really Big Blockade" is set to begin at 7am, when campaigners plan to stage a mass sit-down protest, blocking access to the base, which is situated on the Clyde.

Among the protesters, who said they were "willing to risk arrest", are the Green party leader, Robin Harper, and the leader of the Scottish Socialist Party, Tommy Sheridan.

The protest’s organisers, Trident Ploughshares and CND, said they would be joined by campaigners from Finland, Sweden, Ireland and Belgium, and others from across the UK.

Faslane, about 30 miles from Glasgow, is the base for the UK’s Trident nuclear submarine fleet.

It has been targeted several times over the past few years by peace protesters, who claim Trident weapons are illegal under international law.

Mr Harper will today accuse Britain and the US of hypocrisy for launching military action to find Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction while possessing such weapons themselves.

He said yesterday: "The UK and US governments went into Iraq on the pretext of looking for weapons of mass destruction - but they should be getting rid of their own before taking the moral high ground.

"Who are they to say that it is OK for them to preside over these sorts of weapons and not for other countries?

"If there turns out to be no evidence of these weapons in Iraq, who will have won the moral war then?"

The former politician and TV weather forecaster, Lloyd Quinan, was also expected to take part in the protest, along with the former chair of CND, Bruce Kent, and MSPs from across the political spectrum.

No-one from Faslane was last night available for comment.

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5
Swinney joins anti-nuclear demonstration
The Scotsman
23 April 2003
http://news.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=463012003

JOHN Swinney, the leader of the SNP, yesterday joined members of the Green Party and the Scottish Socialists for an anti-nuclear protest outside the Royal Navy’s base at Faslane.

As protesters wearing Tony Blair and George Bush masks chained themselves together, Mr Swinney pledged his support to the demonstrators and assured them the SNP was committed to disarming Scotland of nuclear weapons.

Mr Swinney said: "I think it is essential that the issue of nuclear weapons is put to the fore of political debate."

Robin Harper, the leader of the Green Party, insisted Britain had a duty to set an example to other countries by disarming.

He said: "We cannot argue for other countries not to have nuclear weapons when we have them ourselves. It just does not makes sense."

And Tommy Sheridan, the leader of the SSP, who chained himself to protesters, said: "Our aim is to make life on the base as difficult as possible. We are doing what we can to prevent the use of weapons of mass destruction."

More than 100 people, including Bruce Kent, the former chair of CND, were arrested as protesters blocked the main north gate to the base for more than eight hours.

A spokesman for Strathclyde Police said the force was well prepared for the demonstration.

He said: "Months of planning have gone into getting ready for today’s demonstration and there have been meetings between both sides in advance."
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6
Politicians join Faslane demonstration
The Times
April 23, 2003
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/printFriendly/0,,1-10-655892,00.html

POLITICIANS joined activists yesterday at a protest against Britain’s weapons of mass destruction.
Protesters claimed that the blockade of Faslane naval base on the Clyde, home to Britain’s Trident submarines, was one of their most successful ever. More than 100 people, including Bruce Kent, the former chairman of CND, were arrested as the main north gate to the base was blocked for more than eight hours. Among those arrested was Charles Booth, a Scottish Green Party parliamentary candidate, who had locked himself to a fellow wheelchair-bound protester with a bicycle lock.

The protesters, who included the Scottish author A L Kennedy, were joined by politicians from several parties. Tommy Sheridan, the Scottish Socialist Party leader, and several of his party’s parliamentary candidates chained themselves together at the front of the base and refused to move.

Mr Sheridan said: “Our aim is to make life on the base as difficult as possible.” He added that it was hypocritical for the British Government to get involved in a war over weapons of mass destruction in Iraq when “we have them in our own back yard”.

Also at the protest was Robin Harper, the Green Party leader, and the SNP candidate Fiona Hyslop. John Swinney, the SNP leader, made a brief appearance.

Phil Jones, of Scottish CND, said: “We blocked the north gate for 8½ hours which is the longest ever. This is one of the most successful blockades we have ever had.”

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