Disarmament
March 16, 2007The Trident tour finishes
Sunrise over The Sunrise
© Greenpeace/Sumner
Blimey. I’m not sure how time has slipped past so fast but, after a five week frenzy of Faslane blockading, crane climbing, arrests, solitary confinement, losing the ship, getting it back again, bearing witness, gigs, press conferences, political events, rallies and general sleep deprivation, the Trident: we don’t buy it tour has just come to an end.
The Arctic Sunrise set sail for Scandinavia a couple of hours ago, cheered on from the quayside by a smattering of exhausted Greenpeace folk and watched by the police boat that inevitably appears every time the ship moves.
It was a strange moment; I’d realised I was getting sucked into ship life when, about 10 days into the tour, I found myself shouting “Heave to the aft!” without any sense of irony. Waving the ship off this morning, I realised how badly I was going to miss the Sunrise and her crew. It’s hard not to fall in love with the intense whirlwind that is life onboard a Greenpeace ship, and I’m not sure how I’m going to deal with a home that has no portholes and an office that doesn’t rock from side to side.
The Trident vote is over but this is just the beginning...
By Simon, Greenpeace peace and disarmament campaigner
© Greenpeace/Davison
I wake up, my first decent lie-in since Christmas, and realise it's the 15th of March - the ides of March - not a good day for Julius Caesar who was assassinated in the Senate on this date in 44BC. And not a good day for that other megalomaniac with a receding hairline, Tony Blair. His attempts to quell the biggest domestic rebellion in 10 years failed miserably and now his plans to replace Trident have been utterly de-legitimised nationally and internationally.
Here's some of my favourite numbers:
- 95 - number of Labour MPs who voted against the government
- 4 - number of Labour ministers with a conscience, this week's resignations
- 8 - number of Labour ex-ministers who voted against the government
- 76 billion - number of pounds that the world now knows Blair will squander on Trident
Two days at Westminster
Greenpeace International oceans campaigner Lisa writes about talking to police officers, meeting Vivienne Westwood and life as a leafletter in Westminster during the run-up to last night's vote - Rebecca
© Greenpeace/Vickers
I've just spent the last two days at Westminster but strangely it feels like I have been there for weeks. On Tuesday I got up at 5:30am and headed out from Canary Wharf (where the Greenpeace ship Arctic Sunrise is based) into the heart of London. I joined a bunch of Greenpeace volunteers from local groups across the city and we waited to hand out leaflets to MPs coming in and out of Parliament.
The MPs started to arrive, and quite a few stopped to talk when I asked how they felt about Trident replacement. There was a mix of opinions; some were entirely in support of our campaign against new nuclear weapons, others were ambivalent and some were sadly very supportive of having weapons that can wipe out millions of men, women and children. Nevertheless, whatever their opinions, most of them took leaflets as they went on their way and, at the end of the day, we had given out over 3,000 leaflets to people coming in and out of parliament buildings.
Tony wears his heart on his sleeve, and it looks like he'll get his WMD
It's been a long day, so excuse the lame rhyme (above), I just couldn't stop myself. It's not that I'm giddy with excitement, it's all been rather anti-climatic really. We didn't expect the vote would be defeated, so there was no surprise when Blair got his way and the vote to replace Trident went through. Tony gets to go ahead and build his new weapon of mass destruction – the Blair Bomb, his legacy. But only because of help from the Tories. That some how feels hollow too. So I look elsewhere for inspiration.
“It’s not the end of the story by any means,” said Labour MP Jeremy Corbyn immediately following the vote. “This is a very big rebellion.”
Indeed, we’re counting on you rebels. The vote passed with 409 in favour and 161 against. That’s 88 Labour MPs voted against Trident replacement, 95 voted for the rebel amendment earlier, that's the biggest since the Iraq war. Blair’s proposal also prompted MPs to quit their posts. (See I can yet convince myself this is great news.)
And those Labour rebels are right to be concerned. By going head with Trident today, in 20 year's time not only will the UK have a new nuclear weapon, there will be more nuclear weapons states in the world. Blair cannot preach to other states to ‘do as I say, not as I do’. Far from making the world a safer place, Blair’s lust for nukes will encourage others to follow his dangerous and unnecessary example.
And secondly, only 24% of the public support the government's plans to replace Trident and 51% think that the final decision to replace the Trident should be made through a public referendum.
You're right Jeremy, it is far from over. It may have Blair’s name on it, but Brown’s going to pay the price.
Protest at parliament continues
Our climbers have been up a crane beside Big Ben for seven hours now - the banner’s looking big and beautiful in front of parliament, and the climbers have enough supplies to stay there until tomorrow afternoon’s vote.
I was watching while the climbers unfurled the banner this morning, just as Big Ben told the city it was seven am. Looking at the Houses of Parliament, I wondered what was going to happen inside those buildings over the next two days. The threat of a new Trident has kept us all frantically busy onboard the Arctic Sunrise for the past month, with the blockade of Faslane, bearing witness, a gig, press conferences and political events. But inside the corridors of power, the talk seems to be all about Trident too.
As well as the resignations, there is the hugely important cross-party amendment, sponsored by Jon Trickett MP. This amendment calls for the decision on Trident to be delayed, possibly until 2010 when the next Nuclear Non-Proliferation Conference takes place. 106 MPs (and rising) have put their names to it, and most of the Liberal Democrats - the only large party opposing Blair's rush to build new weapons capable of wiping 150 cities off the face of the earth - are still to follow.
This is huge; if enough MPs sign it, the amendment will derail Blair’s frantic attempt to leave nuclear weapons as his legacy, and allow for a proper, considered debate in the future. So even if you’ve already written to your MP, please email them again now (the vote’s tomorrow!) and urge them to support the amendment.
And tomorrow there’ll be a rally in Parliament Square, kicking off at 1pm. If Blair wins this vote, the UK will be lumbered with weapons of mass destruction for another 50 years; now is the time to act, and it’s a battle we can win. 76 percent of the population says no to Trident, and parliamentary opposition is growing by the hour – get stuck in!
Opposition is growing
A strong rebellion against the government's proposal on Trident is growing amongst MPs. On Sunday the BBC reported that their poll indicated that two thirds of Labour MPs plan to vote against the government and oppose the Trident replacement. Yesterday Deputy leader of the Commons Nigel Griffiths resigned over the issue.
The public's view is shifting too. A poll conducted for More 4 showed that only 24% of the public supports the government's plans to replace Trident and 51% think that the final decision to replace the Trident nuclear weapons system should be made through a public referendum.
When asked what the greatest threat to our security is, only 7% said Iran, North Korea or Pakistan, while 58% said that climate change will be the greatest threat to our security in 20 years time.
Download the full More 4 poll conducted by Populus.
In their own words
Our climbers are hanging off a crane with a banner reading "TONY HEART WMD", but it's not just Greenpeace that thinks that Blair’s plan to rush through a decision to replace Trident is immoral, unnecessary and plain wrong. From world leaders and religious figures to academics and scientists, here are some of the voices speaking out against the plan to replace Trident in tomorrow's vote:
"To replace Trident would make it more difficult to get arms reduction. It would also be a waste of money because there are no circumstances in which we would use it independently."
Professor Stephen Hawking
"They should not imagine that this will be accepted as compatible with the Nuclear non-Proliferation Treaty."
Kofi Annan on Tony Blair's policy
"Britain cannot expect other countries to refrain from acquiring nuclear weapons if it upgrades its trident nuclear weapons system."
Mohammed ElBaradei, the head of the UN nuclear watchdog
Join us to oppose new nuclear weapons - vote day is this Wednesday
By Louise, peace and disarmament campaigner.
A parliamentary vote to "replace" the Trident nuclear weapons system and tie Britain into having nuclear weapons for the next 50 years is being rushed through this Wednesday.
The government's proposal to spend £76 billion replacing the Cold War Trident system breaches its international disarmament treaty obligations, under the Nuclear Weapons Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).
How can the UK seriously expect other states not to develop nuclear weapons when, instead of taking genuine steps to disarm, it decides to replace its own weapons?
Portia - ship volunteer
Portia - volunteer
UK
The hospitality of Glasgow jails is a far cry from that of the Amazon, where I was working before joining the Arctic Sunrise as assistant cook come deck hand.
In Brazil, I spent my days winding down Amazonian rivers on a hospital boat that belonged to Brazilian NGO Health and Happiness, which provides health care and education to remote riverside communities. I spent the warm Brazilian evenings giving the crew English lessons on the top deck, teaching them songs like "head, shoulders, knees and toes".
5 minutes to midnight
A huge thanks to all the musicians, artists, crew and volunteers involved in last night's performance, and to everyone who came along to watch from the quayside - it was a special night here on the Thames!
Just a quick reminder: you can watch the video stream of the performance here until Monday morning. After that, we'll put up an edited version.
And don't forget - tomorrow and Sunday are open boat days on the Arctic Sunrise. If you're in London over the weekend, come along and have a free tour of the ship. Thames Quay, Marsh Wall on the Isle of Dogs (map) between 11am and 4pm. Hope to see you onboard!
Let the show begin
The fun's about to begin. Our ice-breaker has been transformed into a fully-fledged music venue. Lighting rigs, speakers, microphones, mixing desks, screens and crates of cables (approximately as heavy as the core of the sun) have been manoeuvred down slippery gangways, onto floating pontoons and set up on the ship's helideck. The soundcheck is happening now - the latest event on our Trident: we don't buy it tour is ready to go...
At 6.30pm, Sense of Sound will be performing a piece by Damon Albarn - it's called "Five Minutes to Midnight", referring to the Doomsday clock, a symbolic indicator of how close the world is to destruction by nuclear war. The visuals are being done by Robert del Naja of Massive Attack, and there are contributions by Brian Eno. Excited? Me? Just a bit!
We'll be posting pictures to our moblog as we go, and make sure you watch the webcast at www.greenpeace.org.uk, 7pm. And, as usual, please write to your MP to voice your opposition to their plans to replace Trident. Thanks!
Webcast from the water
Onboard the Arctic Sunrise as part of the Trident: we don't buy it tour.
We're all aflurry onboard the Sunrise today, setting up for a musical event with a difference tomorrow evening (Thursday). At 6.30pm tomorrow, the Sense of Sound choir will be onboard, performing a new musical piece composed by Damon Albarn (he of Gorillaz and Blur fame). The piece is called Five Minutes to Midnight, and the performance will represent a peaceful demonstration against renewing Trident and against Britain possessing nuclear weapons. It will be directed by Hannah Eidinow with visuals designed by Robert del Naja of Massive Attack, and contributions from Brian Eno.
We'll be webcasting the whole thing live from our berth on the Thames - you can catch it (live or over the following 24 hours) on our main website tomorrow at 6.30.
And, again, please write to your MP and tell them you don't support the government's plans to replace the UK's nuclear weapons system. There's a week to go before the parliamentary vote and everybody can help add their voices to the campaign. Thank you (again)!
Robert - ship volunteer
A couple of days ago, I promised to post the stories of some of the ship's crew (they're the ones who work around the clock to keep ship life ticking over - in between being arrested, racing to London in record time, running ship open days and setting up musical events and press conferences). This morning, Robert tells his story - Rebecca.
Robert - ship volunteer
Hungary
My day on the Arctic Sunrise starts at four in the morning. I get up before everybody so I can write - for my Hungarian blog, my office and my PhD in Mongolian Linguistics. At 7.30 I begin life as a ship volunteer with mopping, cleaning, paint chipping and helping where I am needed.
In the evening, I go back to work, this time learning English. In my school in Hungary, we were never taught English. The first time I really spoke it was when I joined the ship one month ago. I am learning, but it takes time! At least my phrase book amuses the crew – it does not say how to buy bread but it has lots of phrases like “your eyes are like pillows”.
No to Trident; the opposition grows
© Greenpeace/Rezak
It's a funny old life being on a Greenpeace ship tour; one minute you're being boarded by police and put in solitary confinement for three days, the next you're being boarded by celebrities and working out the social niceties of how to address somebody with three titles before their name.
But listening to people as diverse as London Mayor Ken Livingstone, Annie Lennox, Bianca Jagger, Tony Robinson, Anita and Gordon Roddick and Major-General Sir Patrick Cordingly (who commanded the Desert Rats during the '91 Gulf War) speak out against the replacement of Trident was a powerful experience. Each of them has their own reasons for being opposed to spending £76 billion on a new nuclear weapons system for the UK, but all of them are united in saying no, and are urging MPs to do the same in the parliamentary vote next week.
Here's what they had to say:
The Arctic Sunrise reaches London
After sailing around a substantial chunk of the UK's coastline - via Leith and then Greenock - we've finally reached London. I've entered the city by train, car, bus and bicycle before but I have to say, sailing into London beats them all. We slipped through the Thames Barrier and up past the Millennium Dome, Canary Wharf and the Docklands to our mooring spot by Tower Bridge, where we settled in and watched the lights come on over the London skyline. We're just 100-odd metres from the bridge so give us a wave if you go past (or better still, come and have a free tour of the ship this weekend)!
Just up the river is Westminster, where, on the 14th of March, the decision will be taken on whether to replace Trident. It's a once-in-a-generation decision - and there's £76 billion and a potential new nuclear arms race at stake. We’re here to drive the message home to Westminster that Trident's illegal, immoral, unwanted - and a monstrous distraction from the real threat: climate change.
This afternoon, London Mayor Ken Livingstone will be joining other well-known folk onboard the ship, adding his voice to the growing opposition to the rush to replace Trident. Annie Lennox, Bianca Jagger, Tony Robinson, Anita and Gordon Roddick and Major-General Sir Patrick Cordingly will all be having their say on board - please don't forget to have yours.
All aboard the Arctic Sunrise: destination London
Onboard the Arctic Sunrise as part of the Trident: we don’t buy it ship tour.
Captain Waldemar back on the bridge at last.
As we speed along England’s southern coast, the mood is cheery onboard the Arctic Sunrise. The sea's calm, the sun’s out for the first time in days and the ship’s been scrubbed from bow to stern, mopped, painted and generally reclaimed from her extended stay with the Ministry of Defence. And, despite the delays, the we've made excellent time; we look set to reach London on time, where Mayor Ken Livingstone and others are waiting to welcome our Trident: we don't buy it ship tour to the city.
I'd never realised quite how much love goes into keeping a ship like the Arctic Sunrise shipshape. One of my favourite moments from the blockade was when the Sunrise was being pushed around by four tug boats as the police prepared to board. While I was running around in a vague kind of general panic, I bumped into Po-Paul, the French Canadian deckhand.
“They’re going to board!” I shouted to him. “Never mind that,” he said as another tug crunched into our hull, “what about our poor, beautiful paintwork!”
As soon as the ship was released nearly a week later - even as it was being escorted out of the Clyde to the soundtrack of The Clash’s “I fought the law - and the law won” (the MoD pilot’s choice of music) - the crew was flying around in a blur of checking for damage, fixing, tidying, scrubbing, mopping and painting.
There are crew members from Argentina, Brazil, Thailand, Hungary, Russia, Australia, Canada, the Netherlands, Italy and the UK on board, all working around the clock to keep ship life ticking over - in between being arrested, racing to London in record time, running ship open days and holding press conferences. I'll be posting some of their stories here, inbetween other updates, over the next few days...
You can't lock up a Sunrise
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After nearly a week of being impounded at Faslane nuclear weapons base, the Arctic Sunrise is now free! At 10 am this morning the ship was towed by two police tugs to the mouth of the Clyde, and the crew allowed back onboard. The challenge for us now is to make our way around the coast to London in time for a rendez-vous with London Mayor Ken Livingstone next Tuesday. The Sunrise will anchor close to Tower Bridge, and Ken will be helping us promote the 'Trident: we don't buy it' message ahead of the House of Commons vote on Trident replacement - now scheduled for March 14th.
New nuclear weapons: 'do as I say, not do as I do'
Current Executive Director for Greenpeace UK John Sauven
"Britain cannot expect other countries to refrain from acquiring nuclear weapons if it upgrades its Trident nuclear weapons system", says the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency in a recent speech at the London School of Economics. Mohammed ElBaradei cast doubt on his own moral authority in seeking to curb the nuclear ambitions of countries like Iran if governments like the UK just stick two fingers up at the world and say 'do as I say, not do as I do'.
Free at last! (Now can we have our boat back please?)
With thanks to Wave Maker for the image
The thing nobody tells you about being arrested is just how boring it is. Not just need-a-good-book boring; after the adrenaline rollercoaster of a 14-hour blockade, the protracted thumb-twiddling of detention is mind-achingly, eye-bleedingly, soul-crushingly boring.
Friday was adrenaline-fuelled, from the moment our eyes snapped open early that morning. The inflatable boats are in the water! Whoosh (that’s the sound adrenaline makes…) Police! Whoosh. Boat chases! Canoes! Arrests! Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh.
There was a brief respite in the afternoon, when, somehow, sitting on an ice-breaker blockading a nuclear submarine started to seem like the most natural thing in the world to be doing, and it felt like we’d been doing it forever. I took a quick walk around the ship, and day to day life was in full swing. Patricio, our cook, was kneading dough. A deckhand was sorting out his laundry. Somebody was mopping a toilet…
Hurry up and wait
The Greenpeace ship MY Arctic Sunrise impounded at the Faslane Naval Base in the Gareloch following the arrest of it's crew after an action a blockade of the base.
This is a common saying on ships, and on actions. And over the last couple of
days being on land during the Faslane naval base blockade, I am
truly understanding its meaning.
On Friday the 29 people onboard the Arctic Sunrise were arrested. Standing
on a bank opposite with a load of press photographers and a video camera,
I watched and filmed the tugboats close in on the Sunrise, it was not an
easy process for them. The MOD started with two boats, then three and finally
four tugboats, and 20 military police boarded and occupied the boat.
Faslane blockade continues
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Wow. Well it’s now 2.50pm and around seven hours after we set sail. We are still here, right up against the pontoons that surround the Faslane nuclear weapons base – and just some 150 metres away a Trident submarine is sitting there… I keep staring at it… It’s a large beast but it’s still weird to think that something of that size can carry enough nuclear missiles to wipe out hundreds of thousand of people at the touch of a button…
It’s been a mad old morning. As we left Greenock and steamed towards the base - even though I have total faith in our crew onboard - I thought, “there’s no way we are going to be able to blockade that base”. We’ve been sitting around the corner in Greenock for days, on a Greenpeace ship with NO NEW NUCLEAR WEAPONS written down the side, so I was guessing the base would be more than prepared for us. But no, for ages just one police launch and one police inflatable (with one man onboard) was all we encountered. They must have been on a coffee break.
Faslane blockade update
Writing from the Arctic Sunrise as it blockades Faslane, in protest against the government's plans to build new nuclear weapons.
Speedboats, inflatables, tugs, police boats – there's been mayhem in the Gareloch as volunteers scrambled to get to the pontoon that protects the Trident submarine. One person managed; he held up a banner from the pontoon reading NO NEW NUKES before being arrested.
Sixteen people have been arrested so far. All of our boats are now out of the water and the ship Arctic Sunrise is the only one left. We're still near the entrance to Faslane, and the waters around us are full of police and defence police vessels. You name it, they're out there. We’re being told that, if we come too close to the submarine, the ship will be boarded and taken.
More updates soon.
Greenpeace blockades Faslane
I’m sitting on the Greenpeace ship Arctic Sunrise. We have a flotilla of smaller Greenpeace inflatable boats at our bow – six inflatables and some canoes - and are steaming towards Faslane nuclear weapons base to blockade it.
Right now, we’re trying to manoeuvre ourselves into position, diving between military police boats and inflatables. We want to blockade Faslane until tomorrow, when Labour MPs are coming up here for a jolly on one of the submarines.
The MPs will be voting on whether to replace Trident in March, and we’re here to tell them that Trident is illegal, immoral and unwanted - £76 billion worth of posturing by a government that wants to flaunt its muscle on the international stage. The move to replace the UK’s nuclear arsenal would be a dangerous departure from the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, a provocation that may kick-start a new global arms race, and a monstrous distraction from the real threat to the UK and every other place on earth: climate change.
I’ll keep posting updates on this blog as I get the chance, and please don’t forget to take action.
The teachings of Jeff
By Nick, on the Trident: we don't buy it tour.
There I was, thinking that I'm a world class photographer, making award winning pictures of environmental destruction. The drama of melting ice bergs, the excitement of the high seas. About time then, that someone brought me down to earth. Trident, they said, a ship... the majesty of the ocean... Of course I snapped it up.
Thinking it would be whizzing around in boats, sitting down with old friends after washing off the day's salt spray, I race to Edinburgh docks. Unloading my equipment to walk up the gang-way, the press officer ushers me over. "Look, isn't she lovely?" he says. Aware of the Greenpeace ship's beauty, I nod in agreement. But he is admiring a big blue advert, bolted in a triangular structure to a white van, parked on the quayside. "Is the Scottish voice reaching Westminster?" it asks, before revealing that "70% of people in Scotland say no to Trident". "There she is" he says proudly, "you've got the ad-van gig!".
My brief is to follow this strange little van across Scotland for five days, just like a road movie, but without a big star. Use my photographic skills to make this strange little articulated mini-truck, into a legend in Scotland. Facing this job will mean overcoming boredom and prejudice against inanimate vehicles. It is Valentines Day and I am spending it learning to love an ad-van. An ugly truckling.
Bearing witness at Faslane
Onboard the Arctic Sunrise as part of the Trident: We don't buy it tour.
The Reverend Ainslie Walton, a retired cleric from Pollokshields, Glasgow, casts a floral peace symbol into the waters outside Faslane nuclear weapons submarine base © Greenpeace/Cobbing
We left the Isle of Arran in calm waters and an early morning light. By late morning on Sunday, we'd arrived at Greenock, near Glasgow.
This is Trident territory; we're just a stone’s throw away from the nuclear submarines base at Faslane, and the warheads depot at Coulport. So on Monday, the Arctic Sunrise set off to bear witness at Faslane, carrying a colourful cargo of crew, staff, clerics, MSPs and peace camp activists.
As the ship wove through islets in the mist, people milled on deck talking - Dutch deckhand to MSP, Canadian first mate to Church of Scotland minister. Listening to Jane Tallents from Faslane 365, Reverend David McLachlan and others talk about their histories of involvement in the campaign (see the videos at the end of this post), my sense of awe at the diversity and the passion of the people working to end this obscenity grew. I felt incredibly privileged to be on this ship, working on this campaign, and lending some support to the amazing work others have been doing day after day, year after year.
I was on the bow when we were first able to make out Faslane through the mist. There it was: a black Vanguard submarine, the UK’s most devastating killing machine. That vessel carries 16 missiles, each carrying up to three nuclear warheads. That’s up to 48 warheads, and each one of them delivers a blast eight times the strength of the Hiroshima bomb... Today (and every other day since the cold war), somewhere in the world, an identical submarine is on patrol, with its nuclear weapons primed to fire.
Jo - assistant cook and press officer
By Jo, onboard the Arctic Sunrise as part of the Trident: We don't buy it tour.
I'm Jo, the ship's part time assistant cook, part time press officer - that is one of the great things about working for Greenpeace, a certain degree of job flexibility. Of course there's also being passionate about your job, working with people who share your beliefs, being part of campaigns which achieve real change, but I'll have to save those for another time!
I've sailed twice before with Greenpeace, once as an assistant cook, and once as a press officer so I feel this combination is a perfect mix of my skills. The idea was not to actually be doing both at the same time, but yesterday I had my first lesson in juggling both - it was fun, even if my press release was a bit floury.
Open boat day in Greenock
Onboard the Arctic Sunrise as part of the Trident: We don't buy it tour.
The bridge of the Arctic Sunrise
© Greenpeace/Sumner
The open boat day in Edinburgh was a brilliant success, so we're having another one - this time in Greenock, near Glasgow (map). For a guided tour around a working Greenpeace ship, come along to Custom House Quays at Greenock Docks between 11am and 4pm on Sunday 25th February - hope to see you there!
Life aboard the washing machine
Onboard the Arctic Sunrise as part of the Trident: We don't buy it tour.
Tessie, a volunteer on board the Arctic Sunrise, looks over the Isle of Arran.
I never thought I'd be so pleased to be woken up at 7.30 on a Saturday morning to go and clean some toilets. I've spent the past 36 hours greenly clinging to my bunk, plastic bag in hand, as the ship was tossed about by a force 10 gale. But this morning, I managed to get out of my bunk without being catapaulted to the other side of the cabin, and came up on deck to see calm waters and a strong winter sun, instead of the hostile broth of a sea we've become used to.
Turning missiles into ploughshares
By Sarah, onboard the Arctic Sunrise as part of the Trident: We don't buy it tour.
"7.30am - time to get up!"
I open my eyes to total darkness and there is the usual momentary confusion. Bex and I are sleeping in a small cabin deep in the cavernous depths of the hold. There is no natural light and the darkness is comforting at night, like a favourite blanket, wrapping itself protectively around you, but disorientating in the morning, as you don't know what time it is. I can't remember what day it is and what I am supposed to be doing.
Opening the door of my cabin on to the hold of the ship brings it all back in a rush. Already, people are walking around purposefully, setting out tables and chairs and putting out leaflets.
Tell your MP to say no a new nuclear arms race
Onboard the Arctic Sunrise as part of the Trident: We don't buy it tour.
It’s setting sail day on board the Arctic Sunrise; in a few hours, we’ll be leaving Edinburgh to make our way around the Scottish coast to Greenock, outside Glasgow.
It will be interesting to talk to people in Glasgow about Blair's plan to replace Trident - in Edinburgh, it's been striking to see how much people hate the idea, and how out of touch Blair and his cronies have become. Yesterday, we even had somebody from the Royal Navy sign our petition against replacing the submarines!
While we're sailing around the Scottish coastline, you can help to stop Blair from perpetuating the UK’s ability to kill people in the most brutally indiscriminate way ever invented - and starting a new arms race. He wants to spend £4,500 of each British family’s money to do this, and MPs have until March to decide which way they’re going to vote.
It’s really, really important to make sure your MP votes with their conscience, not with their political masters. MPs are making up their minds now – please write to yours and let tell them to vote against a new nuclear bomb and a new arms race. Ask them not to jeopardise (and contravene) the international agreements that have already got rid of half the world’s nuclear weapons.
Right now, Michael Matherson (SNP), Chris Ballance (Green), John Mayer and the legendary Angie Zelter are making their way to the ship to present a consultation to our Captain before we leave - more about that shortly...
Upping the ante
Onboard the Arctic Sunrise as part of the Trident: We don't buy it tour.
MSPs with John Sauven, Greenpeace's Executive Director, and the van of shame (and name). © Greenpeace/Cobbing
I'm a volunteer on board our ship, the Arctic Sunrise, which today joined the mounting resistance to the government's plans for new nuclear weapons. For over twenty years, there's been a permanent protest camp outside Faslane - the homeport to Trident. That base has also been the site of regular direct actions by Trident Ploughshares activists.
In the past few years, I joined the hundreds who have been arrested numerous times there; lying in the gateways and swimming in front of subs, trying to highlight Britain's flagrant breaches of international law. In recent months Trident Ploughshares has been joined by an audacious project of civil disobedience, Faslane 365, which is holding blockades and demonstrations at the base every single day for a year! With our ship, we've come to up the ante further.
Twenty-seven Scottish Labour MPs either support new nukes, or haven't said how they'll vote when the issue comes before parliament in just a few weeks time. It's time we made them listen to the overwhelming opposition from the people they're supposed to represent. People don't want billions spent on unnecessary and dangerous bombs, especially when funds are so urgently needed to tackle climate change.
As the Sunrise sets sail for Greenock, and then London, in time for the crucial vote in Westminster, I'll be with a van carrying a billboard that names and shames those 27 Labour MPs. We'll tour their constituencies and let the voters know what's being done in their names.
Today, Alistair Darling. Tomorrow..?
Trident: we don't buy it!
Onboard the Arctic Sunrise as part of the Trident: We don't buy it tour.
The unveiling of the van. © Greenpeace/Cobbing
Politicians, press, cameras - it's been a busy day aboard the Arctic Sunrise. Four Members of Scottish Parliament (MSPs) welcomed the Arctic Sunrise into Leith, and launched our new ship tour: "Trident: we don't buy it".
More than 40 years after the UK government signed an international treaty to eliminate nuclear weapons, Tony Blair's planning to reverse all that, and rush through plans to build new weapons - a replacement for Trident. Labour's plans aren't going down well in Scotland - three out of four Scottish people oppose wasting some £76 billion on Trident.
Listen to what our visiting MSPs - from the Liberal Democrat, Scottish National, Green and Scottish Socialist parties - have to say:
Arctic Sunrise in the UK
Onboard the Arctic Sunrise.
The Greenpeace ship MY Arctic Sunrise is in Edinburgh, and she’s thrown open her doors to the public for the day. It’s a drizzly grey day but hundreds of people have donned their waterproofs and come down to Leith docks to have a look around the ship and have a cuppa with the crew.
I'd definitely recommend looking around a Greenpeace ship if you ever get the chance – I haven't been on many ships but there really does seem to be a special atmosphere about this one. But then the Arctic Sunrise has a pretty special history - from its beginnings as a commercial seal hunting vessel, it's gone on to better things, including taking action to stop US Star Wars missile tests, protesting against clear cutting in the Amazon and documenting climate change in the polar regions.
I only arrived on the ship last night and it’s going to be my home for the next five weeks (I'm the onboard web editor) so I’m off to join one of the tours now. At the moment, I don’t know my mess from my poop deck, and I still haven't worked out whether the crew were joking when they told me that wearing a potato around my neck would stop seasickness...
Anyway, if you read this in time and if you’re in Edinburgh, come along – just turn up at Leith docks’ customer service point before 3.30pm and a Greenpeace volunteer will show you to the ship.
Oh, and watch this space - the Arctic Sunrise is about to embark on a new tour - five weeks around the UK, campaigning against the replacement of the UK’s nuclear weapons programme, Trident. I'll be posting regular updates from the ship as the tour gets underway...
Artists on Aldermaston
One of the hundreds of citizens inspecting Aldermaston earlier this week was the artist Kurt Jackson. He’s best known for his paintings of the Cornish landscape, but it turns out he’s also a dab hand at sketching nuclear weapons facilities. In the rain. Under the scrutiny of nosy police officers.
Here's are a few of his sketches of the weapons inspectors outside Aldermaston, done in pencil, ink and charcoal (click on the thumbnails for to see them full sized):
© Kurt Jackson
Citizens inspection of nuclear bomb making factory at Aldermaston
© Greenpeace
Hundreds of citizen weapons inspectors have just spent this morning patrolling through the muddy fields of England. They came from all over the UK, converging on the Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE) facility at Aldermaston. They arrived from all directions, by bus, train, bicycle and on foot.
Their mission? To carry out the world's largest ever inspection of a nuclear weapons factory, following reports that Tony Blair is building a new nuclear weapon.
Sign the petition against Trident on Tony Blair's website
Who'd have thunk it? The latest wheeze to help the PM get closer to his people is to have online petitions on the Number 10 website. Anyone can create a petition and encourage people to sign, and with the people from the excellent theyworkforyou.com and writetothem.com behind it, it could actually be worthwhile.
Tempting as it would be to sign the one calling for a resignation, there is a key petition already set up calling on Blair to champion the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, by not replacing the Trident nuclear weapons system. An excellent suggestion and it's currently the second most popular petition on the site. Can it make pole position?
Join our nuclear club
Praise be for the tabloid press. On the cover of today's Current Bun, they've illustrated their report on the North Korean nuke test not with the seismograph that adorns most other papers, nor even a considered portrait of enigmatic premier, Kim Jong Il. Instead they've plumped for his marionette double as seen in puppet political satire, Team America: World Police. Not that I'm trying to show the Sun up as a reactionary rag pumped full of stereotypes and dangerous generalisations. If I was, I'd be tarred with the same brush because as I watched the reports on last night's news, exactly the same images were going through my head.
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