Sitting in a police cell on a concrete slab (albeit topped by a plastic-covered "mattress"), as I was on October 1, at least allows some pause for thought.
The WPC who had arrested me at Faslane is a community police officer in Govanhill, and I told her that some of us have real questions about taking valuable police resources away from areas where they are much needed. We also have concerns about the massive amount of money spent: £6m to police the year-long Faslane 365 campaign.
These reservations have to be taken seriously and considered with respect. I have broken the law over these issues on a number of occasions, never lightly, and mainly for two reasons.
First, I am a mother and grandmother, and I would be failing my family and future generations if I did not protest against the abomination of Trident which is capable of destroying most of the northern hemisphere in 10 minutes.
Secondly, I used to work alongside families living in poverty in Glasgow - many of whom I am privileged to call my friends. I would be failing them if I did not protest against this obscene expenditure.
Molly Harvey, 501 Shields Road, Glasgow.
It was a felicitous juxtaposition (The Herald, October 2), having the piece on Faslane 365 facing the picture of the celebrations of Gandhi's life in India. The non-violent principles of Gandhi and Martin Luther King are easy to laud and celebrate, when viewed from afar in a foreign country, but when applied at home in Britain, it is, I fear, a different story.
It must have been really disruptive of local traffic when one million black civil rights protesters marched on Washington DC. The inconveniences to the good burgers of Helensburgh that councillor George Freeman complains about seem pretty trivial in comparison. Like Alexander McKay, he seems unwilling to look at the bigger picture, and unable to grasp the sheer immensity of the moral issues involved.
When I attended the Iona Community service at the base on Monday, I was reminded of words from the community liturgy: "If Christ's disciples keep silent, these stones will shout aloud." The very hills seem to cry out a silent howl of anguish at the unimaginable evil being planned here at Faslane.
Faslane 365 has been a model campaign in terms of its fidelity to the principle of non-violence, and Strathclyde Police have responded in a uniquely professional and courteous fashion. We have attempted to bring about awareness of the the utter evil - and the blatant illegality - of the UK government's deployment of nuclear WMD here in Scotland.
If our actions have done nothing else, I hope that we have caused some people to ask themselves why so many good law-abiding folk from the churches and the general community are driven to take this action.
I can assure Councillor Freeman and his friends that we are not going to go away. We will continue to act until Trident sails down the Clyde to the breakers' yard.
Brian M Quail, 2 Hyndland Avenue, Glasgow.
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