Four politicians arrested over nuclear protest

Monday, 23 August 2004 12:00 AM

Four Members of the Scottish Parliament have been arrested over their roles in anti-nuclear demonstrations at Faslane naval base.

First to be arrested was Green Scottish Parliament member, Mark Ballard who chained himself to the gate as demonstrators sought to shut down the base.

The police cut off the lock with bolt cutters before Mr Ballard was arrested. It is not yet known if he will be charged with any offence.

Fellow Green MSPs Robin Harper, Eleanor Scott, Mark Ballard, Mark Ruskell and Patrick Harvie were also at the demonstration, with Mr Harvie amongst the 40 or so arrested.

Faslane, around 30 miles from Glasgow, is the base for submarines carrying Trident nuclear missiles.

Speaking as he was arrested, Mr Ballard said: "It is important that people show their opposition to the absurdity of these weapons. I felt that the only way to do this was to join the blockade and being arrested is a price worth paying in order to be heard - the UK government is clearly not listening when it comes to discussing its own weapons of mass destruction.

"It is shameful that British illegal weapons are still trained on targets around the world. The hypocrisy is quite breathtaking - on the one hand Messrs Blair and Bush claim moral rights to invade other countries to stop the spread of weapons of mass destruction, yet they are quite happy to spend billions of pounds on their own supply of them."

He claimed that the weapons are "illegal under international law and waste taxpayers money that would be better spent on tackling poverty, creating jobs and addressing the very real and present dangers faced by humanity - such as climate change."

The frequent protests against the use of Falsane for Trident have previously seen a number of politicians arrested and charged. Scottish Socialist leader Tommy Sheridan was arrested twice for his role in the protests, with fellow Socialist Rosie Kane arrested once.

Mr Sheridan though was not present at today's protest as he is on holiday, leaving Rosie Kane and Frances Curran to represent the Scottish Socialists.

Both were also arrested by police.

There were also four representatives of the Scottish National Party, Linda Fabiani, Nicola Sturgeon, Rob Gibson and Sandra White.

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