Burghfield Lockdown - Report, thanks & more….

Ingenious suitcase lock-on - Burghfield Lockdown, 2nd March 2015

Congratulations and really huge thanks to everyone who blockaded at and supported Burghfield Lockdown and thanks for all the encouraging messages of support throughout the event. We learned early in the day that the MoD, anticipating a successful blockade had made an advance decision to close the Burghfield site for the day of the blockade. Consequently the day was a bigger success than we had hoped for. Work throughout the site was prevented and enormous traffic queues and disruption to local people were kept to a minimum. Police kept the position of facilitating lawful protest for the two hundred or so people at the blockade and no arrests were made.

The day was a wonderful example of what can be achieved when people with the will and commitment deliver a strong message that can’t be avoided, to government. In response to everyone who planned to come to the blockade and those who supported from a distance the ’scrap Trident’, ‘ban nuclear weapons’, ‘public services not cuts to pay for nuclear war’ messages were heard. The determination with which those messages would be given was understood and as a result Burghfield Lockdown closed the UK’s nuclear warhead factory at AWE Burghfield.

Press coverage of the day is here: http://actionawe.org/topics/in-the-media/

Videos here: http://actionawe.org/topics/action-awe-videos/

Photo galleries here: http://actionawe.org/burghfield-lockdown-photo-album/

Local media reports that more protests are expected and police have said they will keep a presence in the area for the next month in readiness for future actions during the lead up to the 2015 General Election.

During this declared ‘Month of Action’ it’s critical that we keep up the pressure and anyone who can get to AWE Burghfield or Aldermaston to keep the protest going, does so. If any groups or individuals need help or support in arranging or planning a protest please let us know. We have a variety of resources available to assist if required. When you go to AWE, or one of the related nuclear weapons sites, please try to record the event and send us pics and info that we can put on the website and Social Media.

Labour CND has a list of proposed parliamentary candidates who are against Trident. All PPCs from all parties need to know that they won’t win votes at the 2015 election unless they make clear they will oppose Trident renewal. http://www.labourcnd.org.uk/2015/02/labour-ppcs-say-scrap-trident/

We’ve had a fantastic start to this month. Now we have to keep the momentum going for this once in a lifetime opportunity

Thank you!

Action AWE

P.S. If anyone has photos, could or would write a personal account of any part of their Burghfield Lockdown day, or has links to blogs with personal accounts please please send whatever you can to us so these important records can go on the Action AWE website.

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