War breaks out in Faslane peace camp

Published on Sunday 20 May 2007 00:39

THEY'VE decided to give war a chance. In a bizarre development straight out of Monty Python's Life Of Brian, a bitter conflict has erupted among the normally peace-loving activists of the colourful and ramshackle anti-Trident camp near Helensburgh.

Instead of their usual earnest debate on how to turn missiles into ploughshares, the sandal-wearing, dreadlocked and holey-jumpered denizens of the camp are locked in a dispute that makes the MoD look positively pacifist.

A group of older protesters appear to be locked in a power struggle with a younger, more focused and media-savvy gang of recent arrivals. The air is thick with a crossfire of claim and counter-claim about thefts, intimidation and character assassination.

The peace protesters' row over what to do about Holy Loch has become so unholy that the police - who normally stand guard at the gates to Faslane - have visited the camp to talk to campaigners.

It may even be the case that the protesters are too busy fighting each other to combat the evils of the military-industrial complex.

Police insiders say there have been at least two days where dozens of officers were on duty outside Faslane and not a single protester turned up.

The original Faslane Peace Camp was set up in 1982 in protest at the government's decision to base the country's Trident nuclear submarine fleet there. There have been numerous large-scale protests and several high-profile arrests, including those of Tommy Sheridan and George Galloway.

However, last year, news of Whitehall's decision to renew the multibillion-pound defence plan prompted the creation of a new anti-nuclear group. Called the 365 Project, the aim was to hold a year-long protest outside the base.

But their arrival at Faslane, initially welcomed by existing camp members, has led to a rift between "senior" campaigners and the new residents.

The only camp resident to speak openly about the dispute is Monica Ridley, who has been a peace protestor for 30 years and has been at Faslane on and off for a decade. She told Scotland on Sunday: "These people [the 365 Project] are not interested in peace and protesting for it. They are only interested in power. What sort of message does that give out to the world in general?

"They are doing to me what they are accusing Tony Blair and George Bush of over Trident. They are treating me in the same way. Whatever morals they had, if they had any, seem to have gone out of the window. This is not about peace, it is about control."

Ridley claims she and her friends have been subjected to bullying and intimidation by several recently arrived protestors, saying:

• 365 Project members surrounded her and attempted to order her off the camp;

• She has been labelled "mentally ill" as part of a character assassination campaign by her enemies;

• Her caravan has been raided, items, including tea, coffee, biscuits and chocolate, have been stolen and other personal possessions, such as her crutches and haversack, have been tampered with;

• Plastic pots containing her home-grown vegetables have been deliberately overturned.

An ally of Ridley's backed her account but asked not to be identified. The peace campaigner says he was forced to leave the camp recently after suffering what he described as a campaign of intimidation.

He said of Ridley: "She has been picked on for dissenting. She has spent many, many years in the peace movement, yet what has gone on with her is an affront to the peace movement."

A spokesman for the 365 Project, who also requested anonymity, denied any wrongdoing on their part and insisted there was no civil war at the camp. He claimed the dispute was only about one "unwell" woman refusing to accept the majority view of the camp that she should leave. He said the lack of protestors at the gate on some days was because they were working a "shift system".

"Everyone will tell you that Monica is really very unwell," he said. "The camp did ask her, for her own well-being, to go home. She believes she has been assaulted and the police had to come to the camp because of the things she was saying.

"If someone was assaulted then we are a law-abiding people and we would respect the law."

A police source said they discovered the dispute when, on at least two occasions, there were no protestors at Faslane despite the presence of up to 100 officers. The insider said: "We decided to investigate and the next thing we are hearing all about splits and divisions within the camp itself. There are allegations of threats, intimidation and domestic abuse."

A spokesman for Strathclyde Police said no arrests or charges had been brought over the allegations at the camp, but officers may have offered advice to individuals there.

Politics of protest according to Monty Python's Life Of Brian

Brian: Excuse me. Are you the Judean People's Front?

Reg: F*** off!

Judean People's Front! We're the People's Front of Judea!

Brian: Can I... join your group?

Reg: Nah, p*** off.

Brian: I hate the Romans as much as anybody!

Reg: [brief pause] Right. You're in. Listen. The only people we hate more than the Romans are the f***ing Judean People's Front.

Stan: And the Popular Front of Judea.

Reg: Yeah. Splitters.

Stan: And the People's Front of Judea.

Reg: We're the People's Front of Judea!

Stan: Oh. I thought we were the Popular Front.

Francis: Whatever happened to the Popular Front, Reg?

Reg: He's over there.

Reg, Stan, Francis, Judith: SPLITTER!