A GIANT peace logo will arrive in Glasgow on Thursday on its way to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Faslane Peace Camp.
The peace camp has sat outside the nuclear weapons base since June 12, 1982, when veteran anti-nuclear protesters Bobby and Margaret Harrison set up a tent on the side of the A814.
Since then, the peace camp has been involved in decades of protests centred on Her Majesty's Naval Base Clyde and the Trident nuclear missiles stationed there.
Once home to as many as 400 protesters, the population of the camp dropped to just three by 2021.
However, it came back into the public eye after featuring in the hit BBC series Vigil, which saw Martin Compston’s character secretly dating a member of the camp.
As the peace camp looks to celebrate its 40th anniversary, members of protest groups from across the UK will head up to Faslane for the event.
Activists from Trident Ploughshares and Extinction Rebellion will be driving up to Scotland from southern England towing a giant peace logo as they go.
The logo, finished in multi-coloured patterns and mounted on a trailer, stands some three metres high.
After the anniversary celebrations over the weekend, the logo will head to protests against nuclear weapons at Coulport Angie Zetler, the veteran activist who founded Trident Ploughshares, said: “The Ukraine war has made it more obvious than ever that nuclear weapons do not prevent war. They just make it more dangerous.
“The bottom line with so-called ‘deterrence’ is the willingness to commit mass murder, an atrocity on a vast scale, a major war crime. It is not some common-sense insurance policy. Instead, it leads to the whole global civilian population being held hostage.”
Gillean Lawrence, from Scottish CND, welcomed the arrival of this logo and the work of Trident Ploughshares and Extinction Rebellion.
Dr Rowland Dye from Extinction Rebellion Peace Bristol, said: “Speaking as a former nuclear scientist I know too well the risks to people in this country of manufacturing and maintaining nuclear weapons.
"Added to this is the ruinous financial burden – this money would be so much better spent on the NHS, feeding hungry children, or combating the urgent catastrophic problems of climate-change.”
Before heading to the Faslane Peace Camp, the peace logo will be stopping at Quakers Meeting House, 38 Elmbank Crescent, Glasgow, G2 4PS at midday on Thursday June 9.
More information on the protests against nuclear weapons planned for the anniversary of the camp can be found here.
