I am a believer that we should be trying to build up a grassroots network of anarchists across Scotland, and eventually UK, europe. Stuff like the G8 will give us a opportunity to test out how strong we could become. But other stuff like nuclear weapons should become a top priority, as nukes are the ultimate expression of imperialist violence, and they happen to be based in Scotland. I think it is pure laziness for any activist who is concerned about nuclear weapons to refer the issue to the 'experts' in cnd , when we should be taking action ourselves and learning from our own experiences. Big blockades might cause inconvience for a couple of days in the year, and they don't really work because the coppers know about it beforehand and are prepared. CND don't seem to understand the concept of surprise. For real civil disobediance to become a success activists would need to be prepared to hassle the authorities constantly throughout the year. I'm not talking about 1,000 strong blockades every month, because that would be unrealistic, but 10 folk a week could easily cause hassle by chaining themselves to a fence, or getting through the fences. Trident ploughshares do that already with some success, and NukeWatch do good work trying to block convoys, but a Scotland-wide network of volunteers preparing to harrass the authorities when they least expect it would scare the government, and would be harder to inflitrate.
And we could also raise awareness by raising money to pay for fines.
Pay fines? Pffft. Yeah right.
The big blockade on the 23rd was only part of the story. We were there for two weeks. actions were happening daily. Intrusions, invasions, vigils, aquatic actions. There was even a sunday service at the main gate.
Lots of those actions were surprises. Several groups attacked the fences of Faslane and Coulport at night. Large groups turned up at the gates of coulport unannounced, to have a party.
The result of all this was that they needed huge amounts of police there for the whole fortnight.
Our chances are greatly increased by numbers, so the big blockade is most effective. It may be too easy for them to contain (and single out) a small number of regular protesters.
Fundraising is a serious problem for a cellular network. If each cell has it's own fundraising for it's own bits. then we only need to make sure there's a group covering each aspect.
I'm looking at camp facilities. Teepees and portaloos. Someone suggested a geodome, but we would have to raise a lot for them. The obvious way to raise funds is a benefit gig. lots of small ones are OK, but I've heard several people suggest a big one with major celebrities, a live CD, etc. I can arrange smaller gigs. We have a 700w PA available here for £60, someone with ADAT recording, and a group who can burn CD's for £1 each. (100 a day max.)
Know any celebrities?