By Joe Mellor, Deputy Editor
The factory where Trident nuclear warheads are built has seen construction disruption due to protests by anti-war protestors.
The blockade at the Berkshire site has been organised by an international group of anti-war protestors.
On Wednesday the group claimed that they had brought a halt to work on the site for over three days.
It is part of a month of direct action that began on Monday, when the group began to block roads near the Atomic Weapons Establishment at Burghfield. The site is the lace where warheads are maintained and assembled.
The direct action was organised in response to the news that work is secretly underway to upgrade the existing nuclear deterrent. It is claimed that the Government are trying to build a totally new warhead the “Mark 4A.” This is a separate nuclear weapon to the planed renewal of Trident, which has found many objections, especially the cost of a totally new nuclear arms arsenal.
A report by the Nuclear Information Service made the claims and believe the new weapon will be more accurate and destructive. The timetable and costs of this clandestine project have not been shared with the public or Parliament, which has caused some degree of controversy.
The activists have formed chains by locking their arms together inside tubes – and were joined by others from Belgium, France, Germany and Finland.
Around 20 and 30 people were involved at any one time in the blockade, including an 87-year-old who lay down on the roadway and another man who was in a wheelchair.
Thames Valley police said on Wednesday that four people had been charged in connection with the obstruction of a roadway near Burghfield on Tuesday. The four – who were aged 18, 25, 32 and 62 – were released on bail to attend Reading magistrates court later in June.
Anti nuclear protesters have chained themselves together to block a road outside AWE in Burghfield pic.twitter.com/Q6dlWo5Qkf
— BBC Berkshire (@BBCBerkshire) June 6, 2016
The message from #Burghfield is absolutely clear. #ScrapTrident, for all our futures pic.twitter.com/EAAHQvBx0g
— War Resisters’ Int’l (@warresistersint) June 8, 2016
Since you are here
Since you are here, we wanted to ask for your help.
Journalism in Britain is under threat. The government is becoming increasingly authoritarian and our media is run by a handful of billionaires, most of whom reside overseas and all of them have strong political allegiances and financial motivations.
Our mission is to hold the powerful to account. It is vital that free media is allowed to exist to expose hypocrisy, corruption, wrongdoing and abuse of power. But we can't do it without you.
If you can afford to contribute a small donation to the site it will help us to continue our work in the best interests of the public. We only ask you to donate what you can afford, with an option to cancel your subscription at any point.
To donate or subscribe to The London Economic, click here.
The TLE shop is also now open, with all profits going to supporting our work.
The shop can be found here.
You can also SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER .
