Inspection of Albemarle Barracks

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Inspection of Albemarle Barracks
Interview with Tyneside Citizens Inspection Agency

Anti-war Candlelit Vigil in South-East London

Stop the Destitution of Asylum Seekers!

On Saturday afternoon, December 14, a team of citizens' inspectors visited Albemarle Barracks, a nuclear site near Stamfordham in Northumberland, and soon gained access to carry out a visual inspection of the "secure vehicle compound" used by nuclear warheads convoys.

Twenty inspectors, from the newly-formed Tyneside Citizens' Inspection Agency (CIA), visited the site to draw attention to the government's nuclear weapons policy, and to its refusal to allow international inspections of nuclear sites within this country, while demanding intrusive access to Iraqi sites and preaching a non-nuclear message to the rest of the world. Tyneside CIA had written to the Ministry of Defence (MoD) in November, asking for access to inspect the site, but has still never received a reply.

After arrival at the north side of the barracks, at 2pm on Saturday, the inspectors climbed over a gate into the site, and walked apparently undetected up to the convoy compound. They found gaps in the outermost fence and rings of barbed wire, and could easily walk through to the inner security fences. Several of the inspectors had walked right around the fence before military personnel and police turned up. The compound has been used since the 1980s by military convoys, carrying Trident nuclear warheads from the Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE) in Berkshire to the submarine base and arms depot in Scotland.

Monica Frisch, one of Saturday’s inspectors, said, "We found no evidence that the compound has been closed or isn't still being used for nuclear transports. We know that the UK has nuclear weapons, with one Trident submarine permanently on patrol, ready to fire any of its 100-kiloton warheads at a moment's notice. The deployment of the UK's weapons of mass destruction bears a heavy price, not just in terms of money spent and wasted resources, but also in terms of the security implications and dangers involved in taking nuclear warheads on our local roads and storing them in insecure compounds like the one at Albemarle."

After inspecting the site, the team fixed "Closed!" notices to the gates and fence, wished the onlooking police and soldiers a "Happy Christmas", and left, promising to compile a full report about the site.

Andrew Gray summarised the main conclusions of the team on their findings of lax security at the compound, "Disarmament is the only safe option for nuclear weapons, both for the people of Stamfordham and others who live in the ‘fallout’ area around the nuclear convoy routes, and for the sake of wider global security and nuclear non-proliferation."

Further information, including copies of notices left at the site and a link to photographs of the inspection, is available at http://tyneside.sdf-eu.org/albemarle.

Twenty inspectors carried out the inspection on Saturday of the compound at Albemarle Barracks, which is used to guard the transport of nuclear Trident missiles on their journey to Faslane in Scotland. After the inspection WDIE interviewed one of the inspectors.

Q: Can you tell us generally about the composition of the inspectors?
A: Yes, the inspectors typically represented a cross section of people from the area. Teachers, health workers, local authority, people working various other occupations, unemployed as well as of course young and old.

Also, at the same time, people with various political, religious and other opinions came together to form the inspection team.

Q: Can you say what you think was the thing that united everyone in carrying out the inspections
A: The inspection was inspired by the concerns of the people in this region over the British government's support for Bush's plan to attack Iraq using Iraq's so-called weapons of mass destruction as a pretext.

Also, I might add it was inspired by concern for the people of Iraq and other peoples threatened by the weapons of mass destruction which are harboured in Britain and the US.

On the one hand Britain and the US demand that Iraq submits to humiliating and intrusive inspections and on the other Britain and the US refuse the people here, let alone the United Nations, any information about the weapons of mass destruction stored on their doorstep.

Q: How did the inspection go?
A: Firstly, the inspectors issued a notice to the Ministry of Defence that we were to inspect the site and asked for information that we required. But they did not comply with the inspection. They did not reply to our request for information about the site.

They did not acknowledge the right for us to inspect the site and the terms we gave them for the inspection to take place. However, we had informed them that the documents would be made public and that we had the right to inspect the site at will if they did not comply.

They should have complied with the terms of the inspection by December 8 listing the uses for the site but this did not happen. However, their non-compliance did not bring the same reaction that Britain and the US are threatening Iraq – all out war. As a consequence of their non-compliance the Tyneside Inspection Agency arrived at the site at 2pm on Saturday afternoon and gained access to the site.

After walking a quarter of a mile to the compound the inspectors were able to gain access to the inner fence and post notices of inspection as well as to post notices closing the site to weapons of mass destruction.

The inspectors managed to carry out a thorough inspection outside of the compound and went completely around it before being challenged by police.

The inspection team explained to them who they were and what they were doing. The response of the police inspector was that the weapons inspectors were trespassing and requested them to leave.

However the inspection continued for some time and only when the weapons inspectors were satisfied that they had fully carried out the inspection did the inspection team leave.

Q: Will the inspection team compile a report?
A: Yes, the report will go to the United Nations Security Council, the Ministry of Defence as well as being made public.

Q: Thank you very much.

On Saturday, December 14, despite the cold wet weather, an enthusiastic crowd of over 100 people marched through Lewisham in south-east London to oppose war preparations by the US and Britain against Iraq. The marchers carried placards saying "No to War on Iraq" and "Not In Our Name". The vigil was organised by Lewisham & Greenwich CND and Lewisham Stop the War Coalition. The march ended with a candlelit vigil in the centre of Lewisham shopping centre with a two-minute silence to remember the many thousands of Iraqi children who have died as a result of the sanctions imposed by the US and Britain. Many of the shoppers around signed the petition calling on the Blair government to end its warmongering and complicity with Bush’s drive towards war against Iraq.

The vigil was a very good reflection of the very broad spectrum of people in this country who are totally opposed to war. Speakers included representatives from Lewisham & Greenwich CND, Lewisham Stop the War Coalition, the NUT, the head of NUS of Goldsmiths College, Jim Brann from the National Executive of CND, Darren Johnson from the Green Party, and a vicar from the diocese of Southwark. There were also messages of support from the Lewisham & Kent Islamic Centre and Joan Ruddock MP and two poets read out anti-war poems.

Many of the speakers pointed out that the vast majority of people not only locally and nationally but all over the world are implacably opposed to war against Iraq. Several speakers pointed out that war is not inevitable and called on everyone to build on the powerful sentiments of the vast majority of people from all walks of life who are against war. Several speakers pointed out the hypocrisy of the Blair government refusing to pay the fire-fighters and other public sector workers a decent wage while spending billions on armaments and preparations for war.

Finally there was a call to keep up and build on the anti-war movement and to support the forthcoming big local anti-war rally on January 21 at the Rivoli Ballroom in Brockley with speakers including Tony Benn and Bruce Kent.

On January 8, the government is set to throw thousands of asylum seekers into complete destitution. Under rules contained in the 2002 Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act, asylum seekers who have not claimed asylum as soon as they arrive in the country will forfeit all rights to assistance from the National Asylum Support Service. Since they will also not be allowed to work, they will be without any form of income or support. Normally around 60% of asylum seekers file their claims a few days after their arrival in this country. Often they do not know procedures, or they fear what might happen to them if they report to immigration officials at ports and airports.

The government is saying that these draconian measures along with a host of others contained in the Act will discourage people from claiming asylum in Britain. The organisations below are calling on all those opposed to such measures to join in a protest at the Home Office on the day this measure is being implemented.

The organisers of the protest point out that the truth is that people fleeing from persecution are not motivated by the system of support that they will find in the countries they seek to reach. Seeking asylum is a right that government policy is refusing to recognise.

It is incumbent on the British government to uphold its commitment to the UN Convention on Refugees and provide a safe haven to those risking their lives in the pursuit of it. This means enabling asylum seekers to pursue their claims with appropriate levels of support and not forcing them into utter destitution.

Stop the destitution of asylum seekers!

SOUP KITCHEN PROTEST

Outside the Home Office, Wednesday, January 8, 2003, 4.30-6.30pm, 50 Queen Anne's Gate. Nearest tube: St James' Park

Organised by: Asylum Rights Campaign, Barbed Wire Britain, Committee to Defend Asylum Seekers, National Assembly Against Racism, National Coalition of Anti-Deportation Campaigns.