A local man who took part in direct action for nuclear disarmament two weeks ago, has vowed he will continue to fight against weapons of mass destruction.
Dave Rolstone, aged 54, of Efailwen, who for two years has been a member of an anti-Trident campaign, was in London earlier this month to demonstrate and march for peace.
Trident Ploughshares, which is committed to non-violent, open and peaceful disarmament of the Trident nuclear weapons system, was joined by a coalition of organisations including CND as part of a campaign known as the Winter Camp.
Mr Rolstone took part in demonstrations at Downing Street, where he and 11 others managed to keep the gates shut by holding on to them for an hour.
He was involved in a rally with over 100,000 people in the march for peace, which began in Hyde Park and he and other activists occupied the Rolls Royce head offices at Buckingham Gate. Rolls Royce is involved with the construction of the nuclear reactors for the UKs fleet of four Trident submarines. After two hours of occupation, the activists were ejected.
Mr Rolstone, now a boat-builder, first became aware of these issues when he lived in Africa in the 1970s. He worked in Kenya, designing windmills for irrigation, when he witnessed coffee smugglers killing each other with guns. He then started to campaign against the sale of arms. Mr Rolstone has worked for various peace groups over the years and has been to Iraq taking out medical supplies in the wake of US sanctions after the Gulf War.
He went as part of Voices of Wilderness, an organisation that promotes conscious awareness. On the tenth anniversary of US sanctions in August last year, he climbed the London Eye to the nine oclock position, in protest of American foreign policy, where he placed a banner. Mr Rolstone said: Governments are always looking for solutions, but the solutions often involve the use of weapons. They should be focusing on the peace movement.
Mr Rolstone plans to move to Scotland where a blockade will take place in February next year at the nuclear weapons facility at Faslane.
Dave (third from left) and fellow protesters emerging from the water at Loch Long, Scotland, after forcing a Trident submarine to change direction
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