STUART McQUEEN
Managing director of Garelochhead Coaches
I've grown up in the shadow of the Faslane submarine base and, like so many local people, I don't mind. In fact, I welcome it, both as a necessary deterrent and as a lucrative and successful local employer.
My father, Robert McQueen, moved to the area in 1967 to work at the neighbouring base at Coulport and, as a child, I had friends whose parents worked in Faslane. Today, the number may not be at the height that it once was, but it remains a solid contributor to the local economy.
If the announcement today had been that Britain does not require a nuclear deterrent and that the base was to close, there would have been a great deal of upset in the local community and a slump would soon follow. Faslane and Coulport employ over 7,000 people, making them the largest employer in Argyll and Bute and pumping almost £200 million into the local economy.
Although I do not have a direct contract with Faslane, I do have one with Coulport, for whom my drivers collect and return workers each morning and evening and I appreciate what both bases contribute to the economy.
There will be people who will ask what it's like living so close to the largest collection of nuclear weapons in Britain. My house and business in Garelochhead is just a couple of miles from the base, but for me its a redundant question. The question to ask is why would so many people work in the base and live in the immediate area if they felt at risk?
You just have to drive past the place to appreciate the level of security and I do not give it a second thought.
In fact, I would say that the greatest problem and inconvenience associated with the base is not the base itself, but the protesters who have flocked to it.
Although I respect their determination, I don't respect it when they break the law and inconvenience other members of the public. If they wish to stand on the pavement and wave a banner, fine. But when they step into the road and everything grinds to a halt, I'm not impressed.
My business is operating school bus runs and local services and there are constant delays as a result of the protestors. All they have to do is block the road and everyone is held up. The delays can be anything from 15 minutes to a couple of hours and they seem to be getting worse.
This has had a serious effect on the local economy. I read recently that the bill for policing in the last month was £1.7 million and the total cost of the year-long protest will be millions.
Unfortunately, central government is not paying for this. Instead, all the local authorities that contribute to Strathclyde Police will have to bear the brunt and I don't think that is particularly fair. Eventually, it will be coming out of our council tax.
Then there is the question of graffiti that is put up by protestors on walls and bridges.
If you were to take a poll of the surrounding villages and towns and asked them who do they support the Faslane base or the protestors, I doubt you would find many people who would side with the protestors.
I would like to think that the future of the Faslane base will be secure for a few more decades to come. I would like to think that it will provide work for another generation of local people and that, eventually, the protestors will drift away.
AGAINST
JANE TALLENTS
Peace campaigner, 48
THE warheads arrive in a slow- moving convoy, under police protection and armed guard. They roll along the road and then disappear into the base, behind the barbed wire and the guard dogs.
Yet each time, before they slip inside, my fellow protesters follow them as they pass and you can't help but feel a chill. You are as close as you can be to death and global destruction.
I've always felt, and I've now lived here for more than 22 years, that nuclear weapons are so malevolent and evil that they cannot help but contaminate all that lies around them.
There are those who will argue that the Faslane base provides jobs and security and helps the local cash registers, but I would argue at what cost? It is true that the base is a big employer and that it has a dominating effect, but it produces nothing, just a cloud of fear and anxiety. It's not like, as a community, we can be proud of what takes place behind that fence.
After watching a documentary on the threat of nuclear war, I was moved to join a protest at Faslane. I was arrested and when I returned for the court appearance, I made the decision to stay.
That was in 1984, and I've lived here longer than any other place and in that time I've seen the effect that this base has had on the potential of this beautiful area. Basing nuclear weapons in this area, obviously does have an effect. Tourism is an important factor to the area in Helensburgh. I think that is what I find so sad. There is a tremendous potential there to be so much more and I see the base as a drain. It is this very negative force that holds back the potential of the area.
The military does have an effect on people's lives - particularly the Trident submarines because they go away on patrol for two or three months at a time, under the sea, out of touch and I think that has a terrible effect on family life.
Even if I thought nuclear deterrents work and I thought we needed it, I would not ask people to spend three months at a time in a tin can; it is too high a price.
I know lots of people who work in the base, both on submarines and as civilian workers and there are some brilliant, creative, skilled people and they could be doing so much more.
They could be using those skills to address climate change and come up with an alternative energy supply.
There are a number of negative aspects to the base. When there is a military exercise on, which we had recently, then there are lots of young sailors from different countries. They want to go into town and socialise and there are times when our young people have to stay out of town because they can feel the tension.
Then there is the question of safety. We are all living so close to an array of nuclear weapons that if anything was to happen, we would be wiped out. People refuse to face up to this, they push it to the back of their minds, but it can punch forward like a jack-in-the-box in a minute. Years ago, there was an earthquake and the police lines lit up as hundreds of people feared a nuclear accident.
I have been arrested 40 times over the years. I spent six years living in the peace camp and then, in 1990, I moved into Helensburgh. This is my home.
I still persevere because I genuinely believe that we will win, that we will triumph and that eventually these weapons will be removed.
DO WE NEED TO REPLACE TRIDENT?
lettersts@scotsman.com