On 7 March, a new direct action group, ‘Block Lockheed’, did what it said on the tin and blockaded the Lockheed Martin UK factory at Ampthill in Bedfordshire, England.
Lockheed Martin says it is ‘a global security and aerospace company’ which is ‘the leading provider for offensive and defensive weapons systems’.
Among other things, it builds the Trident II D5 submarine-launched ballistic missile for the US and UK nuclear arsenals.
Block Lockheed shut down the access road to the factory by locking-on across it at 5.30am.
The activists remained in position until the afternoon as the police stood by.
The blockaders unfurled banners which accused the company of crimes against humanity and highlighted the similarity between the Russian invasion of Ukraine and Saudi Arabia attacking Yemen using weapons sold by Lockheed.
The protesters claimed that their protest was particularly important in view of what was happening in Ukraine.
This followed their first action, on 28 February, spraying ‘WMD’ and ‘Stop War’ on signs around the 64-acre Lockheed Martin UK arms manufacturing site.
Block Lockheed also poured fake blood on the Ampthill entrance road.