Camden New Journal - News: Trident’s obscene, says naked protester

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Camden New Journal - by SIMON WROE
Published: 11 October 2007

Simon Gould outside the Faslane Naval base last month

Trident’s obscene, says naked protester

IT might sound like backwards logic, but a vociferous Chalk Farm campaigner believes getting naked is the best way to win greater coverage.
Stalwart protester Simon Gould, a decorator from Maitland Park, has been baring all on picket lines across the country.
He says his aim is to expose the “naked aggression” and “bare-faced lies” behind climate change and nuclear re-armament.
Most recently, the 59-year-old spent the night in a Scottish police cell after showing a little too much of himself to officers at the Faslane Naval base during a protest against the the Trident renewal programme.
Mr Gould, who is organising a climate change bike ride with his partner Paula Hollings, said: “Apparently it’s OK to show your Trident missile, but not nature’s normality. I mean, exactly what satisfaction can the UK give Mother Nature with such a missile?”
In the last three years Mr Gould has stripped down to his birthday suit for three naked bike rides, two eco-rallies at the Big Green Gathering, and the Faslane demonstration last month.
Another naked bike ride is planned in the next couple of months at a nuclear power site, as yet undisclosed.
Mr Gould, who is a regular sight around Camden riding his bike with 12ft ladders balanced precariously across it, said: “I’m not actually particularly a naturist, but it’s a good statement.
“It’s one of the most effective non-violent statements you can make.”
He added: “It was the naked bike ride that exposed my eyes to the possibility of nudity as a political statement. I’ve never been the same since.”

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