Hundreds of protesters marched from the Scottish Parliament at Holyrood to the Ross Bandstand in Princes Street Gardens on Saturday 3 November to campaign against the government's Trident plans.

Organised by Scotland 4 Peace, the march - entitled People and Parliament Against Trident - attracted students, pensioners, socialists and clowns, as well as representatives from major political parties and religious bodies such as the SNP, the Church of Scotland and the Muslim Association of Scotland.

Speaking at the Ross Band stand, Shirley Ann Summerville, Scottish National Party MSP and representative for Alex Salmond read a statement from the First Minister.

The statement read: "I am disappointed not to be with you, there are few issues more important than nuclear disarmament."

He sent a clear message to the protesters, the people of Scotland and Downing Street that he would not tolerate the plans to place four Trident-armed submarines in the Clyde.

"The Scottish Government is opposed to the placement of Weapons of Mass Destruction on Scottish soil anytime, anywhere."

He went on to outline his application to the 189 countries in the UN Nuclear Proliferation Treaty to allow Scotland to have observer status. This move has caused considerable uproar as, if approved, Scotland would in effect be a separate member from the UK, when it is not in reality a separate state.

The protest is opposing the acquisition of the Trident (II) D5 nuclear missile system from the US. The cost of the programme to adopt the UK's submarines to carry the missiles is thought to come in at around £20 billion.

The missile, a submarine-based nuclear warhead, has a range of up to 4,600 miles, is accurate up to a few feet, and its destructive possibility is equivalent to eight Hiroshima's.

The adoption of the new Trident programme from the US was approved in March while Tony Blair was still in power.

The proposal did have considerable opposition within Parliament, with 88 Labour MPs voting against the plan; more than half of the 161 opposing votes in the House. However, a Commons vote wasn't even required, with the Cabinet having the authority to approve such a plan independently.

Alongside Ms Summerville, Phil McGarry - President of the Scottish Trade Union Congress (STUC) - outlined his stark opposition to the Trident proposal, stating that more jobs would be created than lost in the abolishment of the programme. A fact that he claimed should put a stop to the "scaremongering" of the Westminster government.

He said in his impassioned address: "We say no to a new generation of nuclear weapons on the Clyde."

Since its inception, the plan has been the butt of fervent protests from within Scotland, with Livingstone MP Jim Devine resigning his post as ministerial aide in March over the issue.

Criticism for the Trident project has drawn support from all circles: Annie Lennox, Bianca Jagger and Vivienne Westwood are all staunch opponents of the plan.

They argue that the old Soviet Bloc no longer exists, therefore the need for nuclear weapons is not essential.

Greenpeace state: “Tony Blair's decision to build new, more advanced nuclear weapons decades after the Cold War has ended is a monstrous waste of money and resources.”

But it wasn't just politicians who had their say on Saturday, singer Karine Polwart performed her song 'Better Things' which she claimed was written after she realised the Trident programme was "the most unimaginative thing".