3 weeks ago
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The NFLAs have sent a message of solidarity and support to the organisers of the Peace Camp at RAF / USAF Lakenheath for Democracy Day being hosted today.
The Lakenheath Alliance for Peace has kept up a 24/7 vigil at the gates of the airbase since 14th April. LAP consists of 59 organisations, including the NFLAs, who are opposed to the siting of US nuclear weapons at the base and campaign in favour of nuclear disarmament.
Although notionally an RAF station, Lakenheath is really the largest US airbase in the UK hosting the 48th ‘Liberty’ Fighter Wing of around 6,000 personnel and F-15C/D Eagle, F-15E Strike Eagle, and F-35A Lightning II fighter bomber aircraft. From 1954 until 2008, the station held nuclear weapons in its inventory. Now there are plans to reintroduce them.
The Federation of American Scientists revealed that the United States Air Force plans to build a 144-capacity dormitory at Lakenheath for an ‘influx of airmen due to the arrival of the potential Surety mission and the bed down of the two F-35 squadrons’. A ‘surety’ mission is a military euphemism meaning to store, deploy, and potentially use, the newest version of the B-61 glide bomb on the F35s. Official documents state that ‘Construction is expected to last from June 2024 to February 2026.’[i]
Democracy Day is one of a series of themed days being organised by LAP. MPs, Councillors, and other political representatives will use this opportunity to speak out against nuclear weapons, giving interviews and showing their solidarity with LAP.
From 10.30, there will be an open mic for elected members to speak. Confirmed speakers are Councillors Gary Champion, Tom Daly, Jan Davis, Rachel Smith-Lyte and Elliot Tong. In the afternoon, former Green Party Co-Leader Baroness Natalie Bennett will be speaking and there will be information sessions with Jessica Townsend from MP Watch on engaging with MPs and Phil Laurie from Defend our Juries about the right to protest.
NFLA Secretary Richard Outram has also written a briefing for activists covering how approaches can be Councillors and Councils to enlist their support over the issue of nuclear disarmament. This can be found on the NFLA website at:
The NFLAs have previously written to the Suffolk Resilience Forum, the Suffolk Joint Emergency Planning Unit and to the Ministry of Defence expressing our concerns about the lack of emergency planning relating to the possibility of an accident involving a nuclear armed aircraft on site, and to the Defence and Foreign Secretaries urging them to refuse permission for nuclear bombs to be brought into the UK and sited at the base as it represents nuclear proliferation.[ii] Frighteningly historically, there have been several near-miss accidents involving US aircraft armed with nuclear bombs, with a USAF officer later describing one of these accidents as averted only by a combination of ‘tremendous heroism, good fortune, and the will of God’, yet the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament has just revealed from a disclosed Ministry of Defence document that US nuclear forces are exempted from nuclear safety rules.[iii]
LAP organiser and former Norwich City Green Councillor Lesley Grahame said: ‘Local authorities are responsible for emergency planning but do not plan for nuclear emergencies, are not informed of local risks and are starved of money. Visiting forces in Britain are exempt from UK safety legislation, a fact only revealed through CND’s legal challenge to government. Secrecy leaves elected representatives unable to meet their duty of care to their residents.’
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For more information about the NFLAs action over Lakenheath please contact NFLA Secretary Richard Outram by email to richard.outram@manchester.gov.uk
If you have questions about the Peace Camp or Democracy Day, please contact LAP organiser Lesley Grahame by mobile on 07546 291378
The location of the Peace Camp Democracy Day event is Chester St, (A1065) Lakenheath, Brandon IP27 9PS
[i] https://fas.org/publication/lakenheath-air-base-added-to-nuclear-weapons-storage-site-upgrades/
[ii] https://www.nuclearpolicy.info/briefings/nfla-policy-briefing-281-latest-on-raf-lakenheath/
[iii] https://cnduk.org/declassified-mod-document-reveals-us-visiting-forces-across-britain-are-exempt-from-nuclear-safety-rules/
