Protesters from the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) and Lakenheath Alliance for Peace will descend on RAF Lakenheath this Saturday 20 September, ending a week of nationwide actions in opposition to Donald Trump’s state visit to Britain. They will be there to say unequivocally that neither he nor his nuclear weapons are welcome here.
Trump and his nuclear weapons: get out of the UK
The protest will take place between 1 and 3pm at RAF Lakenheath’s main gate on Brandon Road, Suffolk.
Protesters will create a wall of noise against Trump and his nukes. They will also be writing messages to Trump and hanging them on the perimeter fence of the base.
The demonstration will culminate in the protesters handing in a letter to the base commander. This will state that the deployment of nukes at the base now puts at risk the lives of millions of people, assert the role the base has played in Israel’s genocidal war, and make clear their determination for the base to be shut down
The protest comes after CND-supported Nukewatch spotted two special nuclear material flights from the US landing at RAF Lakenheath in July. One flight took place on 17-18 July, and a second on 24-25 July. Nukewatch tracked the flight data and its spotters on the ground witnessed the planes arrive and unload. There is now no doubt that US nuclear weapons are stationed in Britain.
RAF Lakenheath hosting deadly nukes against the public’s wishes
Despite this evidence, Keir Starmer has failed to make any public announcement about this deadly deployment. Nor has his government allowed for an open and transparent debate in parliament. Yet, the deployment goes against public wishes. Polling YouGov conducted in May found that 61% of the British public are opposed to the US stationing its nuclear weapons in the country.
The arrival of these weapons of mass destruction comes amid heightened tensions between NATO and Russia. Poland is now suggesting that NATO impose a no-fly zone over Ukraine to protect NATO territory from Russian drone incursions. Such a move would risk putting NATO in direct confrontation with Russia. This increases the risk of nuclear escalation. It also raises the dangers of the US B61-12 nuclear bombs stationed at Lakenheath being involved in this escalation.
US Air Force pilots based at RAF Lakenheath have flown missions in support of Israel’s military. Following the announcement this week from a UN commission of inquiry that Israel is committing four out of the five “genocidal acts” defined under the 1948 Genocide Convention, CND believes that the Suffolk base could now be in breach of the convention.
Nukes don’t keep us safe and neither does Trump
CND general secretary Sophie Bolt said:
Trump’s nuclear weapons don’t keep us safe. Instead they make us all a target. This has nothing to do with Britain’s security interests and everything to do with supporting Trump’s global war drive. The so-called ‘special relationship’ with the US has led to the dangerous return of US nuclear bombs for the first time since 2008, as well as a major expansion of Britain’s own nuclear weapons programme. So, whilst poverty soars and public services crumble, Starmer is pushing through 5% GDP increase in military spending by 2035 and leading the charge on preparing for a war with Russia. Britain has also followed the US lead in its support and participation in Israel’s genocide of Palestinians. We need to break this dangerous military alliance with the US, kick out Trump’s nukes, and close the NATO network of bases in Britain.
Angie Zelter of Lakenheath Alliance for Peace said:
The world is reeling from the destruction of the forever wars that feed the military and arms industry’s ever-growing appetite for control and profits. USAF Lakenheath has been at the heart of too many wars that are destroying people, climate and planet, and that are undermining the international legal order that was set up to protect us all. Any use of the nuclear bombs now deployed here is likely to start a nuclear holocaust and is an existential threat to all life on earth. Our Alliance for Peace would not have to engage in blockades and civil resistance if the government was honest with the public. It should not be up to ordinary people to resist threats of mass destruction but when those in power do nothing then the people must act.
Featured image via YouTube screenshot/PoliticsJOE
