No nukes at Lakenheath

by New Worker correspondent

Kate Hudson at the protest

Campaigners, led by CND, gathered outside the RAF camp at Lakenheath last Saturday to protest at US plans to store nuclear missiles at the base.
The plan, which was revealed in US military announcements in January 2024 was agreed by the previous UK Tory Government led by Rishi Sunak, but the incoming Labour administration, led by Keir Starmer has shown itself even more determined to escalate military tensions and conflicts around the world. Since the start of July, Starmer has pressed for the use of US and NATO weapons inside Russia itself, made a commitment to send money to Ukraine 'for as long as it takes', and doubled the number of RAF surveillance flights over Gaza, gathering information to assist Israeli forces in their ongoing genocide.
Since 2008 the RAF base at Lakenheath has been nuclear weapons free, and the news of their planned return mirrors the placement of Russian nukes in Belarus, threatening a return to the arms races of the Cold War period, which benefitted nobody except the weapons manufacturers.
Each bomb that the Americans plan to store at Lakenheath will have three times the explosive power of the Hiroshima bomb, and as well as the deliberate heightening of military and political tensions. The possibility of accidents also increases, where each device has the potential to turn the neighbouring countryside into a nuclear wasteland.  
On Saturday, CND were joined by other organisations such as Medact, Campaign Against the Arms Trade, and some Green Party representatives such as Dame Jenny Jones, their former candidate for London Mayor. Their messages were all in the same vein, the dangerous and reckless ratcheting up of international tensions, the dangerous and immoral nature of the weapons themselves, the dangers posed to the people of this country by the deeper entanglement of the UK into the US war machine, and not least the dangers of accidents. More than one speaker mentioned the inappropriateness of British politicians sabre-rattling and threatening wars when the state of this country is taken into consideration.
Kate Hudson, who is probably the best known anti-nuclear campaigner in this country stood down from her role as CND president the day before this protest, and is now the honorary president. We managed to get a few words with Kate who said "Why is Britain and the US interfering in the AUKUS agreement for example, why are we getting involved in the so called Indo-Pacific? Why are we sending war ships out there? It's absolutely wrong, and it's part of the US determination to remain the single superpower, and if they have to do it through military means, they will do it through military means, and that is the reality of the situation, and we in the peace movement are determined to stop that.
"We're almost already at the brink of nuclear war in Ukraine, there's a danger of nuclear weapons use in the Middle East, because Israel is a nuclear weapons state, the only one in the region. Some of their ministers have talked about using nuclear weapons in Gaza, during the genocide; it's a terrible, disastrous situation. And these are places that we have no business being in”.
Asked why Britain gives the appearance of being more aggressive than the USA regarding the Ukraine conflict, Kate attributed this to Britain's determination to stick close to American strategic and policy goals, a determination that has existed since the 1956 Suez conflict, which dramatically, and for once and for all identified the United States as the senior party in the imperialist alliance. Since then Britain has clung determinedly to the Americans’ coat tails, as their most loyal lieutenant and supporter.
Britain had entered the Korean War a few years previously to cement their alliance with the USA, the first time in centuries that British troops had been deployed in a conflict of no strategic interest to it, but entirely to support US policy. Some British politicians including Churchill had hoped it would be a partnership of equals, with British know-how and experience supplementing US strength and power, but Suez revealed them for the pipe-dreams they were.

Stop US nukes coming to Lakenheath!

by New Worker correspondent

London comrades travelled to Suffolk last month to join hundreds of other anti-war campaigners outside the Lakenheath airbase in Suffolk on Saturday 20th May. The demonstrators were protesting against the return of US nuclear bombs to UK soil for the first time since 2008.
    RAF Lakenheath is run by the Americans, who have recently added the UK to a list of NATO nuclear weapons storage locations in Europe being upgraded under a multi-million-dollar infrastructure programme. This means that US nuclear weapons will be returning to RAF Lakenheath.
     Cumbria and Lancashire CND spokesperson, Philip Gilligan, who travelled to the protest on Saturday, told the media that: "The last thing the world needs at the moment is an escalation in nuclear sabre rattling. We need to be de-escalating the nuclear rhetoric, not importing more nuclear weapons of mass destruction to our shores. Doing so would not only add further instability to an already very dangerous international situation but would also increase the risks of a nuclear accident on British soil."
    The Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, which organised the protest, has condemned the return of US nuclear weapons to Lakenheath and has launched a campaign to stop this extremely dangerous and destabilising development.
    CND General Secretary Kate Hudson said: “The siting of these upgraded guided nuclear bombs at Lakenheath is not just a matter of concern for the people of East Anglia, but for the entire country as it makes Britain a clear target in any nuclear confrontation between Russia and the USA. The aircraft used to deliver these bombs, the F-35, is also a significant polluter to the local area with one tank of fuel emitting the equivalent of 28 metric tons of carbon dioxide. The F-35 programme has also been plagued with technical problems which remain unsolved and pose a serious accident risk. We’re calling on the British government to deny any US request to site B61-12s at Lakenheath and to engage in serious efforts to de-escalate tensions between nuclear-armed states.”
    Dutch peace campaigner Guido van Leemput added that: “A new nuclear arms race is coming. Russia wants to station nuclear weapons in Belarus and the USA is going to deploy its upgraded B61-12 guided nuclear bomb across Europe, at Volkel Air Base in the Netherlands and possibly at Lakenheath. It’s necessary to speak out loudly about the modernisation of nuclear weapons as part of a European-wide voice for peace.”
    CND says: “US nuclear weapons look set to return to RAF Lakenheath, a base in the UK that is run by the US. Their return will only increase global tensions and put Britain on the frontline in a NATO/Russia war.
    “The UK government can stop this from happening. If we show enough public resistance we can press them to reject these plans and prevent these terrible weapons from making us a target.
    “The US Department of Defense has added the UK to a list of NATO nuclear weapons storage locations in Europe being upgraded under a multi-million-dollar infrastructure programme. This means that US nuclear weapons will be coming to RAF Lakenheath.
    “110 nuclear bombs were stored at the airbase but they were removed by 2008 following persistent popular protest. Without public opposition, led by CND, they would still be here today. We stopped these weapons before – will you help us stop them again?”