“Their return will increase global tensions and put Britain on the front line in any NATO/Russia war. In a nuclear conflict, it is probable Lakenheath would be targeted, followed by strikes across the country.”
By Matt Willgress
It is imperative as many voices as possible from across our labour and social movements oppose the return of US nuclear weapons to Britain – and join the CND demonstrations against this.
Recent reports confirmed plans to bring the new B61-12 nuclear bomb to the Lakenheath airbase are developing fast.
The Federation of American Scientists said US Air Force budget documents “strongly imply” Washington is in the process of re-establishing nuclear weapons here.
They express the need for a “surety dormitory”. As FAS notes, “surety” is a term used by US government to “refer to the capability to keep nuclear weapons safe, secure, and under positive control.”
This is an extremely dangerous development.
As CND’s Kate Hudson put it, “It’s increasingly clear Lakenheath is once again a vital cog in Washington’s overseas nuclear machine – despite refusals from the British government to acknowledge this reality. The deployment of the new B61-12 to Europe undermines any prospects for global peace and ensures Britain will be a target in a nuclear conflict between the US/NATO and Russia.”
CND have rightly called protests at Lakenheath and across the country – including a wave of activity last weekend and a demonstration outside the US embassy – to oppose the move. Further actions should be supported and built by the entire left.
The most obvious reason is that they make us all a target in any nuclear war. Their return will increase global tensions and put Britain on the front line in any NATO/Russia war. In a nuclear conflict, it is probable Lakenheath would be targeted, followed by strikes across the country.
If one Russian warhead was dropped on the centre of London, CND estimates almost a million people could die. A single nuclear strike would be catastrophic for any local community and environment.
There is also an issue of democratic self-governance here, as despite being called an RAF station, Lakenheath is run by the US Airforce and currently only hosts USAF units and personnel, with some dubbing it “USAF Lakenheath.”
And it’s not just Britain this effects. Approximately 150 American B61 nuclear gravity bombs are stationed in five European countries – Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands, Italy, and Turkey – representing the nuclear sharing arrangement which is part of NATO defence policy.
Before 2023, the US was the only country in the world to station nuclear weapons outside its borders. But then Russia completed a transfer of nuclear weapons to be stationed in Belarus, with Putin even likening the development to NATO’s nuclear-sharing arrangement. Both ‘arrangements’ are horrifying and must be utterly condemned.
CND have also said this is a case of ‘history repeating itself,’ as 110 nuclear bombs were stored at Lanenheath from 1954 but were removed in 2008.
In this period, CND arranged protests alongside the Lakenheath Action Group, including days of action where hundreds gathered. Direct action activists broke in and locked on to the gates of the ammunition depot, and international campaigning took place too.
It is important now to raise awareness of how at least two major incidents involving nuclear weapons are known to have happened.
In 1956 a B-47 bomber on a routine training mission crashed into a storage unit containing nuclear weapons, killing four servicemen. Official US documents declared it was a ‘miracle’ that no bomb detonated.
Five years later, an aeroplane loaded with a nuclear bomb caught fire. The bomb was ‘scorched and blistered’, and scientists discovered it could have detonated in slightly different circumstances.
Both incidents were covered up by the US and Britain, only being admitted in 1979 and 2003. This could happen again, with disastrous consequences.
So what next?
CND have repeatedly protested at Lakenheath, and are also legally challenging the development works.
It now says that “Millions mobilised across Europe against the imposition of cruise and Pershing missiles in the 1980s. We got rid of all those weapons then, and we must have the energy, the commitment, and the confidence to do that again.”
With no end in sight in the war in Ukraine, Putin’s moving of nukes to Belarus, the US upping its arsenal in Europe, and of course the possibility of Trump returning to the White House, the threat of nuclear war is the highest it has been for decades.
The return of US nuclear weapons to UK soil will only make this worse. Let’s join the demonstrations, build movements for peace, and back this vital campaign!
- You can find all upcoming events and actions from the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) here or by following them on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter/X.
- Members of Parliament have tabled Early Day Motion 98 calling on the government to decline to host US nuclear weapons at RAF Lakenheath and to use all possible diplomatic efforts to de-escalate current nuclear tensions. You can lobby your MP at here.
- You can sign the CND statement calling for no US nukes on UK soil here.
- If you support Labour Outlook’s work amplifying the voices of left movements and struggles here and internationally, please consider becoming a supporter on Patreon.
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