nuclear-news

RAF Lakenheath protest to make airbase nuclear-free zone

By Tom Cann, TomCann97, Community Report, 12 May, https://www.eadt.co.uk/news/24314379.raf-lakenheath-protest-make-airbase-nuclear-free-zone/

Residents and local councillors from across East Anglia came together to protest against the US plans to station nuclear weapons at an air base in Suffolk.

Protestors and activists went to RAF Lakenheath to declare the site a nuclear-free zone.

In January, it was revealed that the US was planning to put warheads three times as strong as the Hiroshima bomb at RAF Lakenheath.

They previously stationed nuclear missiles at the site but these were removed in 2008 when the Cold War threat from Moscow had receded.

The Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) lead a nationwide day of action on May 11.

A declaration was read out in front of the base, calling on the British government to work for global nuclear disarmament by refusing delivery of any US nuclear weapons and instead making Lakenheath a nuclear-free zone.

Sophie Bolt, from CND, said: “We know that US plans to deploy its nuclear bombs here at Lakenheath.

“This will not make us safer, but – on the contrary – make the world far more dangerous.

“With tensions still dangerously high between NATO and Russia, siting these weapons of mass destruction in Britain puts us all on the frontline of a nuclear war.”

Previously, an RAF Lakenheath spokesman said: “We recognise and support the right to peaceful protest as a fundamental aspect of a democratic society, however, it’s a long standing Ministry of Defence policy that we do not discuss the location or status of nuclear weapons.”

Activists plan more protests in July.

May 14, 2024 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | opposition to nuclear, UK