It has been a busy – and incredibly worrying – few weeks for nuclear-related news. Although not confirmed by the government, it is believed that US nuclear weapons are now on British soil for the first time in two decades, a move that puts us on the nuclear front line of any American/Russian war. These are dangerous times.
After years of speculation about the possible return of US nuclear weapons to Britain, last month a transport plane was tracked heading from Kirtland Air Force Base in New Mexico, the US Air Force’s main nuclear storage site, to RAF Lakenheath in Suffolk. Campaign group Nukewatch monitored the journey and believe that B61-12 nuclear bombs are now deployed at Lakenheath, nominally an RAF base that is actually run by the Americans.
This news comes following a parallel announcement that Britain is purchasing 12 F-35A fighter jets which will be available to fly any NATO ‘nuclear mission’, with the Ministry of Defence confirming that the RAF will have a nuclear role for the first time in decades. However, while British pilots will fly the British-bought planes, the bombs used will be American – possibly the ones just arrived at Lakenheath – and the decision on whether to fire these weapons of mass destruction will be down to the US, and their not so trustworthy President Donald Trump.
The nuclear-capable aircraft will cost between $80 to $100 million each, with a further $6.6 million per jet to be spent annually to maintain and operate. In the middle of a cost-of-living crisis, it is ludicrous that the government can justify spending billions of pounds on new nuclear bombers while cutting public services, the NHS, and social care.
The news of the US bombs landing in Britain is only known thanks to campaigners, with the government yet to comment. CND is calling on the government to make an urgent formal statement and allow for a transparent debate and vote in Parliament, rather than just ramming through its militarist agenda without any consultation with the public they are supposed to represent the wishes of. Politicians from all parties have been asking questions about the clandestine way that the UK will be used as a part of another country’s war machine apparatus. Polling from May found that 61% of people in Britain don’t want US nuclear weapons here.
And for good reason. Having US nuclear weapons in the UK undermines our safety by making a nuclear attack on us more likely. In a nuclear conflict, it is probable that Lakenheath would be targeted, followed by strikes on cities across the country.
As well as the fact that we could now be caught in the crosshairs of any nuclear conflict involving the US, having these bombs in Suffolk poses a threat of a radioactive accident which could impact the whole country.
Earlier this year, CND uncovered declassified Ministry of Defence documents which give US Visiting Forces across Britain an exemption from British nuclear safety regulations. This exemption means that local councils will never be told about the presence of nuclear weapons at these bases – and are therefore not obliged to produce their own emergency plans for a radiological accident. So what happens if something does go wrong?
There have been at least two major incidents involving nuclear weapons at Lakenheath in the past. 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 none of the bombs detonated, and that ‘it is possible that a part of Eastern England would have become a desert’. Five years later, an aeroplane loaded with a nuclear bomb caught fire following pilot error. The bomb was ‘scorched and blistered’, and scientists later discovered it could have detonated in slightly different circumstances.
Both incidents were covered up by the US and British governments for years.
And what of the nature of this model of nuclear weapon itself? The B61-12s actually increase the risk of nuclear war as they have been designed by the US specifically for use on the battlefield alongside conventional weapons. This particular bomb is referred to as ‘tactical’ because it has ‘less’ destructive power than other nuclear weapons. But one bomb can kill over 600,000 people and release toxic radiation.
The UK is once again a nuclear base for the US, hosting these sinister weapons – marking a major increase in NATO’s capacity to wage nuclear war in Europe. The return of the warheads will increase global tensions and put Britain on the front line in a NATO/Russia war.
Join the campaign to send the bombs back, to stop Britain purchasing nuclear-capable fighter jets and to scrap Britain’s nuclear weapons system altogether. Campaigners have forced the US to withdraw their nuclear weapons before, and we’ll do it again.