Public outcry as government expands Britain’s nuclear arsenal.
Campaigners will descend on RAF Marham this Saturday 28 June, to protest the government’s decision to purchase 12 nuclear-capable F-35A fighter jets, which are to be stationed at the Norfolk airbase. The move, which was announced during the NATO summit and brokered with US President Donald Trump, has sparked fierce opposition from peace groups, disarmament campaigners and local communities.
The F-35A jets are designed to carry the US-made B61-12 nuclear bomb, a so-called “tactical” nuclear weapon with a blast capacity capable of killing up to 600,000 people. These bombs may now be deployed not only at RAF Lakenheath in Suffolk, but potentially at RAF Marham itself, dragging Britain deeper into US nuclear war planning and placing the British public on the nuclear frontline.
Without any parliamentary debate, the government will be spending millions on these nuclear jets. Estimates put the purchase cost at about $80 million per jet. Operating and maintenance costs, according to US Airforce figures, amount to $6.6 million per jet annually. If RAF Marham is upgraded to house US nuclear weapons, this would incur substantial costs.
The protest – taking place at 1pm outside the base’s main gate – will feature speakers, banners and a ‘Stop Starmer the Nuclear Rearmer’ stunt – to draw attention to this reckless nuclear escalation and its devastating consequences for global peace and public safety.
CND General Secretary, Sophie Bolt said: “This is a dangerous direction for the UK government. This is nuclear escalation, not defence.
“It’s a massive and alarming expansion of Britain’s nuclear capability—carried out without public consultation or parliamentary debate.
“In the middle of a cost-of-living crisis, when people are struggling to afford the basics, the government is spending billions on new nuclear bombers while cutting public services, the NHS, and social care.
“This has nothing to do with protecting the British public, and everything to do with fuelling Trump’s global war agenda. It will not keep us safe—it puts us in greater danger.”
The government’s decision breaches Britain’s obligations under the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, which commits signatories to nuclear disarmament in good faith. It also comes at a time of unprecedented global instability, with conflicts raging in Ukraine and the Middle East.
Public opposition to nuclear weapons has a long history. Decades of campaigning at Greenham Common and Lakenheath forced the withdraw of US nuclear weapons in the past. Protesters are determined to do it again.