Cambridge groups at RAF Lakenheath peace camp as US nuclear weapons fears grow
The focus on US nuclear weapons on British soil intensified this week with Cambridge choir Lefty Men Sing participating in a peace camp at RAF Lakenheath - where the weapons are allegedly due to be stored - and a Cambridge CND protest lined up for Saturday (19 April).
The groups have voiced concern that the UK population could be at risk from nuclear weapons stored on UK soil. While no formal confirmation has been released by either the US or UK governments, evidence points to potential preparations for the return of nuclear weapons to the Suffolk base, which previously hosted them until 2008.
And at this time of heightened nuclear dangers - and with a US administration showing scant regard for international norms - the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament has uncovered evidence that US military bases across Britain are exempt from UK emergency radiation regulations.
This means that bases like RAF Lakenheath, which is being prepared to host deadly new US nuclear weapons, is under no legal obligation to have emergency radiation plans in case of nuclear accidents.
There are at least 10,000 US Department of Defence personnel stationed at 13 RAF bases. Nuclear material for Britain’s own nuclear weapons programme is regularly transported through RAF Brize Norton and RAF Fairford regularly hosts the US B2 nuclear-capable stealth bomber.
And RAF Lakenheath - the largest US air base in Europe - is home to the 48th Fighter Wing of the USAF and is the base for more than 12,000 US and non-US personnel. The 48th Fighter Wing is capable of carrying and deploying nuclear weapons. Specifically, the F-35A Lightning II aircraft, which are part of the squadron, are certified to carry the B61-12 thermonuclear bomb.
A recently declassified exemption order suggests that the government is putting ‘national security’ before people’s safety. A letter from CND’s lawyers Leigh Day forced the Ministry of Defence to declassify a nationwide exemption certificate, issued in March 2021 by former Defence Secretary, Ben Wallace, on the grounds of ‘national security’.
The certificate exempts visiting forces – primarily US military personnel - engaged in work with ionising radiations, from any legal enforcement of safety standards, using powers under Regulation 40 of the Ionising Radiations Regulations 2017 and Regulation 25 of the Radiation (Emergency Preparedness and Public Information) Regulation 2019. This means they are not legally bound to have in place plans and measures for emergency situations involving radioactive materials and nuclear weapons.
CND is calling on Prime Minister Keir Starmer to announce in Parliament that no US nuclear weapons will be welcomed in Britain and that the exemption on adhering to legally required safety standards is revoked.
Protesters set up a 12-day peace camp which began on Monday (14 April) and runs until 26 April to highlight the issue. Lefty Men Sing, the Cambridge choir, attended the base yesterday. The protest saw around 100 singers and campaigners in attendance from across the UK.
Terry Macalister from Lefty Men Sing told the Cambridge Independent: “Our Lefty Men Sing choir was delighted to be part of the special ‘choir day’ organised by the Lakenheath Alliance for Peace coalition made up of 60 UK and international peace groups.
“Growing militarism in the UK, US and globally is being dressed up in a mask of defensive need but is actually a threat to our wellbeing.
“The potential arrival of nuclear weapons in Cambridgeshire is not something we should welcome or accept.
“It was obvious from the public and friendly waving and honking of horns from passing motorists that there is widespread support for the peace camp and concern about military build up and the horrible threat of atomic war and any repeat of Hiroshima.”
Other choirs involved included Common Lot Singers, Norwich, Well Red, London and Protest in Harmony, Edinburgh plus Sheffield Creative Action for Peace, Seize the Day and Oxford Sea Green Singers.
On Saturday (19 April) members of Cambridge CND are travelling to the peace camp at the base to protest against the return of nuclear bombs to the base there. The camp at the base is the biggest demonstration against US nuclear weapons in the East of England for many years.
A Ministry of Defence spokesperson, speaking on radiation emergency preparedness and public information regulations, said: “When exemptions from any statutory regulations are granted to His Majesty’s Forces (or Visiting Forces) for national security reasons, the policy of the Secretary of State for Defence is that arrangements are maintained that produce, so far as reasonably practicable, outcomes at least as good as those required by UK legislation. This commitment extends to exemptions related to ionising radiation work.”
The next protest, a blockade, takes place on April 26.
