From END Info 35

The Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (UK) converged at the main gates of USAF Lakenheath, Suffolk, on Saturday 19 November to protest plans to station US nuclear weapons. This was the second protest this year, following revelations about US military spending on nuclear storage sites.

CND General Secretary, Kate Hudson, said:

“The return of US nuclear bombs to Britain and the spending of millions of dollars on upgrading NATO bases across Europe only undermines further the possibility of lasting global peace and security. The US is the only country to host nuclear weapons in other countries and appears willing to sacrifice these hosts in the event of a nuclear war with Russia.

Whether it’s the UK’s own nuclear weapons in Scotland or US ones in Suffolk, the presence of nukes in Britain doesn’t make us any safer – they make us a target. CND’s message is loud and clear: US nuclear weapons are not welcome back in Britain, and we will campaign with all our might to stop them.”

The following text is a transcript of the speech delivered by Tom Unterrainer, Chair of CND, at the most recent protest.

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Nuclear weapons cannot ‘ensure security’

Welcome - I’m not sure that’s the right word - to USAF Lakenheath: ‘Home of the Liberty Wing’ where they are ‘Always Ready to Own the Skies’. Always ready to own the skies! What do they mean? How are they planning to ‘own the skies’? With what? By what means? Isn’t that message actually just a threat? It’s a threat here and it’s a threat across the world. What they mean by ‘own the skies’ and ‘liberty’ is the right of the United States of America and their allies in the nuclear-armed NATO alliance to station their machines of death, their weapons of megadeath, anywhere they want to, at any time, without taking notice of opposition, without any democratic process, without consultation or deliberation.

What is happening beyond the main gates of Lakenheath is terrifying. The F-35 nuclear-capable planes are already stationed here. For what purpose? For one purpose alone: to carry and at the orders of the United States President to drop the new B-61 range of nuclear bombs, which are on their way to Lakenheath and to sites across Europe.

Nobody asked us if we wanted these US weapons of mass-murder back and we are here to say that we do not want them back, we wanted USAF Lakenheath closed, we want their warplanes out of this country and we’re going to build a movement to make sure that their machines of death do not return here.

The United States, along with NATO allies, are expanding the nuclear bootprint. That’s what is happening at Lakenheath and that’s what is happening in Belgium, The Netherlands, Germany, Italy and goodness knows where else in Europe.

They’re expanding their nuclear bootprint because - or so they tell us - these machines of megadeath “ensure our security”. They say that they make us safer. They say that they protect us. Well hear this: these people think that threatening to murder millions of people is security. Against that claim, we say: we need real security, common security. That means halting re-militarisation, it means stopping the expansion of the nuclear bootprint and for us, here, it means building the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, building the peace movements, building the anti-war movement, building the movements and ideas that represent real security in these extremely dangerous times.

Dangerous times they are! We are at a closer point than we have been for six decades to nuclear confrontation either by accident or by design. Nuclear tensions are incredibly sharp. But rather than try to reduce these tensions, rather than try to dial-down the risk and dial-down the danger untold billions will be spent on making the situation even worse.

Billions are to be spent on new weapons of death. Billions on new tanks. Billions on new machines of warfare.

But you cannot feed people with missiles. You cannot home people in tanks. You cannot educate people with weapons of mass destruction. You cannot make people secure with more military spending. You cannot make people more secure with nuclear threats.

Our job is to raise the alarm about what is happening at Lakenheath. Spread our messages and build the biggest campaign we can in opposition and to make sure that real security - common security - is put back on the agenda.