In the UK, the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) held a well-attended conference on 22 November under the title Stop British nuclear expansion: how to reverse the government’s war drive.
US nuclear weapons were stored in Britain between 1954 and 2008, CND says, ‘until they were removed following popular protests’. However, in 2022 the UK was added to a NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organisation) list of nuclear weapons storage locations. This would make the UK the sixth European NATO member to store US nuclear weapons. CND ‘calls on the government to make an urgent formal statement on their return and allow for a transparent debate and vote in Parliament. Stationing these bombs here makes Britain a target in the event of a war between NATO and Russia. CND supporters have repeatedly protested at RAF Lakenheath and across the country since we first heard about the possibility of US nuclear weapons coming to Britain and we will continue to do so.’
CND has also publicised a new report from the Public Accounts Committee, which oversees the UK government’s spending, that the costing for Britain’s F-35 jet plane programme, which includes 12 nuclear-capable F-35As, announced by Keir Starmer during the summer, is unrealistic. The National Audit Office calculated the full programme at £71 billion. However, this does not take into consideration the additional costs associated with the certification of the F-35A jets for NATO nuclear missions, so the figure will certainly increase.
