Campaigners call for emergency plans at Lakenheath
Quaker Lesley Grahame has called on the new Labour government to reconsider signing the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons
A Norwich Friend has called on the new Labour government to reconsider signing the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.
The call was made by Lesley Grahame, former Green Party councillor, in warnings against the return of nuclear weapons to RAF Lakenheath. ‘Nuclear weapons in our zone of interest carry a high risk of accident, make us a target for attack, and risk setting off a chain of catastrophic revenge events,’ said Lesley Grahame, who co-founded the Lakenheath Alliance for Peace (LAP), which has been witnessing against the weapons at the base. ‘The days of mutually-assured destruction between just two nuclear powers are long gone. As well as US nuclear weapons in the US and in Europe, there are eight other nuclear weapon states: Russia, China, the UK, France, India, Pakistan, North Korea, and Israel. People seeking multilateral nuclear disarmament are engaging in diplomacy through treaties, such as the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, yet the UK has boycotted this to date. We can only hope that the new Labour government will reconsider.’
‘Tremendous heroism, good fortune and the will of God.’
What averted a nuclear accident in the UK in 1956, according to a USAF Lakenheath officer.
LAP has also been working with Nuclear Free Local Authorities (NFLA) over emergency planning issues, citing ‘real concerns’ about the possibility of an accident involving nuclear weapons at the base. These have been raised ‘at a high level’ with the Suffolk Resilience Forum and with the Ministry of Defence, asking that accident risks are ‘recognised and actively considered’ with emergency plans and exercises carried out to test responses. This includes the possibility of pre-distributing iodine tablets and instructions on evacuation procedures to the local population.
Richard Outram, secretary of NFLA, said: ‘Whilst this might seem fanciful, two such accidents have already happened at Lakenheath in the past – the first of which, in 1956, prompted a USAF officer to say that an accident involving a nuclear bomb ten times more powerful than that dropped on Hiroshima had only been averted by “a combination of tremendous heroism, good fortune and the will of God”. The NFLAs are gravely concerned that the county may not have such good fortune third time lucky.’
Following a two-week peace walk and camp in July, LAP has said that it will have ‘an ongoing presence’ at the base. In addition to monthly vigils, from 12-2pm on the last Saturday of each month (except December), LAP will hold a ten-day peace camp from 14-25 April 2025. The first vigil started last week.
