CND to protest return of US nuclear weapons to Britain ahead of US presidential election

The Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) and supporters will mobilise at RAF Lakenheath on Saturday, 2 November, to oppose plans to station US nuclear weapons in Britain for the first time since 2008. This will be CND’s fourth national mobilisation at RAF Lakenheath since 2022, after US government budget documents revealed plans for upgrade works at the US-run air base for the storage of the new B61-12 guided nuclear bomb.

With the US presidential election to take place just days later, the protest aims to highlight the significant impact of US foreign and military policy on the British public, and the increased nuclear dangers brought by deploying its nuclear weapons in Britain – by whoever wins the White House. Attendees will also witness an unofficial declaration of Lakenheath as a nuclear-free zone, and calls for both the UK and other nuclear weapons states to engage with the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.

CND will be joined by Melissa Parke, Executive Director of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), the organisation that won the 2017 Nobel Peace Prize. Melissa will speak about nuclear dangers in Europe. Other speakers include: Jenny Jones, Green Party peer, Catherine Rowett, former Green MEP; Bimal Khadka, MedAct; Kirsten Bayes, Campaign Against Arms Trade; and Peter Burt, Nukewatch.

• Saturday, 2 November
• 12 noon to 3pm
• RAF Lakenheath Main Gate, Brandon Road, Lakenheath, Suffolk.* More details on parking can be found on the CND website here.

CND General Secretary Kate Hudson said:

“As we gather at RAF Lakenheath to protest the return of US nuclear weapons to Britain, we stand united in our commitment to a nuclear-free future. This demonstration is not just about local concerns; it resonates on a global scale, especially with the upcoming US presidential election. The decisions made in Washington have profound implications for peace and security – be they here in Britain, or elsewhere like Ukraine, the Middle East, and the Indo-Pacific. We urge everyone to join us in sending a clear message that nuclear weapons have no place in our society nor in building genuine security for all.”

Melissa Parke, Executive Director of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons said:

“Whether it’s the United States deploying its bombs at Lakenheath, or across the North Sea in Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany – not to mention Italy and Türkiye – or whether it’s Russia putting its weapons in Belarus, having more nuclear weapons in more countries increases the likelihood they will be used and that threatens all of us wherever we are in the world. Real security doesn’t lie in nuclear weapons, it lies in getting rid of them and the way to do that is to join the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons which the majority of countries support.”

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