You hopefully already know that the UK plans to join NATO’s nuclear-sharing mission by purchasing US fighter jets to carry US nuclear weapons. There have even been strong indications that these bombs may already have returned to RAF Lakenheath for the first time since 2008.
But recently, this same airbase was the subject of a major scandal. This involves disturbing stories about how US personnel who commit crimes in the UK avoid the British court system, and instead are frequently tried by US court martial (military court).
The recent case of Sarah Steele, published recently by The Guardian, exemplifies this highly troubling dynamic. Steele credibly alleged to have been sexually assaulted and strangled by US airman, Capt. Jacob Wulfson, at his apartment in Cambridge in December 2023.
However, this case was not tried in a British court, despite the incident having taken place in Cambridge.
Crimes by US military personnel committed in Britain often avoid the UK court system due to the obscure 1951 “Status of Forces” arrangement. UK courts have frequently abdicated their right to take jurisdiction over crimes committed off-base, on British soil, involving victims that are British citizens.
These revelations raise serious questions about the domestic and international legal accountability of US personnel in the UK.
We know the US Air Force staged direct attacks on Iran from RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire, directly implicating Britain in a disastrous war that resulted in enormous destruction and likely thousands of deaths. Hundreds of US aircraft transited through the UK in the run-up to the attacks, even using Scottish airports.
We also know, thanks to documents declassified by the efforts of UK CND, that former Defence Secretary Ben Wallace signed an agreement exempting visiting forces from UK nuclear safety regulations across bases in Britain.
So while the national discourse is focused on a potential US ‘withdrawal’ from Europe, the US military integration into the UK is arguably deepening, exemplified by the RAF adopting NATO nuclear bombs, the continued dependency on US support for Trident and Air Force personnel returning to RAF Lossiemouth in Scotland.
Yet recent events show that the US military in the UK do not necessarily serve our national interest, and indeed enjoy legal impunity at many levels. Aside from a major judicial and democratic deficit, this surely has serious national security implications at a time in which we expect US nuclear bombs to be stationed in England.
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Finally, we’d like you to know that we are supporting Dove Tales Scotland‘s poetry competition, deadline 1st August, and would like to encourage entries!
Dove Tales poetry competition is in memory of the late Robin Lloyd-Jones. Robin was an environmentalist and peace campaigner who served on the boards of many peace groups and founded Autumn Voices, an organisation fostering creativity in older people.
The subject offers wide scope. Your poem can be about the terrible destruction war wreaks on the landscape, or it can focus on the greed of the warmongers, the politics of war, or personal responses to damaged landscapes. People talk about climate change being driven by greenhouse gases and industry but there is little discussion of the impact of war and the weapons industry and we would like to change that.
Click here for entry criteria and information.