Fairford Action Update

July 4th Fairford Air Base – calling for Independence from the USA

Independence Day at Fairford

Many thanks to everyone who joined us at Fairford air base on 4 July to mark the 250th anniversary of the US Declaration of Independence. We read out a Declaration of Independence from America (based on wording adapted from the original Declaration of Independence by the Menwith Hill Accountability Campaign) and attempted to hand in a letter to the base commander. The gate guards were reluctant to accept it so it has now been posted to the base.  

Declaring independence!

Sophie Bolt from the Campaign from Nuclear Disarmament spoke about the politics of US bases and Nuala Young of Oxfordshire Peace Campaign told us a little about the history of US military forces at Fairford.

You can see a collection of photos from the demonstration on our Flickr page here.

Parallel demonstrations took place at the same time at the US air base at Lakenheath in Suffolk and the Menwith Hill US spy base in Yorkshire.

Although all the B52 bombers which flew during the US attacks on Iran have now left Fairford, along with some of the B1 bombers, 11 B1s are still based at Fairford. The word among plane spotters is that “they are in no hurry to leave”.

Swindon drones campaign

Several military drone manufacturers are setting up factories in Swindon, and the Ministry of Defence recently announced the opening of a major new military drone testing centre in Swindon. The local Labour MP, Will Stone, and the local council are pushing hard for Swindon to become a national centre for the development of military drones.

Local resident Joe Haney has set up a petition opposing the development of military drones in Swindon.  Please add your name here.

Keep an eye out for details of a new group campaigning against the military drone industry in Swindon in our next mailout, and put the evening of Tuesday 21 July in your diary, when we are hoping to arrange an open meeting in Swindon.   More to follow.

Work is now well underway to set up a new Fairford Action network to campaign on issues relating to Fairford air base.  As part of this we will be setting up a new, separate email list for the Fairford Action campaign, and we will be transferring email addresses on this mailgroup, originally set up by Drone Wars UK (which we’ve used to send you this message) to Fairford Action.   

If you’re happy to receive occasional emails from Fairford Action, as well as even more occasional emails specifically about drones at Fairford from Drone Wars, you don’t need to do anything. If you have concerns about this and would like to leave either or both mailgroups please let us know by contacting [email protected] and we’ll remove your name according to your instructions.

If you’d like to play a role in setting up or campaigning with Fairford Action please also contact us and we’ll invite you to join our working group (see below).

We are looking for people who may be able to support us over the coming months as we set up a greater Alliance of groups at Fairford Action. In particular we are seeking people within our networks who have some time available soon to support with the following:

• Website design and upkeep

• Social media and communications

If you are able to help please drop an email to [email protected]

We  see the immense value in the above skills and know that there is a higher level  of commitment as well as workload in these areas. Sadly can’t offer financial  support at this moment in time but will be looking into funding options to  support such integral and continuous roles if needed to allow someone committed  to the campaign and skilled to do the role.