Pro-Palestinian activists break into UK's biggest air base in startling security breach
Advertisement
In a statement, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer called the incident 'disgraceful,' saying: 'Our Armed Forces represent the very best of Britain and put their lives on the line for us every day. It is our responsibility to support those who defend us.'
Palestine Action has carried out a series of acts of vandalism at high-profile and supposedly secure locations, including defense manufacturers.
Thames Valley Police, the force responsible for the area, said in a statement that officers were working with the Ministry of Defense and the RAF to investigate. Inquiries 'are ongoing to locate and arrest those responsible,' the force noted.
In a statement, the Ministry of Defense said, 'We strongly condemn this vandalism of Royal Air Force assets. We are working closely with the police who are investigating.'
Advertisement
The ministry did not immediately respond to a question on whether it would open a review of security at the site.
Grant Shapps, a former British defense secretary, wrote on social media that there needed to be a 'full security review.'
'Storming an RAF base isn't protest — it's a national security breach,' he wrote. 'The blame lies squarely with these reckless activists, but ministers must now explain how on earth it was allowed to happen.'
In its statement Friday, Palestine Action claimed the targeted planes 'can carry military cargo and are used to refuel' military aircraft, including fighter jets, from the British and Israeli militaries.
But Greg Bagwell, a former senior RAF commander and a fellow at the Royal United Services Institute, said the planes damaged by the group were incompatible with Israeli fighter aircraft and could not be used to refuel them.
'They couldn't have gotten a more wrong aircraft,' he said in an interview. 'They have targeted aircraft that are not the aircraft they think they are.'
The Israeli air force flies American-built fighter planes such as the F-15, the F-16, and the F-35A, Bagwell said, all of which can only be fueled with a boom-style method that is not used by the planes that were damaged Friday.
Palestine Action has previously conducted vandalism and protests at sites in Britain that are operated by Israeli weapons manufacturer Elbit Systems and at companies with links to that firm, and also at other defense companies.
Several activists have been prosecuted over the protests, including five people who were imprisoned last year for causing about $1.3 million of damage to a weapons equipment factory in Glasgow, Scotland, in June 2022.
Advertisement
Britain's largest RAF base, Brize Norton houses about 5,800 service personnel, 300 civilian staff members, and 1,200 contractors.
Bagwell said he believed many military bases around the world were vulnerable to the kind of intrusion the group made Friday.
'Airfields are large pieces of real estate that have miles of fence line,' he said. 'It's not an easy piece of territory to protect everywhere. Anybody with a wire cutter or ladders could be able to get in.'
Adding more human protection or electronic monitoring along every part of a major military base like Brize Norton would be very expensive. But Bagwell said officials needed to take the risk seriously.
He said the breach showed that it would not have been difficult for terrorists or agents of a foreign government to have done something more sinister at the base.
'It was exactly the sort of activity that the likes of Russia and Iran would like to promote,' he said. 'This time it was a protester, but next time it could be someone who was doing something on behalf of others.'
This article originally appeared in
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
16 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Republicans 'protect' kids by banning gender-affirming care. What about guns?
Editor's note: Letters to the editor reflect the views of individual readers. Scroll to see how you can add your voice, whether you agree or disagree, or click on this link to fill out the form. We welcome diverse viewpoints. There seems to be no limit to the growing Republican capacity for dishonesty and hypocrisy. They are all for "freedom" for almost any citizen to carry the AR-15 (which received glowing reviews in Vietnam for its lethality). Yet, if someone wants freedom Republicans interpret as "sexual," they're perceived as being "all in your face." Opinion: Tennesseans have different views on guns, but here's how we know solutions are possible Republicans claim they are "protecting" kids who are bullied and ostracized daily — by further ostracizing them. But protect them from a flood of firearms? Don't bother to General Skrmetti and Governor Bill Lee are slapping each other's backs because our Supreme "Free Vacations!" Court let them deny healthcare to trans kids. Yet the same kinds of healthcare are available to heterosexual kids if they "identify" as the right kind of person. The 'genital mutilation surgery' for minors was a scare tactic; it never happened. However, heterosexual girls can get breast surgeries with parental consent. You know, to help with their "identity." Any heterosexual kid can, for different conditions, get the same drugs that are part of gender-affirming care. This is a clear "equal protection" violation, proving the Supreme Court's right-wingers are actively biased. Republicans love to talk about "common sense," which is really just "things we've never questioned." Opinion: Tennessee Republicans can't run on their record. They're running against reality Biology shows that genetic and hormonal variations exist beyond the male/female division, despite "common sense." These variations expose the bigotry hidden behind the simplistic gender definitions that allow Skrmetti and Lee to comfortably deny the experts — and Carls, Nashville 37221 Agree or disagree? Or have a view on another topic entirely? Send a letter of 250 words or fewer to letters@ Include your full name, city/town, ZIP and contact information for verification. Thanks for adding to the public conversation. This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Protect kids by banning guns, not trans youth healthcare | Letters
CNBC
18 minutes ago
- CNBC
How regime change in Iran could affect global oil prices
Senior Israeli officials said this week that their military campaign against Iran could trigger the fall of the regime, an event that would have enormous implications for the global oil market. The oil market has reacted with remarkable restraint as Israel has bombed the third-largest crude producer in OPEC for eight straight days, with no clear sign the conflict will end anytime soon. Oil prices are up about 10% since Israel launched its attack on Iran a week ago, but with oil supplies so far undisturbed, both U.S. crude oil and the global benchmark Brent remain below $80 per barrel. Still, the risk of a supply disruption that triggers a big spike in prices is growing the longer the conflict rages on, according to energy analysts. President Donald Trump has threatened the life of Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and is considering helping Israel destroy the Islamic Republic's nuclear program. For its part, Iran's leadership is more likely to target regional oil facilities if it feels its very existence is at stake, the analysts said. Israel's primary aim is to degrade Iran's nuclear program, said Scott Modell, CEO of the consulting firm Rapidan Energy Group. But Jerusalem also appears to have a secondary goal of damaging Iran's security establishment to such an extent that the country's domestic opposition can rise up against the regime, Modell said. "They're not calling it regime change from without, they're calling it regime change from within," said Modell, a former CIA officer and Iran expert who served in the Middle East. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu denies that regime change is Israel's official goal, telling a public broadcaster on Thursday that domestic governance is an internal Iranian decision. But the prime minister ascknowledged Khamenei's regime could fall as a consequence of the conflict. Defense Minister Israel Katz on Friday ordered Israel's military to intensify strikes on Iran with a goal to "destabilize the regime" by attacking the "foundations of its power." Israel reportedly sought to kill Khamenei in the opening days of its campaign, but Trump vetoed the plan. There are no signs that the regime in Iran is on the verge of collapse, Modell said. But further political destabilization in Iran "could lead to significantly higher oil prices sustained over extended periods," said Natasha Kaneva, head of global commodities research at JPMorgan, in a note to clients this week. There have been eight cases of regime change in major oil producing countries since 1979, according to JPMorgan. Oil prices spiked 76% on average at their peak in the wake of these changes, before pulling back to stabilize at a price about 30% higher compared to pre-crisis levels, according to the bank. For example, oil prices nearly tripled from mid-1979 to mid-1980 after the Iranian revolution deposed the Shah and brought the Islamic Republic to power, according to JPMorgan. That triggered a worldwide economic recession. More recently, the revolution in Libya that overthrew Muammar Gaddafi jolted oil prices from $93 per barrel in January 2011 to $130 per barrel by April that year, according to JPMorgan. That price spike coincided with the European debt crisis and nearly caused a global recession, according to the bank. Regime change in Iran would have a much bigger impact on the global oil market than the 2011 revolution in Libya because Iran is far bigger producer, Modell said. "We would need to see some strong indicators that the state is coming to a halt, that regime change is starting to look real before the market would really start pricing in three plus million barrels a day going offline," Modell said. If the regime in Iran believes it is facing an existential crisis, it could use its stockpile of short-range missiles to target energy facilities in the region and oil tankers in the Persian Gulf, said Helima Croft, head of global commodity strategy at RBC Capital Markets. Tehran could also try to mine the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow body of water between Iran and Oman through which about 20% of the world's oil flows, Croft said. "We're already getting reports that Iran is jamming ship transponders very, very aggressively," Croft told CNBC's "Fast Money" on Wednesday. QatarEnergy and the Greek Shipping Ministry have already warned their vessels to avoid the strait as much as possible, Croft said. "These are not calm waters even though we have not had missiles flying in the straits," she said. Rapidan sees a 70% chance the U.S. will join Israeli airstrikes against Iran's nuclear facilities. Oil prices would probably rally $4 to $6 per barrel if Iran's key uranium enrichment facility at Fordow is hit, Modell said. Iran will likely respond in a limited fashion to ensure the regime's survival, he said. But there is also a 30% risk of Iran disrupting energy supplies by retaliating against infrastructure in the Gulf or vessels in the Strait of Hormuz, according to Rapidan. Oil prices could surge above $100 per barrel if Iran fully mobilizes to disrupt shipping in the strait, according to the firm. "They could disrupt, in our view, shipping through Hormuz by a lot longer than the market thinks," said Bob Bob McNally, Rapidan's founder and former energy advisor to President George W. Bush. Shipping could be interrupted for weeks or months, McNally said, rather than the oil market's view that the United States Fifth Fleet, based in Bahrain, would resolve the situation in hours or days. "It would not be a cakewalk," he said.
Yahoo
29 minutes ago
- Yahoo
More than 400 migrants arrive in the UK crossing the Channel in small boats
More than 400 further migrants have arrived in the UK having crossed the Channel in small boats despite the French police taking a tougher stance to control the departures. According to Home Office figures, 437 people made the crossing on Friday June 20 in seven boats, bringing the total for the year so far to 17,817. This compares to 12,313 by the same date in 2024 and 10,518 in 2023 while 11,690 had made the crossing by June 20 in 2022. The latest arrivals come after Sir Keir Starmer said the situation was 'deteriorating' and threatened a visa crackdown. The Prime Minister signalled that countries which did not do enough to tackle the irregular migration crisis, for example by taking back failed asylum seekers, could face repercussions in the numbers of visas issued to their citizens. Sir Keir's message came as French police were seen to employ more robust tactics on the beaches this week including using teargas. But they were also seen to stand by and watch once migrants had entered the water to board a dinghy in the hope of crossing the English Channel.
