Pro-Palestinian activists infiltrate Britain's largest airbase in major security breach

Pro-Palestinian activists broke into Britain's largest air base and damaged two military aircraft in central England early Friday.
Palestine Action, a UK-based group that aims to disrupt the operations of weapons manufacturers supplying the Israeli government, posted footage of the action to its X account.
The video shows two people riding on electric scooters on the tarmac of RAF Brize Norton, in Oxfordshire.
The activists can be seen spraying red paint into the turbine engines of two Airbus Voyagers, which they said were targeted for their alleged role in carrying military cargo and for their use in refueling Israeli, American and British military aircraft and fighter jets.
'Britain isn't just complicit, it's an active participant in the Gaza genocide and war crimes across the Middle East,' a Palestine Action spokesperson said in a statement.
'By decommissioning two military planes, Palestine Action have directly intervened in the genocide and prevented crimes against the Palestinian people,' it added.
A Ministry of Defence source told CNN that RAF Voyagers do not carry anything for the Israeli forces or refuel Israeli aircraft.
The incident raises wider questions as to how the activists – who have not been apprehended – managed to get into the airbase undetected. RAF Brize Norton has approximately 5,800 service personnel, 300 civilian staff and 1,200 contractors.
In a statement, the Ministry of Defence strongly condemned the 'vandalism of Royal Air Force assets' and said that it was working with police who were investigating the breach.
In a statement posted to X, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer called the incident 'an act of vandalism' and said it was 'disgraceful.'

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Learn with AIFact CheckingText to SpeechAI Summary

Related Articles

Business Insider

2 hours ago

• Business Insider

The Israel-Iran conflict is likely bad news for Russia's reliance on Shahed drones, UK intel says

As aerial strikes between Iran and Israel continue, Russia may be feeling the ripple effects across the Black Sea. "The conflict will likely negatively impact the future provision of Iranian military equipment to Russia," the UK Ministry of Defence said in an intelligence update on Thursday. The UK MOD said that "Iran has supplied significant quantities of one-way attack uncrewed aerial systems" to Russia, as well as having provided "extensive support" to its production of these drones. For the Kremlin, the timing of the latest Middle East conflict isn't entirely unwelcome; with global attention shifting to the Iran-Israel standoff, pressure on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine could ease. However, the conflict could also spark long-term issues for Russia, which continues to depend on Iran for Shahed drones and their parts. Iran has also supplied Russia with ballistic missiles and other munitions, the MOD said. Iran's Shahed drones have become a key weapon in the war in Ukraine. The Shahed-136, an Iranian-designed weapon that Moscow now also produces, has been at the heart of Russia's drone attacks on Ukraine, being used against cities and critical infrastructure. These drones can fly at speeds of over 115 mph with a nearly 90-pound explosive warhead. It's not clear what percentage of the drones Russia now produces itself, and how much it still relies on those coming from Iran. Friends in need The war in Ukraine has dragged on for more than three years, with Western nations continuing to funnel weapons and aid to Kyiv. Meanwhile, Iran has been one of Russia's most important military partners, and Tehran has played a crucial role in helping Russia scale up its domestic drone production, providing both equipment and technical expertise. A wide-ranging strategic partnership deal signed between Russia and Iran in January strengthened cooperation in areas like defense, energy, and trade, but it didn't commit either side to come to the other's aid in a conflict. That stands in sharp contrast to Russia's mutual defense arrangements with countries like Belarus and North Korea. If Iran becomes increasingly bogged down in a direct confrontation with Israel, its ability to keep any supply lines open to Russia would likely be compromised. A full-blown war might stretch Iran's military production capacity or expose it to international sanctions and strikes that disrupt its defense industry sector. Russia has already been weaning itself off Iran's Shaheds. Business Insider has reported on multiple attempts by Russia to build Shahed-like drones domestically. These include Russia's Geran-2 drones, which are similar to Shahed-136s but made with different materials, researchers at Conflict Armament Research told The New York Times last year. For now, the Kremlin is staying quiet — a likely sign it's trying to keep its options open. But as the latest Middle East conflict heats up, Russia may soon find that one of its closest alliances is less helpful than it once was.

CNN

3 hours ago

• CNN

Britain's lawmakers vote to legalize assisted dying, a landmark move after a fraught national debate

Lawmakers in Britain have narrowly approved a bill to legalize assisted dying for terminally ill people, capping a fraught debate in Parliament and across the country that cut across political, religious and legal divides. MPs passed the bill by 314 votes to 291, in their final say on the question. The bill – which has split lawmakers and sparked impassioned conversations with their constituents the breadth of Britain – will now move to the House of Lords for its final rounds of scrutiny. Friday's vote puts Britain firmly on track to join a small club of nations that have legalized the process, and one of the largest by population to allow it. It allows people with a terminal condition and less than six months to live to take a substance to end their lives, as long as they are capable of making the decision themselves. Two doctors and a panel would need to sign off on the choice. Canada, New Zealand, Spain and most of Australia allow assisted dying in some form, as do several US states, including Oregon, Washington and California. Friday's vote in Parliament coincided with a charged public debate about whether the state should be dictating the choices available to Britons in the final moments of their lives. Proponents included Esther Rantzen, a BBC TV presenter with advanced lung cancer, who argued that the choice would save millions from unnecessary suffering. 'If we don't vote to change the law today, what does that mean?,' asked Kim Leadbeater, the MP who introduced the bill last year. 'It means we will have many more years of heartbreaking stories from terminally ill people and their families, of pain and trauma, suicide attempts, PTSD, lonely trips to (clinics in) Switzerland, police investigations.' The option, she said, is 'not a choice between living and dying: it is a choice for terminally ill people about how they die.' But opponents have criticized the bill on religious and ethical grounds, and raised issues with a legislative process they accuse of being opaque. Former British Prime Minister Gordon Brown argued that fixing Britain's strained end-of-live care system should be prioritized, writing in a rare intervention in The Guardian that the bill 'would privilege the legal right to assisted dying without guaranteeing anything approaching an equivalent right to high-quality palliative care for those close to death.' Seriously ill people 'need the health and social care system fixing first,' Labour MP Vicky Foxcroft said in Parliament Friday. 'They want us as parliamentarians to assist them to live, not to die.' Friday's debate was concluded with a free vote, meaning that MPs were allowed to decide for or against the bill according to their conscience, and free from any party-line whipping. The proposed bill is broadly in line with the Oregon model, and does not go as far as Switzerland, the Netherlands and Canada, which allow assisted death in cases of suffering, not just for terminally ill people. It differs from euthanasia, the process in which another person deliberately ends someone's life to relieve suffering. It is currently a crime to help somebody die in England and Wales, punishable by up to 14 years in prison. Performing euthanasia on a person, meanwhile, is considered murder or manslaughter.

CNN

3 hours ago

• CNN

Britain's lawmakers vote to legalize assisted dying, a landmark move after a fraught national debate

Lawmakers in Britain have narrowly approved a bill to legalize assisted dying for terminally ill people, capping a fraught debate in Parliament and across the country that cut across political, religious and legal divides. MPs passed the bill by 314 votes to 291, in their final say on the question. The bill – which has split lawmakers and sparked impassioned conversations with their constituents the breadth of Britain – will now move to the House of Lords for its final rounds of scrutiny. Friday's vote puts Britain firmly on track to join a small club of nations that have legalized the process, and one of the largest by population to allow it. It allows people with a terminal condition and less than six months to live to take a substance to end their lives, as long as they are capable of making the decision themselves. Two doctors and a panel would need to sign off on the choice. This is a developing story and will be updated.