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Scottish Sun
3 hours ago
- Politics
- Scottish Sun
Terror cops probe RAF security bungle after pro-Palestine fanatics break into Britain's biggest air base
Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) TERROR cops were last night probing a security shambles after pro-Palestine fanatics on scooters broke into Britain's biggest air base. The thugs hurled red paint into two planes' engines after cutting fencing at RAF Brize Norton, Oxfordshire. Sign up for Scottish Sun newsletter Sign up 7 Red paint can be seen on and around the Airbus Voyager at RAF Brize Norton Credit: ITV News 7 A Palestine Action fanatic rides towards the plane on an electric scooter after evading security at the base Credit: x 7 The vandals' paint kit hangs from the scooter's handlebars Credit: x PM Keir Starmer called the attack 'disgraceful'. The group, Palestine Action will be outlawed as a terrorist organisation after the brazen paint stunt at Britain's biggest air base. The Government was last night under huge pressure following the security shambles at the high-security base. Home Secretary Yvette Cooper responded by saying she will put forward legislation on Monday to make being a member of the group illegal. READ MORE RAF NEWS PLANE MAD Palestine activists attack plane on RAF base in 'grotesque security breach' Two fanatics on electric scooters were thought to have cut a section of the base's eight-mile perimeter fence in rural Oxfordshire, early yesterday. Palestine Action posted a 34-second video of the pair riding up to two Airbus Voyagers in the dark. They then used converted fire extinguishers to spray paint on to the turbines and fuselages of the planes in a bid to ruin the engines. The fanatics fled and were being hunted by counter-terror cops. PM Sir Keir Starmer condemned the action as 'disgraceful' and 'an act of vandalism'. The group also targeted commercial sites in Manchester and Chelmsford, Essex, yesterday which they claimed had links to Israel. Security alert as man seen climbing up Big Ben sparking huge emergency response Checks were under way on the aircraft, which cost £750million over their lifetime. Sources said damage to the engines could run into 'seven figures'. The RAF does not expect the incident to affect wider operations. Brize Norton — home to 6,000 military staff, 300 civilian workers and 1,200 contractors — is the hub for UK strategic air transport and refuelling, including flights to RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus. 7 Paint can be seen daubed on the engine and fuselage at dawn Credit: Sky News 7 The group claims to have sprayed paint into the engine - and putting the jet out of action Credit: Sky News Palestine Action said: 'By decommissioning two military planes, Palestine Action have directly intervened in the genocide and prevented crimes against Palestinians.' But a defence source said the group was 'confused and misguided' in its mission. The source said: 'These planes were for air transport and air-to-air refuelling. Trying to link the Voyager fleet to Gaza is ridiculous.' An MoD spokesman confirmed that Voyager aircraft had not been involved in refuelling or supporting Israeli Air Force jets. They have been used to refuel RAF Typhoons fighting IS in Iraq and Syria, and against the Houthi rebels in Yemen. Retired Col Richard Kemp said: 'Brize was attacked not by external forces but the enemy within. It was a deliberate act of sabotage.' Lord West, the former head of the Royal Navy, described the breach as 'shocking'. He added: 'Bearing in mind the very real risks of attacks from terrorists and Russian proxy state actors, it's unbelievable that such lax protection should be afforded to vital equipment and, in the final analysis, our people.' Tory leader Kemi Badenoch called it 'deeply concerning'. She said: 'This is not lawful protest, it's politically-motivated criminality.' A defence source said it was impossible to patrol the base '24/7, 365'. They said: 'We do have fences, cameras and barbed wire but to patrol with dogs all the time costs a huge amount of manpower and some of it comes back on spending to the Armed Forces.' 7 Terror cops are probing the security shambles that allowed pro-Palestine fanatics on scooters to break into Britain's biggest air base Credit: NC 7 PM Keir Starmer called the attack 'disgraceful' Credit: EPA After the stunt, Defence Secretary John Healey said he had ordered an investigation and a review of wider security at our bases. Counter-terror police were investigating along with Thames Valley Police and the MoD. Palestine Action has previously focused attention on Israeli defence contractor Elbit Systems Ltd. In March the group claimed to have shut down its Bristol HQ using a cherry picker. Four people were charged over damage caused.
Telegraph
5 hours ago
- Politics
- Telegraph
Sabotage at Brize Norton springs from a wider underlying problem
The attack on aircraft at RAF Brize Norton by members of Palestine Action resulted in serious damage to two Airbus Voyagers: extremely expensive aircraft leased under the £10 billion Air Tanker project. Had this been carried out by a foreign government, it would have been an act of war. As it is, it was sabotage and the Government will, rightly, proscribe Palestine Action as a terrorist group. To say that this was a failure of security is an understatement. At a time when major wars are raging in Ukraine and the Middle East, RAF bases should be on high alert. Terrorists acting for Iran and Russia are no less active here than elsewhere in Europe and our Armed Forces should be managing their security on that basis. But these saboteurs do not appear likely to be covert operatives despatched to these shores by organisations overseas. The fact is that there are large numbers of people resident here in Britain who support terrorism in various forms, as was made plain by the mass London marches in 'solidarity with Palestine' after the October 7 atrocities before Israel had made any response to them. That widespread empathy for terrorism is the underlying sickness. This damaging attack is merely a symptom of a wider Western malaise.
Middle East Eye
5 hours ago
- Politics
- Middle East Eye
Palestine Action to be proscribed as a terror group after break-in at UK's largest airbase
The British government will move to ban the activist group Palestine Action and proscribe it as a terrorist organisation, after two activists broke into the UK's largest airbase on Friday on electric scooters and damaged two Royal Air Force (RAF) planes. Home Secretary Yvette Cooper will submit a statement before parliament on Monday which if passed will make it illegal to be a member of the group, the BBC reported. Footage shared by Palestine Action purported to show two protesters riding scooters towards the RAF planes on the runway at the Brize Norton airbase, where they used "repurposed fire extinguishers to spray red paint into the turbine engines" and "caused further damage using crowbars". The activists then evaded security and escaped the base. The group announced on its website on Friday that the airbase was targeted because flights leave daily from there "for RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus, a base used for military operations in Gaza and across the Middle East". The British base on Cyprus, RAF Akrotiri, is just a 40-minute flight from Tel Aviv. New MEE newsletter: Jerusalem Dispatch Sign up to get the latest insights and analysis on Israel-Palestine, alongside Turkey Unpacked and other MEE newsletters From there, RAF Shadow aircraft have conducted hundreds of surveillance flights over Gaza throughout Israel's war on the Palestinian enclave. A security review has begun at military bases across Britain, and South East counter terrorism police said its specialist officers were investigating the incident with Thames Valley Police and the Ministry of Defence (MoD). Prime Minister Keir Starmer branded the action as "disgraceful" and an "act of vandalism". Palestine Action said in a post on X that "we exposed Britain's direct involvement in the genocide, and how ordinary people can act to stop it. "In response, the political establishment rush to call us "terrorists", whilst they enact the worst crimes against humanity. "No amount of smears or intimidation tactics will waver our solidarity with Palestine." Secrecy surrounding Gaza surveillance flights The planes the activists damaged were Airbus Voyagers, which carry military cargo and refuel fighter jets and military aircraft. In response to questions about its surveillance flights over Gaza, the MoD has repeatedly insisted they are in support of "hostage rescue". Earlier this year, Luke Pollard, minister for the armed forces, said during a debate that Britain "shares an important, long-standing and broad strategic partnership with the state of Israel". He said that surveillance flights over Gaza are "solely in support of hostage rescue" and that information is passed on "only if we are satisfied that it will be used in accordance with international humanitarian law". Pro-Palestine activists on electric scooters damage RAF planes and evade capture at UK airbase Read More » The MoD also said last year that it "would consider any formal request from the International Criminal Court to provide information relating to investigations into war crimes". However, there is significant secrecy surrounding much of what the RAF Akrotiri airbase is used for. Last month, MEE reported that the UK government blocked Labour MP Kim Johnson from asking about Israeli bombers using the Cyprus airbase. Palestine Action have carried out a series of high-profile actions during Israel's war on Gaza. PA activists were arrested on terror charges after an action in August when activists drove a modified van into the research and development hub of UK-based Israeli arms company, Elbit Systems, in Filton, Bristol. They are currently being held in remand.
ITV News
5 hours ago
- Politics
- ITV News
Government to ban Palestine Action after group vandalises RAF planes
The Palestine Action group that vandalised two aircraft at an RAF base in Oxfordshire will be banned by the home secretary, ITV News understands. Two Palestine Action activists broke into RAF Brize Norton in Carterton, Oxfordshire, on e-scooters and sprayed red paint on two planes. The group said the incident took place due to flights departing daily from the base to RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus - "a base used for military operations in Gaza and across the Middle East". They had repurposed fire extinguishers to spray red paint, which they say symbolises the "bloodshed" in Gaza, into the turbine engines of two Airbus Voyagers and caused further damage using crowbars. Paint was also sprayed across the runway, and a Palestinian flag was left on the scene. Palestine Action said the pair involved in the incident were not apprehended by security. The prime minister and numerous other politicians condemned their stunt as "disgraceful." The government has also launched a full review of security at RAF Brize Norton. The incident is being investigated by counter terror police.
CNN
11 hours ago
- Politics
- CNN
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.'
