Wes Streeting opened his speech to the Labour Party conference with remarks on the security operation around RAF Fairford, telling delegates that the work of the police, the armed forces and the intelligence agencies over the weekend was a small glimpse of what those organisations do unseen every day.
The Defence Secretary told delegates he was constrained by the live police investigation and could add little to what had already been reported. “Given events, you will understand that before getting into my speech today I want to say something about yesterday’s events around RAF Fairford,” he said. “You will understand there is a live police investigation and I can’t provide much further detail than that which is reported.”
He went on: “But I do want to say that our friendship with America is the closest alliance of any two nations on Earth, and we will always stand together against those who hate our freedom and those who wish us harm.
“What we saw yesterday from our security services, our armed forces, and our police, was just a small glimpse of the extraordinary work they do every day, around the clock and around the world, behind the scenes and without recognition, to keep our country safe.
“To all of them, from all of us, thank you.”
Gloucestershire Constabulary declared a major incident on Sunday after arresting a number of men on suspicion of offences under the Explosives Act, with properties evacuated in the village of Whelford next to the airfield and residents taken to a leisure centre nearby. In a statement the force said: “A number of properties are currently being evacuated in the Whelford area following the declaration of a major incident. It follows the arrest of several men on suspicion of offences under the explosives act. A cordon is currently in place but we’d like to reassure people that we believe this incident is contained.”
Explosive ordnance disposal teams examined several vehicles at the scene during the operation. ITV News has reported that counter-terrorism officers are investigating whether the plot has any connection to Iran.
Fairford, in Gloucestershire, is a United States Air Force forward operating location rather than an RAF flying station in the usual sense, and its long runway has made it the standing European base for American strategic bombers. B-1B Lancers are currently operating from the airfield, and the base moved to its highest force protection condition before the arrests were made, dispersing aircraft and reinforcing access points.
Bases used by American forces in Britain have drawn protest and intrusion for decades, and Fairford in particular was the subject of a well-known prosecution in the run-up to the Iraq war, when activists who broke into the site and damaged equipment were tried over several years. Those earlier cases turned on trespass and criminal damage, while the weekend’s arrests were made under the Explosives Act and are being handled by counter-terrorism officers.
Streeting used the rest of his speech to argue that the country is living through what he called a new age of insecurity, telling delegates that warfare has returned to Europe and that old alliances are being tested. The passage on Fairford was the only part of the address that touched on the weekend’s events, and he gave no further operational detail.
Anyone with information has been asked to contact Gloucestershire Constabulary, which continues to lead the investigation alongside counter-terrorism officers.
All because a passing farmer spouted it and called into MoD plod who didn’t answer the phone then called main plod who mobilised…..
Could have been very different.
Thing is The Tangerine was perhaps telling something like the truth as they clearly were expecting ram raids given the heavy machinery across the gates.
I suspect the local plod couldn’t have arrest 5 potentially armed blokes in short order. I guess there was more going on here than just a lucky phone call.
You would definitely think so. To be fair the Defence Secretary has gone out of his way to acknowledge it.
He has gone up in my estimation.
Agreed.
This wasn’t SF in position lying in wait was it??
No. Farmer spooked them. Farmer, seeing how they reacted, called the base police, who didn’t answer. Gloucestershire Police would then have put a pre-prepped plan into action, quarantined the perimeter, and waited for some jolly boys who like to swear in their canteen, think they’re something they’re not, and aren’t as good as they think, to barrel down the road and inside the police cordon within half an hour. They offered the ‘British’ males tea and biscuits downstairs in a building off Horseferry Road, which these ‘British’ men, weighing their options, accepted.
All home for tea, biscuits and medals by 9am on Sunday!
In other news, a British man who called a Sussex police dog “a flea-bitten bitch” has been sentenced to five years in a Category A prison . The Judge told the man he was a heinous fellow who had hurt the feelings of six fleas who heard him. The judge said it didn’t matter whether the dog wanted the fleas to live on her; they were there, and they shouldn’t have to put up with antipulicarius language in our society.
How did you know?
I thought that was all secret!!🤫
It may be the farmer walked straight in a second before the go and was lucky not to be collateral…. but caused a pause… who knows! Speculation always gets to the truth first time! The fact is an awful lot of people got there surprisingly quickly if they were all tucked up in bed in Hereford at al..
I noted that on another article, I read 10 minutes.
Implies forward mounting of CTP/Spooks for an ongoing operation that might turn live imminently or a location used regularly close by.
My thoughts exactly, suspect had they got to the wire they may not have been quite so arrestable, more being picked up. Concrete chicanes and heavy plant blocking the the gates prior to the event would “indicate” knowledge, perhaps not exact times. Armed plod telling folks to go home and relax etc just prior. Hereford hoolagan’s may have been inside the wire waiting. Probably not picking up the phone due to the thermal images from a drone showing the op was blown and move now now now.
I rather suspect it was.
The BBC are reporting the farmer as saying she was “certain” that there were at least 8-10 people she saw. So some still on the loose it appears.
And BBC have also reported armed police telling locals to “go home” and similar in the hours before this incident. Sounds like the authorities knew something was coming, but didn’t act until they got the phone call from the farmer who spooked the group.
The 5 arrested so far are all British nationals apparently, and from London.
You’re assuming far too much from media reports! Remember the press hate these stories where they actually have to wait for something to happen… so they make it up, or at least stretch the little the have into a theory, and then a that becomes the truth… just to keep the news flowing. There’s something to be said for noting it’s happened, then tuning in tomorrow to get some decent facts. Redacted facts maybe, (so I should hope if it’s security) but probably more use than the speculative stuff the media (and so characters on here) produce.
What a shock, a politician making political capital and singing the praises of the military and security services at a party confrrence, all the while cutting and degrading those said same assets, with law suits still a threat to Northern Ireland veterans and SF personnel.
To be fair, that’s what they’re paid for, whichever party. If they didn’t, then I’d be upset.
I know, and that’s fair. If only they weren’t cutting, restricting, denying, delaying and outright damaging the military and UKIC at the same time.
The hypocrisy irritates me.