APPENDIX 14
Memorandum submitted by Mike Winstanley
(9 Janauary 2003)
I write in concern, having just heard that you
are consulting about Fylingdales and indeed visiting next week.
I am initially concerned that the consultation period relating
to the US request for the upgrade of the Fylingdales facility
is so short that you cannot possibly gauge public views adequately.
I do hope this is a genuine debate and not merely lip-service.
I have been to Fylingdales, indeed I have spoken
at some length to its Commanding Officer, Wing Commander Knapton.
On the surface of things, of course, the facility is not particularly
sinister, and nor is the software upgrade proposed. However, it
is what will happen next that is dangerous and disturbing.
National Missile Defence is not merely this
first step. Nor is it merely defensive. It can clearly be seen
that the definition of "defence" has been twisted beyond
recognition in the rhetoric relating to the so-called "War
on Terrorism". Aggression, the denial of human rights, the
endangering of whole populations are now considered parts of US
"Homeland Defence".
The question that must be asked in your Committee
is, "What exactly is the UK Government signing up to?"
If the answer, as I suspect, is that the UK, with the possible
co-operation of other nations, will be part of a US line not just
of defence but of attack—attack against any nation which
does not toe the US line, which does not serve US economic interests—then
this first step must be vehemently opposed.
If the UK taxpayer must pay for the dubious
and indeed probably useless scheme of defence against a highly
improbable form of attack, then there is no point in supporting
the proposal: it is beyond our tolerance as a tax-paying electorate.
If the people of North Yorkshire are to suffer,
either through increased risk of leukaemia and other cancers,
or because the presence of a vital element of NMD makes the area
a target for any form of attack, then the proposal must be rejected.
I do not believe that this upgrade of Fylingdales
can be maintained as a neat little scheme to get the US taxpayer
to foot the bill for more efficient operation of the existing
facility in existing conditions. I believe the UK Government must
be extremely wary of this upgrade, and reject outright the next
steps.
To upgrade one's weapons will not bring peace.
Security is only to be achieved by addressing the causes of conflict.
National Missile Defence makes no real contribution towards peace,
and should be rejected.
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