No10 insists UK military base RAF Fairford is safe after US withdraws bombers
After the US withdrew all of its bombers from the military base, downing Street has insisted RAF Fairford is safe.
After the US withdrew all of its bombers from the military base, downing Street has insisted RAF Fairford is safe.
Article outline
- What happened
- The details
- Background
- The bottom line
Key points
- RAF Fairford – in the Cotswolds in Gloucestershire – is at the centre of an incident being investigated by counter-terror police.
- Whitehall sources have not disputed that the decision from Washington to remove the bombers was in response to the incident at the airbase in Gloucestershire.
- He continued that Defence Secretary Wes Streeting had stated last week, "we have tried and tested approaches to defend our bases around the country and throughout the world".
- Five men were initially arrested on suspicion of terror offences and subsequently published on bail.
- US media documented a new threat led to the bombers being removed.
For context, the Pentagon confirmed on Sunday it had removed its bombers – thought to be regarding a dozen B-1s – from the base back to their home stations in America.
US media documented a new threat led to the bombers being removed. It follows a major incident on 27 September when police were alerted to three "suspicious vehicles" near the airbase.
Meanwhile, a Number 10 spokesperson remarked he would not comment on "foreign nations' military operations", but stated the base was safe, and pointed to US President Donald Trump's comments last week, where he "praised our police, defence and security services" in relation to the base.
Five men were initially arrested on suspicion of terror offences and subsequently published on bail. A sixth man, a UK-Iranian national, was additionally afterwards arrested and published on bail.
For context, the BBC has additionally been informed it was a military rather than a political decision – taken at an operational level – and communicated from the US military to its British counterparts.
For now, no10 insists UK military base RAF Fairford is safe after US withdraws remains the part of the story worth watching, and further updates are likely as more details are confirmed.