80 years after Hiroshima, US nuclear bombs return to British soil in secret

Next week marks the 80th anniversary of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, acts that ushered in the nuclear age with unfathomable destruction and loss of life. As we remember the horrors of those days, we must confront a grim reality: the nuclear threat has not disappeared. In fact, it has just crept back onto British soil, quietly, and without our consent.

Recent reports strongly suggest that US nuclear weapons have been redeployed to RAF Lakenheath in Suffolk, for the first time since 2008. A high-priority American military aircraft, designed for transporting nuclear material, was spotted making what appears to have been a one-way delivery of B61-12 bombs (modernised, more “usable” nuclear weapons developed for battlefield scenarios).

This deployment has taken place behind closed doors, without public debate or parliamentary scrutiny. Yet multiple indicators have been building: upgrades to weapons storage bunkers, construction of new facilities to accommodate US personnel, and the expansion of nuclear-capable aircraft squadrons stationed at the base.

Documents uncovered earlier this year show that US forces operating in the UK are exempt from British nuclear safety laws, meaning even local councils aren’t informed about the presence of nuclear weapons in their area, nor are they required to prepare emergency response plans in case of an accident. This is not transparency. It is reckless secrecy.

The government’s silence is especially troubling given the stakes. These are not Cold War relics for theoretical deterrence; the B61-12 has been developed for tactical use alongside conventional weapons, lowering the threshold for nuclear conflict. Hosting these bombs places the UK on the frontline of any future war the US might wage under a Trump presidency, or beyond.

A poll conducted just two months ago found that 61% of the British public oppose the return of US nuclear weapons to the UK. So why are they being brought back without even the courtesy of a parliamentary debate? Why is our government ignoring the will of the people it claims to represent?

As we prepare to honour the memory of the hundreds of thousands killed in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, we must also resist the slow march back toward nuclear normalisation. We cannot sleepwalk into becoming a launchpad for future atomic warfare.

At Conscience: Taxes for Peace Not War, we believe that no one should be forced to fund preparations for nuclear annihilation. Our work seeks to uphold the right to conscientious objection to military taxation, and to redirect public money away from weapons of mass destruction and toward peacebuilding, climate action, and care.

Eighty years on from the worst horrors humanity has inflicted on itself, we must be clear: nuclear weapons do not keep us safe. They endanger us all.