A letter from the MOD to Chief Gloucestershire Weapons Inspector today reveals that:

"The UK Government will have to be fully consulted and agree before any United States Air Force aircraft are deployed operationally from any RAF base, including RAF Fairford. To date (9th Dec 2002) no request has been to activate RAF Fairford for operational purposes."

On 24th November the Observer carried an article entitled "US plea for British base to bomb Iraq" about the US requesting use of Diego Garcia for offensive purposes.

Next day we emailed the MOD to enquire about the status of RAF Fairford. How and by whom is permission granted for the USAF to use the base? - their email is  public@ministers.mod.uk - you can do the same but they don't reply by email only by letter. So it'll take a couple of weeks for an answer. My email and the response are below:

Gloucestershire Weapons Inspectors email to the MOD

Sirs,

An article appeared in this weeks Observer newspaper (November 24, 2002.) entitled "US plea for British base to bomb Iraq".

This article states "The United States has made a formal request to launch 'offensive actions' from the British-owned island of Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean" and later mentions that "A number of the (B-2) bombers will also be based at RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire, another essential staging post on the route to Iraq. "

I would like to know is similar permission for offensive action required for US airforce use of RAF Fairford?

What is the procedure for granting this permission and whom makes the decision?

Has the decision to use RAF Fairford for offensive action, should the need arise, already been taken?

I look forward to a prompt response.

Yours Sincerely - D J Cockcroft

Address provided for written response.

Full text of reply from the MOD below - or click here to see an image of the letter

From: Joanna Pell Overseas Secretariat
MINISTRY OF DEFENCE

Dear Mr Cockcroft

Thank you for your e-mail of 25th November asking about military action in Iraq. I have been asked to reply.

Firstly I would like to say that, as the Prime Minister and Foreign Secretary have made clear on several occasions, no decisions have been taken on military action. We have at all stages considered the options carefully with our allies, taking into account all potential consequences, such as the wider impact on the region, and acting in accordance with international law. We shall continue to act in this way when taking decisions in the future.

However, it is no secret that the UK has been involved in planning and preparation for potential military action against Iraq, should Iraq fail to meet its international obligations. This thinking has clearly taken place in the context of our very close working relationship the UK has with the US at both the political and military levels. The UK has been asked, by the US to consider what military contribution we might make available to a coalition and we are considering this very carefully. As yet no decisions as to the UK's contribution have been made.

You have asked specifically about RAF Fairford. RAF Fairford is a NATO designated standby base. This means that while the base is normally austerely manned, it is capable of immediate reactivation should the operational situation demand it. The UK Government will have to be fully consulted and agree before any United States Air Force aircraft are deployed operationally from any RAF base, including RAF Fairford. To date no request has been to activate RAF Fairford for operational purposes.

You may wish to know that further details of the UK's policy towards Iraq can be found on the Iraq pages of the FCO website at www.fco.gov.uk/Iraq

See the letter and find out more about Gloucestershire Weapons Inspectors and tomorrow's action at Fairford -  http://www.gwi.org.uk