PRESS RELEASE
8th December 2003
WOMEN TO BLOCKADE MENWITH HILL US SPY BASE

Women, from all over the country as well as Europe, are to take part in a mass non-violent blockade on the morning of Monday 15th December 2003. The women protestors are calling on the UK Government to say no to National Missile Defence and to break the special relationship that is dragging our country into war after war, draining our resources and making a terrorist target of us all.

Greenham Common women, together with a new generation of young women are blockading the base because of its critical role in the recent US/UK war and occupation of Iraq. The fear of nuclear war that forced women to act over 20 years ago is once again bringing women together against the new threat of nuclear war posed by the US/UK war drive.

Helen John Vice-Chair CND and protest organizer said: “Bush and Blair were denied London’s streets by the will of the people, preventing a full-scale state visit. This women’s protest will pave the way toward preventing the US bases remaining in the UK, to wage more illegal wars in the name of Full Spectrum Dominance to gain control of our planet’s finite resources, aided by the use of depleted uranium munitions and a first strike nuclear policy. We want all US bases out of foreign soil.”

Kate Hudson Chair CND said: “Allowing the use of Menwith Hill for the US to develop a system that will embolden the US to launch a nuclear attack endangers the whole world. Instead Britain should be playing its part in ending the cycle of violence. This means breaking with the US war agenda and working with the International community to develop peaceful resolutions to conflict.”

Alice Mahon MP, UK delegate to the NATO Parliamentary Assembly said: “Geoff Hoon has agreed to the use of Menwith Hill by the US for NMD, saying it is in the interests of the British people. In reality however this US spy base makes the local community sitting ducks for terrorist attack yet affords Britain no protection from ballistic missile attacks as he claims.”

Caroline Lucas, Green MEP said: “We’re told that Tony Blair is worried that Menwith and Fylingdales could become the Greenham Common of the new century. Well he’s absolutely right! We have to stop our leaders from believing that they can bomb their way to peace. ”

Notes for Editors
1 – For information on the protest contact Helen John 01943468593 or 07790250077
2 – Menwith Hill, near Harrogate, N. Yorkshire, is the biggest US spy base in the world. It provides surveillance and identification of military targets
3 – Menwith Hill won an award for the role it played in the last Gulf war providing strategic military intelligence. This type of information will have been crucial once again in the recent war on Iraq
4 – Women have been consistently more opposed to war on Iraq than men. The latest Times/Populus poll shows 67% of women disapprove of Bush’s handling of Iraq compared to 54% of men. Only 30% of women think that the Bush/Blair special relationship is good for Britain compared to 51% of men
5 – The blockade also celebrates the 21st Anniversary of the Embrace The Base action at Greenham Common in 1982 attended by over 30,000 women protesting against the first US cruise missiles in Britain
6 – The protest is supported by the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament