US can keep nukes secret in UK bases

Declassified document victory for CND

- CHRIS HUGHES

THE US was secretly exempted from telling local authorities they are storing nuclear weapons, a declassified document reveals.

Ex-Defence Secretary Ben Wallace signed the "sensitive" waiver relating to US air base RAF Lakenheath, home of F-35A Lightning II fighter jets.

However, the March 2021 waiver exempts all US bases in the UK. Troops are also exempt from sticking to regulations applied to radiation risks.

The MoD was forced to declassify the document to prove to the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament that legally they do not have to tell locals.