The gates of RAF Lakenheath in Suffolk have been blocked repeatedly since the first week of April, as a sustained campaign of anti-war protest targeting the US Air Force base used as a hub for American military operations in the Middle East has produced dozens of arrests and a running confrontation between protesters and Suffolk Constabulary. The demonstrations, organised under the banner of the International Peace Camp and involving activists affiliated with the banned group Palestine Action, have made RAF Lakenheath the most contested single military site in Britain since the Greenham Common protests of the 1980s.
What Happened and When
The International Peace Camp ran from April 1 to 6, 2026, with a main encampment established near the base’s perimeter. On Easter Sunday, April 5, Suffolk Police arrested seven people — five men and two women — on suspicion of supporting Palestine Action, which was designated a proscribed organisation under the UK’s Terrorism Act 2000 in September 2025. The seven were released on bail. On Saturday April 5, two additional protesters were arrested and charged with obstructing a public thoroughfare after blocking the base’s access road.
The largest single confrontation came on April 7, when activists from multiple protest networks locked themselves to a car and to each other using heavy-duty locks, blockading RAF Lakenheath’s main entrance gate for six hours. Suffolk Police made 13 arrests during that action. By April 9, the running total of arrests across the camp’s eight-day operation had reached 14, with charges ranging from obstruction to the more serious allegation of Palestine Action support. Lawyers for the arrested activists disputed the application of the terrorism proscription to protest activity, arguing that attending a demonstration near a base also used by Palestine Action members does not meet the legal threshold for ‘support’ of a proscribed organisation.
At least one arrest came from Wales: a Powys woman was charged in connection with the April protests, demonstrating the geographical reach of the mobilisation.
Why Lakenheath
RAF Lakenheath is the largest US Air Force base in the United Kingdom. It is home to the 48th Fighter Wing, which operates F-15E Strike Eagles, and is assessed by military analysts to have served as a refuelling and logistics hub for US aircraft involved in the February 28 and subsequent strikes on Iranian targets. The base is also believed to house American B61 nuclear gravity bombs under NATO nuclear-sharing arrangements, a status that has made it a focal point for anti-nuclear and anti-war activism since the Cold War.
The specific connection to the Iran war was the central argument of the April protests. Organisers alleged that US aircraft had departed from or transited through Lakenheath en route to Iran, and that Britain’s failure to deny its territory for use in what they characterised as an illegal war made the UK government complicit in the conflict. The British government’s position — that base facilities are provided under existing treaty obligations and that operational decisions about their use are made by the United States under established NATO frameworks — was rejected by the protest organisers as a legal and moral abdication.
The allegations about specific aircraft departures from Lakenheath have not been confirmed or denied by either the US Air Force or the British Ministry of Defence. An F-15E Strike Eagle was shot down over Iran in the second week of the conflict, generating significant public attention in the UK about the extent of British involvement in the war effort. Middle East Eye reported that protesters had gathered specifically outside the base ‘where the downed F-15E jet was likely stationed,’ a characterisation the US Air Force did not comment on.
Palestine Action’s Legal Status and Its Complication for Protesters
The proscription of Palestine Action in September 2025 — making it the first domestic British activist group to be banned under terrorism legislation in decades — has introduced a legal complexity that previous protest movements at Lakenheath did not face. Under the Terrorism Act 2000, supporting a proscribed organisation includes attending meetings, wearing insignia, and expressing support in public. The application of that provision to protest activity near a military base where proscribed organisation members are also present is legally contested, and the Crown Prosecution Service has historically been cautious about bringing proscription charges against peripheral protesters.
The seven arrested on Easter Sunday were released on bail pending further investigation, which suggests the CPS has not yet decided whether to charge them with the more serious proscription offence. The 13 arrested on April 7 faced charges primarily related to the physical blockade, which carries a clearer legal path to prosecution.
Civil liberties organisations including Liberty and Amnesty International UK have expressed concern about the use of proscription-related arrests against protesters at Lakenheath, arguing that the legal framework designed for counter-terrorism is being stretched to suppress political dissent about an active military conflict. The Home Office has defended the arrests as lawful and proportionate.
What This Actually Means
The Lakenheath protests are the most significant public challenge to Britain’s implicit support for the US-Iran war, and they are testing legal frameworks that the British government has not been required to apply in quite this way before. The proscription of Palestine Action was controversial when it was enacted; using that proscription to arrest protesters at an anti-war demonstration at an American air base is more controversial still.
The government’s political calculation is that the arrests will deter escalation. The protest movement’s calculation is that the arrests will broaden the coalition against the war and generate coverage that the blockades alone would not. Both calculations may be correct, which is why the confrontation at Lakenheath is likely to continue.
Sources
Al Jazeera | Middle East Eye | ITV News | LBC | Anarchist Federation