Womenwith Hill Women's Peace Camp[aign],
P.O. Box 105, Harrogate. HG3 2FE
Tel: 01943 468593  email: flossiemintballs@aol.com

Whether this event is an inspiring success [which will lead on to bigger things] depends on the recipients of this message to network it out to the wider women's web - oh! & very much on the creative imagination of the women who come. See what you can do!? We have already heard that women are coming from Sweden!

Here's just one example of what women are doing: Jane Greg & Dragon initiated the Bradford 'Women-in-Black' vigils to oppose the war in Afghanistan. ['Women-in Black' was started by Israeli & Palestinian women, wearing black while holding silent, anti-violence, anti-military vigils. They face hostility & hysterical abuse. Their example has developed into a world-wide movement]. The Bradford vigils are held outside the Town Hall on Wednesday evenings from 5 - 6, & bring together women from all ethnic backgrounds, religious & political leanings. They are having impact!

Here's another: Angie writes from prison [she was sentenced on October 7th to 2 months for cutting - along with Helen & Anne who served their sentences in the summer - the new security fence erected to protect the base as part of its new "Star Wars" role] " ... I have a release date for Tuesday 6th November & will have to be 'good' for the next month...[& re. appealing conviction & sentence] "...many changes since our case, but it may be best just to do another 'action' ...how about 20 or 30?" Gulp!

Right Livelihood Award: the 2001 RL Awards address he roots of violence & instability in today's world: Angie, Ellen & Ulla, on behalf of Trident Ploughshares 2000, have been recognised 'for their commitment for Peace, Reconciliation and Justice...honoured as a model of principled, transparent & non-violent action dedicated to rid the world of nuclear weapons...' Well deserved!

Bad Aibling: [Menwith Hill's partner NSA Base in Germany, was due to close next year & transfer to UK, as a 'goodwill gesture' to the German Government. This was in response to the European Parliament's damning investigation into the Echelon spy system. The closure of Bad Aibling has now been deferred for 2 years - following application from the Pentagon - the base is said to be required in the 'War on Terrorism'. Presumably there will be no interference with the continued economic spying which is so advantageous to USA capitalist interests - & is detrimental to other peoples' welfare].

Helen has spoken to supportive MPs, to generate a campaign to block the transfer of Bad Aibling's operations to the UK. One reason NSA is leaving Germany is because the interception of communications is a violation of Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights [the right to privacy: incorporated into our Human Rights' Act]. Why should our government countenance NSA's flagrant violation of our laws? Are the NSA's Bad Aibling spies unwelcome 'Asylum seekers'?

Harrogate Borough Council: were under such pressure from objectors, that they wrote in April to the Prime Minister asking to be informed about what is going on at Menwith Hill. A delegation of Councillors & Officers has just enjoyed a [freebie?] visit to MoD HQ in London. They have been reassured [by 10 senior civil servants] that fears about danger to the safety of the local community resulting from the base being a terrorist target, have been exaggerated [but fears that it will become a target for Grenham Common-style actions are very real!]. The Council's Chief Executive issued a statement on their return to the effect that the Council has been promised that they "...will be consulted before any change in role..." ["Star Wars" developments at the base]. The MoD has responded "...that may be putting it a little strongly..." [Imagine it: after 7 years Research & Development, the rocket carrying the latest surveillance satellite is sitting on the launch pad & the countdown has started - BUT wait, the mission has to be aborted because Harrogate Council has not approved the particular shade of 'gull-wing grey' on the doors of the support building!?!] The mind boggles! Nevertheless, the Councils do have the power to thwart the US military machine - by the withdrawal of essential services. What if there were a dustmen's strike?

Meanwhile, because the base is vulnerable to attack, armed North Yorkshire County Council Police are patrolling the base & its vicinity. [If you park anywhere near Menwith Hill you will be asked to produce I.D. & justification for being there]. The local MPs applied to the Home Office for £1million to pay for these patrols up to the end of the year. The Home Secretary stated: "Everybody has a right to protest, but there is a price to pay". This is unacceptably dishonest vilification of the peace movement. We have written to David Blunkett to complain. The local police say that the MoD plods are not allowed to carry arms outside the base - since when? Have they been breaching the law? Tut! Are UK taxpayers now having to pay for US security? [The MoD plods are paid for by the USA].

Now the base has submitted 2 more Planning Applications for 'increased security measures'. They now require another 3 portacabins, bringing the total to 5, as well as another security fence round the "Star Wars" golf balls. At considerable expense, the applications have been advertised & representations invited from the public. We went along to the Planning Office to inspect the plans & discovered that so little information is now divulged we are not told the dimensions, exact location nor appearance. The Planning Officer stated that's all the information we 'need to know' [Oops. Could we have been extracting too much 'sensitive' information in the past?] We have complained that it is impossible to make any meaningful observations if we're not allowed to know what the structures will look like! Closing date for objections is November 16th, to Planning Office, Harrogate Borough Council, Harrogate. HG1 2AU]. [Sorry, can't tell you the reference numbers, I've put them through the washing machine! Has the NSA anything to fear from incompetent women? Oh yes, because they have not got an electronic system to deal with incompetence!].

Legality of "Star Wars"? We have now spent some considerable time attempting to obtain a Legal Opinion from lawyers specialising in Constitutional Law. i.e. Menwith Hill was set up under the terms of the NATO Status of Forces Agreement, but "Star Wars" is not a NATO project! Is this why the UK Government has to give permission? & is it lawful for the UK Government to allow it, especially when it is conceivable that by doing so it will 'endanger the realm'? [ We've asked the Defence Secretary this question before, but it was evaded.] We want the Legal Opinion, not because we're intending to bring a case to court, but in order to pursue the argument further in Parliament.

Wahey! We now have a van! She is a big, red revolutionary, so we've called her 'Doris'. [You've all heard of the adventures of Womenwith's stuffed-dummy super-heroine, Flossie Mintballs, but 'Doris' has avoided the limelight. She is our token, sweet, little, old blue-rinsed martyr to the cause. Her claim to fame is the execrable sentimental verses ["Yea! When I behold those great white balls, Lo! My heart it doth with terror fill...". Wordsworth wrote worse!] which she writes to local & national government officials. Many hours, lubricated with the cooking sherry & accompanied with knicker-wetting hilarity, have been spent composing these 'mistresspieces' & then copying them out in little-old-lady spidery writing. Peace women have been known to fight [peacefuly & non-violently!] to be the first to read the replies!

'Doris' has cleaned out our bank account & we are destitute. If you don't send us a donation we'll survive - but think what we could do with pots of money! [Run the van? Invest in more cooking sherry?]