Campaigners will hold an Independence from America demonstration at RAF Menwith Hill on Tuesday.
Menwith Hill Accountability Campaign and Yorkshire CND have timed the event to coincide with the Fourth of July — American Independence Day.
The groups believe the American spy base poses a significant risk to local people because its surveillance work makes it a military target.
The demonstration aims to increase awareness of US operations at the base and ensure activities take place in accordance with UK and international law.
RAF Menwith Hill. Photo credit – Wikimedia.
Running from 5pm to 8pm, speakers include Peter Burt of Drone Wars UK, Prof Fiona Macauley from Bradford Peace Studies and Prof David Webb from Yorkshire CND.
There will also be a steel band, performance poet and a choir.
This year’s gathering will not occur outside the main gate as usual. Instead if will take place at Kettlesing lay-by on the A59 as the area around the main gate will be closed for upgrades and expansions.
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RAF Menwith Hill submits fresh plans to expand
Plans have been submitted to construct new buildings and roads at US spy base RAF Menwith Hill.
Menwith Hill, which is on the outskirts of Harrogate, is one of the United States’ largest overseas surveillance bases.
Its 37 giant radomes, or ‘golf balls’, are a distinctive feature of the 500-acre site, where much of the secretive activity takes place underground.
A request for an environmental impact assessment screening opinion, which comes before a full planning application, has been submitted to North Yorkshire Council to put up new structures on the northern side of the base.
No new radomes are planned but the project would see the construction of an administration building and another building for technical equipment.
Planning documents say the works would also involve putting in generators, air-cooled chillers, transformers and power distribution modules.
Access roads, a refuelling bay, footpaths, a small car park and a secure perimeter fence surrounding the facilities would also be built.
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Several new radomes have been built at the site in recent years and in 2022 plans were approved to build a new visitor centre, vehicle canopy and changes to the road junction on Menwith Hill Road.
RAF Menwith Hill was built in the 1950s and leased to the US during the height of the Cold War but it has continued to be used to support American military operations abroad including during the war on terror.
The site is also used by UK intelligence agency GCHQ.
Leaked documents from whistleblower Edward Snowden identified Menwith Hill as providing the intelligence for a significant number of operations to “eliminate” targets in the Middle East.
Harrogate Borough Council installed 76 new CCTV cameras in past 3 yearsThe Harrogate district’s increase of 36% over the past three years ranks it above the national average of 22%.
It has experienced the 53rd largest percentage increase in cameras of the 308 councils that replied to the survey.
In Yorkshire as a whole, only York and Doncaster increased the number of CCTV cameras at a faster rate than Harrogate.
Overall the research found the number of public CCTV cameras in the UK has now risen to more than 100,000, with some local authorities more than quadrupling their surveillance over the last three years.
The authority with the highest increase in the UK was Gwynedd, in north-west Wales, where the council now operates 468 cameras – a whopping increase of 363%.
“CCTV is an integral part of modern-day society, and cameras have grown more commonplace in recent years as technology and connectivity have improved.
“The increases revealed in our research might raise privacy concerns, but generally CCTV benefits the safety and security of both the public and businesses, and the upwards trend is unlikely to stop anytime soon.”
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‘Deeply alarming’: Harrogate council uses CCTV from Chinese Communist Party controlled firm
A leading civil liberties group has said it is ‘deeply alarming’ that Harrogate Borough Council uses CCTV cameras supplied by a company controlled by the Chinese Communist Party, and with links to the Uyghur ‘genocide’ in Xinjiang.
HIKVision CCTV cameras have already been banned in the United States over security concerns.
But a report from Big Brother Watch this year revealed almost three-quarters of local authorities use CCTV manufactured by the company, as do many NHS trusts, police forces and schools.
The council has 212 CCTV cameras in total across the district. They are in Harrogate, Knaresborough and Ripon town centres as well as at leisure centres such as the Hydro and Ripon’s new Jack Laugher Leisure and Wellness Centre.
The Stray Ferret sent a freedom of information request to the council asking how many of these cameras were made by HIKVision and was told the number is 86.
HIKVision cameras come at the cheaper end of the market, making them a popular choice for cash-strapped local authorities but critics say they come with other, more sinister, costs.
As well as being used in Uyghur detention camps, software flaws have connected the CCTV cameras back to servers in China leading to fears about spying by the repressive state.
A CCTV camera — one of 212 in the district — overlooking the Royal Hall.
Detention camps
The Uyghurs are a predominantly Muslim ethnic group in north west China who face persecution and oppression by the ruling Chinese Communist Party.
Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have published reports that accused China of crimes against humanity. A UK-based independent tribunal last year ruled Beijing was guilty of genocide.
The BBC has captured evidence of HIKVision CCTV cameras being used to monitor the Uyghur population in the Xinjiang region, as well as in so-called ‘detention camps’ where it’s estimated over a million Uyghurs have been locked up.
Last year, MPs on the foreign affairs committee published a report that said cameras made by Hikvision “have been deployed throughout Xinjiang, and provide the primary camera technology used in the internment camps”.
Madeleine Stone, legal and policy officer at civil liberties group Big Brother Watch said:
“It is deeply alarming that Harrogate Borough Council is purchasing and using Hikvision cameras to monitor members of the public.
“Taxpayers’ money should not be funding a company so closely linked to the Uyghur genocide in Xinjiang. Chinese state-owned CCTV companies have no place in the UK and the government should act now to ban them.”
China has denied all allegations of human rights abuses in Xinjiang.
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Security concerns
As well as the ethical question marks around HIKVision cameras, there are also fears that the cameras could compromise security and be used for spying.
Whilst there is no direct evidence of HIKVision providing data gathered from CCTV cameras to the Chinese state, there was an instance in Italy last year where hundreds of HIKVision cameras suddenly started connecting to a server in China.
The incident in Italy was rare but Big Brother Watch has also reported other “security holes” in one of the company’s main remote viewing software tools that could connect directly to servers in the country.
A CCTV camera on Cambridge Street – one of 212 in the district.
Chris Aldred, Liberal Democrat councillor for Fairfax and chair of the council’s overview and scrutiny commission, said the security implications were potentially “very worrying” for the district. He said:
“It would be very worrying if our cameras in Harrogate district suddenly started transmitting their images anywhere else, not just China.
“I know from my own personal CCTV training within the security Industry that there are, quite rightly, very strict regulations as to who can view CCTV images and for what purpose, even the police have to apply for permission and follow strict guidelines.”
The council publishes an annual report about its use of CCTV but it does not mention who manufactures the cameras.
Cllr Aldred added:
“What is happening in the Uyghur detention camps is truly appalling and it is disappointing that Harrogate Borough Council has ultimately bought our cameras from the same company whose technology is undoubtedly aiding what is happening there”.
Cllr Aldred said he will ask the council if it has concerns about HIKVision, and if it has plans to remove the cameras.
A Harrogate Borough Council spokesperson said:
“HIKVision CCTV cameras are used extensively by local authorities across the UK, as they are known for capturing high-quality footage that can prove invaluable when a crime is committed.
“Like all other organisations that use CCTV, we follow a code of practice, comply with the Data Protection Act, and our system is registered with the Information Commissioner’s Office.
“We await further guidance from central government on any future use of HIKVision cameras.”
The Stray Ferret approached HIKVision for comment but we did not receive a response.
Campaigners to protest against Menwith Hill on Independence DayCampaigners will meet outside Menwith Hill on American Independence Day, July 4, to protest against the secretive surveillance base.
The event is being organised by the Menwith Hill Accountability Campaign and a letter will be handed to the site’s US Chief of Station. A webinar for people protesting at home will also take place and will include speeches from experts in the field of surveillance.
Sarah Swift from MHAC told the Stray Ferret they want to raise awareness about what goes on at the site, which she called a “great spider’s web underground”.
She said:
“They are collecting so much information and we need to question what the base is doing here.
“Some people see the radomes as beautiful artefacts but I find them very sinister.”
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Ms Swift also said that President Donald Trump’s unique foreign policy style could leave the area exposed to a military attack.
She said:
“I do feel very worried. The first thing in any major conflict is the enemies target communication centres first.”
The Stray Ferret has asked the Ministry of Defence, which owns the site, for a response to the protests. It has not responded at the time of publication.
Built in the 1950s, Menwith Hill is the United States’ largest overseas surveillance base. Giant radomes, or “golf balls”, are a distinctive feature of the site. A 2016 investigation published by The Intercept that included documents from whistleblower Edward Snowden found Menwith Hill has been involved in controversial drone bombing campaigns in Yemen.
Since 2000, protestors have taken part in a weekly demonstration outside Menwith Hill which has been halted due to lockdown.
In February this year, Harrogate Borough Council granted planning permission for the Ministry of Defence to build three new radomes at the site.