Campaigner and activist Lindis Percy estimates she’s been arrested around 500 times at protests against overseas US bases in the UK – most recently last week at RAF Menwith Hill for obstructing the public highway.
After an almost 18-month break due to covid, the 79-year-old joined a weekly protest at the base that is on the outskirts of Harrogate and is organised by the Menwith Hill Accountability Campaign. It began in 2000 and was set up by the Campaign for the Accountability of American Bases.
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.
In a recent planning application to expand the base, the UK Ministry of Defence, which owns the site, described Menwith Hill as an “integral part” of the United States’ worldwide defence communications network. It also said it provides intelligence and security support for the US and its allies.
However, Ms Percy, who lives near the base, is troubled by what she believes goes on there.
A 2016 investigation published by The Intercept that included documents from whistleblower Edward Snowden revealed Menwith Hill has been involved in controversial drone bombing campaigns in Yemen.
Ms Percy said:
“I say this with no pride or pleasure. There have been so many attempts to stop what I do – by the US authorities and the Ministry of Defence police.
“The MOD tried to bring an ASBO against me! They failed.”
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Campaigning
Ms Percy had a career as a nurse and midwife for the NHS and has been a campaigner against overseas military bases for decades.
She first became active at the Greenham Common protests in the early 1980s where protesters fought against nuclear weapons being held at an RAF base in Berkshire.
In 2003 she scaled the gates of Buckingham Palace during a state visit from then-US President George W Bush at the height of the Iraq War.
She has won several cases at the High Court in London over the right to protest and was defended by current Labour leader Keir Starmer during his days as a human rights lawyer.
She said:
“Why do I continue? I think it’s so important to speak out when knowing that something is wrong.”
American flag
Her latest arrest happened at Menwith Hill on June 22. She said she held stood in the road “for a few seconds” holding an upside-down American flag, with the message “whistleblowers urgently needed”.
She was arrested for obstructing the highway by Ministry of Defence police, who manage security at the site.
Ms Percy said she accepted that some Americans do find her version of the flag offensive, but defended her right to protest.
In 2001, with Keir Starmer as her council, she won a high court case over the right to deface the American flag.
She added:
“There is a balance between the right to protest and the right for people to go about their normal business.”
A Ministry of Defence spokesperson told the Stray Ferret:
“The MOD can confirm a member of the public was arrested on 22 June outside the main entrance to RAF Menwith Hill base by the Ministry of Defence Police. The individual was taken to Harrogate Police Station, reported for the offence of obstructing the highway and subsequently released.”
