MP mocked as campaigners celebrate calling-in of US radar plan

Martin Shipton

Campaigners who oppose the siting of a controversial US military radar array in west Wales have lampooned their local MP after he expressed support for the plan.

Supporters of the PARC Against DARC group held a rally outside Pembrokeshire County Hall in Haverfordwest to celebrate the Plaid Cymru Welsh Government’s decision to “call in” the proposal. As a result, the Welsh Government rather than Pembrokeshire county councillors will decide whether it goes ahead or not.

Local Labour MP Henry Tufnell, who represents Mid and South Pembrokeshire, has come out in favour of the proposal and against the call-in decision, stating: “Decisions that directly impact local jobs and economic development must be made by our local community, not ministers in Cardiff.

“This is a clear move from Plaid Cymru to weaken the UK’s security and alliances, and in doing so, will harm local jobs, economic development, and our county’s proud culture in defence.”

In a group photo, opponents of the scheme at the rally wore Henry Tufnell masks on sticks which they had dubbed as “Toffsicles” in a quip in the direction of his aristocratic, English background, describing him as a “parachuted-in MP from England who knew nothing about local issues”. A sign, which asked “Where’s Toffnell?”was also displayed in a play on words around his Tufnell name, as the crowd posed for photographs in front of the County Hall building.

The PARC campaign has previously criticised Tufnell’s stance on the topic highlighting what they describe as his inexperience and naivety around key points surrounding the project. In particular the campaign claims following research that there would be a net loss of hundreds of jobs at the site if DARC was ever built. They claim DARC would necessitate the evacuation of the 14th Signal Regiment from the nearby base at Brawdy, that the Ministry of Defence cannot know the future staffing arrangements of the site, and that any jobs, conceded to be of low numbers by the MoD, would go to specialist US military operators. Concerns regarding the accuracy of promised job figures were echoed in the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park’s official objection to DARC as part of planning consultations earlier this year.

A spokesperson for PARC Against DARC said: “Tufnell is clearly very far out of his depth on this issue and obviously hasn’t even taken the time to do any of his own research or keep up to date with current facts. Instead he shows his political naivety, wading in to make boilerplate statements on a topic he clearly doesn’t understand, and reeling out MoD talking points such as the incredibly tired ‘jobs argument’ which we have irrefutably debunked as completely false and misleading rhetoric. It’s actually quite embarrassing that our MP who previously tried and failed to be elected in two English constituencies seems so utterly clueless on such a grave issue with very deep ramifications globally and for the county.

“It seems farcical to us that his main argument centres on the idea that the Welsh Government should not have taken over the application from the local council when this radar proposal is touted for inclusion in Trump’s Golden Dome, one of the most extreme and far-reaching global military proposals ever conceived of.

“It’s not like this is some small application for an industrial unit or shed at Brawdy the MoD is applying for. The stated aim of DARC is for the United States to use projects like DARC to militarily dominate all of space, so it is simply laughable that Tufnell is spinning the MoD’s line that the Welsh Government shouldn’t have intervened in a proposal of blatantly national and international significance, as it was completely right to do.”

‘Dim Radar’

Demonstrators also held placards which read: “DIM RADAR” – “NO RADAR” as speeches were heard from campaigners and local peace activists opposed to the radar proposal.

Local business owner Tim Rees, organiser of the Unearthed Festival, kicked off proceedings with Pembrokeshire-based actor Jerome Flynn of Game of Thrones also addressing the crowd.

Speakers drew links between the radar proposals and US-backed genocide in Gaza and Lebanon in recent years, describing how the US military with its 750 military bases around the world clings to its past but now faces fast-declining dominance.

Speakers also highlighted how, following the US and Israel’s attacks on Iran on February 28 this year, Iran’s surgical destruction of all US military radars in the Gulf region as an instant response to a US-Israel-led invasion exemplified strongly how DARC would make Brawdy and Pembrokeshire a first-priority military target in a time of war.

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