US military aircraft leave second UK base

Several US military aircraft have left a second airbase in Britain on Monday, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal (WSJ).

Two US refuelling tankers that were using the RAF Mildenhall airbase in Suffolk diverted to Germany earlier on Monday, while several other tankers at the base were moved ⁠to Germany and other locations later in the day, the WSJ report said.

This was done in response to a threat from Iran, the newspaper reported, citing US officials.

This comes weeks after the US withdrew its bombers from RAF Fairford airbase over a suspected Iran-linked security incident.

An MoD spokesperson told the BBC: "We do not routinely comment on the activity of other nations. Aircraft and other assets move regularly ​according to operational ​requirements."

Asked about the US evacuating aircraft from RAF Mildenhall, the education secretary Lucy Powell told BBC Breakfast: "Obviously I can't comment on ongoing operational matters but rest assured that we take the security and safety of our bases incredibly seriously and we will always act on security intelligence when we need to."

Lord Ricketts, former UK National Security Adviser, speaking on BBC Radio 4's Today programme, said: "We are talking about an airbase which houses these large tanker aircraft. Of course, they are large targets, an airbase has a long perimeter, so they are inevitably vulnerable.

"Nobody knows at this stage what this information was. I suspect part of it is an abundance of caution."