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First Minister calls for halt to involvement in US defence project

By Mark Mansfield
Labour First Minister of Wales Baroness Eluned Morgan during the Welsh Labour Senedd campaign launch. Photo credit: Ben Birchall/PA Wire

The First Minister has called for work to stop on a defence project with the US.

Baroness Eluned Morgan said the United States is “not the partner it once was” and urged the UK Government to halt involvement in the Deep Space Advanced Radar Capability (Darc) programme.

The Cawdor Barracks site in Pembrokeshire is expected to house the main UK contribution to the project, alongside sites in the US and Australia.

In a statement on Wednesday, Lady Morgan said: “I’m calling for the Darc defence project in Pembrokeshire to be halted.

“The United States under Donald Trump is not the partner it once was.

“Talk of targeting civilians, undermining our allies, and diminishing the sacrifice of our armed forces is not the conduct of a reliable ally.

“I believe in international alliances, I believe in collective security, but there is a clear difference between standing with our partners and giving a free pass to a US president who has threatened war crimes and shown contempt for our country.

“I’m urging the UK Government to halt our involvement in the Aukus radar project until we can be confident those partnerships reflect our values, and our security interests.”

The Darc programme will see a network of radars developed in Australia and the US as well as the UK to provide global monitoring of the skies, increasing the Aukus nations’ ability to track objects in space.

The use of three sites is expected to provide coverage of the sky at all times of day and under any weather conditions, and the UK’s contribution to this project is described as “crucial to its success”.

Refurbished

Under the plans, the Cawdor Barracks site in Pembrokeshire, which was originally set to close by 2028, would be refurbished to accommodate Darc.

Sir Keir Starmer’s political spokesman declined to say whether the Prime Minister backed Lady Morgan’s comments but appeared to distance Downing Street from the suggestion that work should pause.

He said: “The Deep Space Advanced Radar Capability programme will secure long-term jobs in Pembrokeshire, Wales and help protect essential satellite communication and navigation works.

“We’re engaging with the local community on proposals to redevelop Cawdor Barracks to host Darc, which will be operated by UK personnel.

“We are following processes agreed with Pembrokeshire County Council and have already completed a comprehensive environmental impact assessment including to ensure the project has minimal impact on the local skyline.

“Cawdor Barracks has a long history of supporting the UK’s military.

“This site has been both a Royal Air Force flying station and a Royal Navy base.”

Economic damage

A spokesman for opposition leader Kemi Badenoch expressed disagreement with the Welsh First Minister’s stance, telling reporters that Britain “should not be doing anything that it that is going to have any sort of economic damage to this country just because we don’t like the occupant of the White House”.

“We have got to think far more long-term,” he added.

Henry Tufnell MP for Mid and South Pembrokeshire, said: "I’m concerned that the First Minster appears to not want the local jobs and economic growth on a project that is unlikely to be operational until after the Trump administration.

Our community here in Pembrokeshire has always played a pivotal role in the UK’s defence and the DARC project represents the next chapter in our proud heritage.

"I am working closely with MoD officials to ensure the views and concerns of local residents are fully heard and addressed. Any environmental and public health concerns must be addressed while delivering genuine, tangible benefits for local workers and the wider community.

"The U.K. Government is resolute on using defence to keep our country safe and revitalise the industrial heartlands of our United Kingdom."

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10 comments

Chris Hale

I would like to think she has been listening to her constituents, who have campaigned to avoid having to suffer this massive and unnecessary intrusion. I suspect she is desperate to avoid alienating any more voters! Did she get Starmers permission to say this?

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Elved A

Sometimes I think our politicians in Wales are out of their depth. The UK needs this for its own defence capabilities against hostile nations. But also in case of debris falling from space. Stopping it is the very defintion of cutting nose off to spite face. It's going to bring some jobs to Pembrokeshire. A lot of the system is being developed by BAE Systems; this has benefits to UK industry and academia and has spilover effects into the civilian Industries. It is also a fascinating underlying technology. Donald Trump won't be in power when it gets installed. But obviously they're not going to listen to Welsh government on this issue (non-devolved etc), so it just makes WG seem a bit useless when nobody listens to them!

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Rob

I am not against higher defence spending, in fact I am in favour. The issue is we are too dependant on the USA for our security. No Trump won't be around for ever, but 20 years ago we never thought it would be possible that the US could elect anyone worse than George W Bush. Europe needs its own military complex.

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Elved A

I somewhat agree. The trouble is it's so complex and incredibly expensive to decouple. Our whole security system has really been designed around complimenting the US (we also provide essential help to the US though it's clearly asymmetrical). The UK couldn't build this radar system on its own, I doubt Europe could even with Airbus and Thales. Thinking about it, I don't think US could without BAE. So if you are starmer, albanese, merz etc, it's such a hard decision especially as trump will be gone soon and more or less impotent by mid terms. Only winner in all this nonsense with trump is Russia etc.

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Brychan

Interesting that she now refers to herself as "Lady Morgan" after serving as a member of the Senedd she took "leave of absence" from the House of Lords. No longer. Perhaps she his getting used to the re-instatement of her Lords privilege having resigned to the fact she is going to lose her Senedd seat. Why did she wait until now to express her opposition to the DARC? Would have been much more effective if she's expressed that opposition as First Minister. This is nothing to do with Trump as the proposal pre-dates him and will not be in use until after he's left office. More a case of "Lady Morgan" desperately scrabbling for a few Labour votes in Pembrokeshire.

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Elved A

I don't think she called herself that - it was the journalist who wrote the article surely?!

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Cilmeri1282

The battle to stop DARC has been ongoing for years. Why now? Where has she been up until now? This is political posturing to win votes. Her hypocrisy beggars bey

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Y Cymro

Since becoming Prime Minister, Keir Starmer hasn’t listened one iota to First Minister Eluned Morgan on anything, whether it’s rail-infrastructure consequential, the devolution of our policing and the criminal justice system, or other matters, so she hasn’t a hope in hell of persuading Trump’s terrier, as he hasn’t the guts to halt this defence project in Pembrokeshire. Anyway, if I were her, I wouldn’t worry; she’ll be out of a job in May.

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Hywel

I saw this story covered by a large UK newspaper, they had the following line as a parting shot, inserted quite abruptly at the end of the article; "The US is Wales’s second-most valuable trading partner, after the EU", implying I suppose that the Welsh should keep their mouths shut or risk biting the hand that feeds them. I don't know if I'm being a overly sensitive here, but to me it comes across as a bit of patronising, a bit 'get back in your corner if you know what's good for you' kind of mentality. Well to any London journos. I say this: If we would rather not have a US military installation in our country, it's our choice and we will live with the "trade" consequences, whatever they may be, diolch yn fawr!

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Brychan

There is no separate trade stats for Wales, but for the UK as a whole it is as follows. Europe: US$262.6 billion (49.1% of total UK exports) Asia: $147.1 billion (27.5%) North America: $97.1 billion (18.2%) Africa: $12.2 billion (2.3%) Latin America minus Mexico but including the Caribbean: $9.2 billion (1.7%) Oceania: $6.3 billion (1.2%) I was wondering on what basis this 'national newpaper' is claiming that the United States is the second most important trading partner for Wales. It's actually China and Japan, with Qatar (LNG) and the Gulf (Pembroke Refinery) the largest single import by value which is currently in jeopardy due to the actions of the United States.

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Interesting that she now refers to herself as "Lady Morgan" after serving as a member of the Senedd she took "leave of absence" from the House of Lords. No longer. Perhaps she his getting used to the re-instatement of her Lords privilege ha...

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