As support for the campaign against the 27-dish US DARC radar array at Pembrokeshire continues to grow in momentum, PARC Against DARC says “all eyes are on Henry Tufnell MP” to declare a position on DARC once and for all. This comes as Liz Saville Roberts MP, Plaid Cymru’s defence spokesperson, tables an Early Day Motion (EDM) in UK Parliament calling for DARC radar plans to be scrapped entirely.
The EDM, titled 975 DARC in Wales, was tabled on 19/03/25, and reads:
That this House notes with deep concern the proposed US-UK-Australian military radar project, DARC (Deep Space Advanced Radar Capability), which would install 27 21m-high, 15m-wide parabolic radar dishes within sight of the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park; believes this would severely harm the visual landscape, local tourism, and the internationally recognised natural ecology of the area; further notes the concerns regarding potential health risks posed by radiofrequency signals, as indicated by scientific studies, on residential populations located less than a kilometre from the site; highlights that DARC, as part of the AUKUS Treaty, is in violation of the 1967 Outer Space Treaty’s prohibition on the national appropriation of space and undermines international law; warns that the deployment of anti-satellite weaponry, for which DARC is a crucial targeting device, threatens to destabilise the civilian satellite network by generating hazardous space debris of a volatile and unpredictable nature which increases the probability of damage to essential infrastructure; urges the Government to recognise that DARC lacks strategic military necessity compared to other priorities; and calls on the government to permanently withdraw its planning application for the Pembrokeshire site and any alternative UK location.
Cross-party support against the DARC radar system
Within its first day the EDM had achieved cross-party support including signatures from the Lib Dems defence spokesperson Helen Maguire MP, Green Party MP Siân Berry, as well as the now Independent Alliance MP and former Labour Party leader, Jeremy Corbyn.
Liz Saville Roberts MP worked closely along with her Parliamentary team as well as PARC campaigners in Pembrokeshire to draft the EDM. She said:
At a time when the United States is becoming a less reliable defence partner, we must question whether we truly want to further entangle Wales in US foreign policy through DARC and the AUKUS Treaty. The Ministry of Defence must also address local residents’ concerns regarding high levels of radiofrequency signals. That is why I have tabled this motion in Parliament.
The EDM comes following a similar ‘Statement of Opinion’ which was tabled by Cefin Campbell MS in the Senedd, also opposing DARC. It has gained cross-party support, having been signed by close to a third of MSs including several Welsh Labour, Plaid Cymru and Welsh Lib Dem Senedd Members.
Silence amid security concerns
Campaigners assert that the proposed DARC radar would give Donald Trump and the US military the ability to dominate the space domain from Pembrokeshire as well as ruin the peninsula’s landscape and environment. PARC Against DARC said:
As DARC radar becomes an increasingly contentious issue within public mindset and yet currently has the backing of Starmer’s administration, surely our elected Labour and Conservative representatives locally cannot stay silent any longer.
With Plaid Cymru and the Welsh Greens fully in support of the campaign, Welsh Labour beginning to show some promising support and the Senedd election period looming, how can it be right that our local elected representatives in both Westminster and the Senedd remain utterly silent on this hugely important issue which is now of grave concern to thousands of people, locally, nationally and internationally?
Lack of accountability and an emerging ‘political vacuum’
The campaign, along with members of the public, have contacted Henry Tofnell MP on numerous occasions, and our experience echoes that of many others as we have received reports that he has completely ignored hundreds of emails requesting answers on DARC. The group said:
As the MP for Mid and South Pembrokeshire and therefore the MP responsible for the proposed site at Brawdy, he has a public duty to take a personal, thorough and detailed interest in this issue. Accordingly we invited Henry to table this EDM on our behalf, yet he did not even have the courtesy to respond to our email requesting this.
There appears to have developed some kind of ‘political vacuum’ in west Wales, where much needed answers should be forthcoming, yet both local politicians in Labour and UK cabinet politicians will for ‘whatever reason’ not break cover or speak out on extremely important issues such as this and other issues.
PARC campaigners say they intend to hand-deliver 650 20-page information booklets and personalised letters to all 650 MPs in a trip to Westminster in London, before continuing to call on politicians in both the Senedd and UK Parliament to sign the respective statements of opposition to DARC.
Public opposition to DARC will turn the tide on politicians
PARC Against DARC said:
As a campaign we have said all along that just as in the ‘90s when we in the PARC campaign fought off the very similar over-the-horizon radar project in the St Davids peninsula, our campaign is growing rapidly, and can and will continue to grow in strength until there is such strong opposition to the development that it will be impossible to build.
We firmly believe that it’s only a matter of time until that situation is reached once again, and therefore as we have said before, it would be in the best interests of our local representatives to get on the right side of public opinion before their hand is forced. There is a stark historical reminder at play here that in the 1990s the local Conservative MP actually lost his seat over the issue, and the then Conservative government in Westminster was forced to very publicly cancel the project in the face of overwhelming public opposition
It noted that:
Our campaign simply grows from strength to strength. We’ve held packed public meetings, we have had over 100 positive media articles, our petition has been signed by over 17,000 people and the statement of opinion in the Senedd is signed by nearly a third of MSs.
Now, also, with the Early Day Motion in Westminster, cross-party opposition to the proposal and volunteers around the county having hand-delivered leaflets reaching 40,000 people, the pressure’s clearly intensifying on politicians who feel it is okay to ignore the thousands of emails they are collectively receiving, and ignore residents’ requests for answers and accountability.
They need to start thinking about the fact this is a defining issue both for their parties, their future and their legacy, but most importantly of all for the landscape, economy and safety of Pembrokeshire, Wales and the UK that it’s in all our interests to protect.
In conclusion, PARC Against DARC said:
We strongly urge anyone who has concerns about DARC to visit our lobbying page on our campaign website, where they can email their MSs and MPs, and ask them to support the statements of opposition in both our UK and Wales Parliaments.
Featured image supplied
