Jean Lambert rejects Star Wars

off to the strand to defend the forests in Tasmania...great to see Jean as usual working hard for peace

"Star Wars": The Green MEP Strikes Back
Jean Lambert MEP will address demonstrators at a United States 'spy base' inYorkshire, on Saturday 13th October from 12-4pm, in protest against itsinvolvement in the "Star Wars" missile system. The demonstration, organised by the Campaign for Accountability of AmericanBases (CAAB), will take place at the Menwith Hill communications centreoutside Harrogate: where military, economic and political information isgathered and fed back to the US Government.
On 25th July the UK Government announced that it had given permission forMenwith Hill, the largest electronic monitoring station in the world outsideAmerica, to be used in the American Missile Defence System. The site is run by the US National Security Agency (NSA), which monitors theworld's communication for US intelligence, and employs around 1,800 UScivilians and servicemen to analyse communications, mainly from Europe,Russia and the Middle East. All telecommunications traffic to and fromEurope and passing through Britain is intercepted at the base: includingprivate telephone calls, faxes, emails and other communications. Much ofthis information is collected from spy satellites, which is captured at thesite by dishes contained in large white 'golf-balls' or radomes. The data isthen processed and relayed back to the United States automatically. Jean Lambert MEP said: "The Government approved the Menwith Hill site for missile defence withoutany parliamentary debate; undermining the democratic process in this countryand revealing that they are not prepared to discuss the implications of thisdecision." "In allowing the US to use the base, our Government is making our countrymore vulnerable to attack. Any US adversary could now target Britain inorder to destroy the effectiveness of the missile defence system." "Our long-term security requires international conflict resolution and acommitment to averting potentially disastrous environmental problems likeclimate change. On the contrary, this missile defence system simplyintensifies divisions between nations." ENDS For more information please contact: Georgina Bloomfield, Media Officer Tel: 020 7407 6280 Email: media@jeanlambertmep.org.uk www.jeanlambertmep.org.uk Notes to editors Jean Lambert MEP will be available for interview on 13th October, at MenwithHill or in Harrogate. Jean Lambert: In October 2005 Jean was named MEP 2005 for Justice and HumanRights and is a member of the Civil Liberties, Justice and Home AffairsCommittee. Jean was first elected Green Party Member of the EuropeanParliament for London in the 1999 European elections. She was re-elected in2004. She is one of nine MEPs representing London and one of two UK Greenrepresentatives in the European Parliament. Published and promoted by Elizabeth Barclay, Harrogate and District GreenParty (Communications) Rainbows End, Ure Bank Top, Ripon, HG4 1JD Tel: 01765 508750 or 07799150879 Georgina Bloomfield Media and Public Relations Officer Office of Jean Lambert, London's Green MEP Suite 58, The Hop Exchange 24 Southwark Street London SE1 1TY Tel: +44 (0)20 7407 6280 Email: media@jeanlambertmep.org.uk Website: www.jeanlambertmep.org.uk