Security is being ramped up at US airbases in the UK after five men were arrested near a military site in Gloucestershire on Sunday.
The men are being held on terror charges while police investigate links to Iran, prompting fears that other US bases linked to the country’s war in the Middle East could be the next targets.
Former military personnel have told The i Paper that while security is being increased at the US sites in the UK to counter the threat, other RAF sites controlled by the British are “totally open”.
Avanti West Coast trains to be nationalised
The Transport Secretary said the operator has been underperforming “for years” as it becomes the latest service to be brought back into public ownership.
Andy Burnham said the service had failed people “time and time again” with cancellations and overcrowding.
What you need to know
- Avanti West Coast train services will be nationalised from March 2027, when its contract ends.
- Its London hub is Euston station, with services running to Wales, Manchester, Liverpool, Blackpool and Scotland.
- All train services under Department for Transport contracts, including Avanti, are in the process of being transferred to public ownership.
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Reactions from the sector
“For years, we’ve heard stories of Avanti underperforming, with passengers left paying the price. Enough is enough,” Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander said.
Conversely, Andy Mellors, managing director at Avanti West Coast, said: “We’re proud of what we’ve achieved over the last six years – from refurbishing our Pendolino fleet and introducing our new Evero trains to running more services than ever before.”
The results for customers
- Labour claims nationalisation will mean fewer delays and cancellations.
- This is thanks to a £10m investment in power and signalling maintenance, faster and more reliable services, upgraded facilities at Euston, and more stable internet connection on board trains.
Several rail firms around the country are already publicly owned, including Great Anglia and South Western Railway.
Chess prodigy, 11, becomes youngest woman grandmaster
A London schoolgirl has made history while representing England at the 46th Chess Olympiad in Uzbekistan.
Former chancellor, Rachel Reeves, called the young player “a chess superstar”.
Play by play account
Bodhana Sivanandan scored eight points across 11 games, qualifying for the title of woman grandmaster.
The International Chess Federation confirmed this performance made her the youngest person to gain the lifelong title.
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What makes a champion?
Neither of Sivanandan’s parents are good at chess. She taught herself to play during lockdown using YouTube tutorials.
She entered her first tournament at Harrow Chess Club in 2021.
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After she won the British Women’s Championship earlier this year, she said: “I want to become a [full] grandmaster as soon as possible.”
- She now has two of the three “norms” required to become an International Master, the next rank up on the path to becoming a grandmaster.
Women and child die attempting to cross Channel
A 10-year-old child and two women in their 30s have died just off the coast of France, near Calais.
Andy Burnham’s spokesman said the tragedy was a “stark reminder of the dangers posed by criminal gangs”.
What you need to know
- French authorities rescued 102 people from a dinghy which had left Bleriot Plage.
- At least 17 people, including children, have now died attempting to cross the Channel this year.
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The timeline of events
What happened this morning and when:
- The dinghy pushed off from Bleriot Plage, near Calais, on Monday morning.
- French maritime police received a distress call after the boat got into trouble in the water.
- A rescue ship and Navy helicopter were sent to the scene with a medical team.
- The emergency responders were unable to save the child and two women.
- French officials said the deaths were likely due to crushing rather than drowning, due to overcrowding on the boat.
The official response
The Prime Minister’s official spokesperson said: “We’re deeply saddened to hear about the deaths in France today.
“It is a stark reminder of the dangers posed by the criminal gangs who exploit vulnerable people for profit, and we will continue to work relentlessly.”
An investigation has been opened into the incident.
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What we know so far about RAF Fairford ‘bomb plot’
Five men were arrested on terror charges and villagers evacuated from their homes after a major incident was declared near the RAF Fairford airbase used by the US Air Force.
Aerial footage showed a bomb disposal robot inspecting three white vans in the area.
What are they accused of?
- The men were initially arrested on suspicion of Explosives Act offences.
- Police were called out to three suspicious vans heading towards the airbase in Gloucestershire at 12.45am on Sunday.
- The five men were later further arrested on suspicion of the preparation of a terrorist act, with counter-terrorism policing officers now leading the investigation.
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How were they caught?
A local farmer spotted the seemingly abandoned white vans blocking a quiet country road a few hundred metres from RAF Fairford when driving home from a party.
The farmer told she saw a group of “young” men, some wearing “masks or balaclavas”, running into the trees and across fields towards the airbase. She called the police and warned neighbours to lock their doors.
RAF Fairford’s links to Iran war
A senior Western intelligence source told The i Paper the assumption is that those involved in this incident are likely to be proxies for a hostile state. Iran is understood to be the leading suspect.
- The US Air Force has used RAF Fairford to carry out bombing missions against Iran in a bid to protect ships in the Strait of Hormuz.
- In July, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) warned against allowing US bombers to fly from British bases, saying such sites would be legitimate targets.
- A UK Government spokesperson said at the time: “Our armed forces are ready to keep the United Kingdom safe from any kind of attacks, whether it’s on our soil or from abroad.”
- Inquiries have yet to rule out Russia or even domestic activity.
What did the police say?
I can’t go into details, but I can give reassurance that we believe the matter to be contained and as a set of agencies working together across Gloucestershire, we are gathering and responding to local intelligence all the time.
Gloucestershire Police temporary Chief Constable, Maggie Blyth.
How puzzles may ‘reduce age-related cognitive decline’
Researchers found memory, logic and reasoning puzzles with advice on diet and exercise, can help improve thinking and memory problems.
How the study works
- The study examined people aged 60-85 with low cognitive scores.
- They were split into three groups. One group was given evidence-based advice on diet.
- The second used a website called Active Brains, which provides cognitive exercises in the form of puzzles.
- The third group were directed to the same website and also given “brief support” with a nurse.
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The study’s findings
- After 12 months, all groups showed improvement in their cognitive scores and a significant proportion no longer met the criteria for age-related cognitive decline.
- 28 per cent of people who were given simple lifestyle advice were no longer deemed to have cognitive decline.
- This increased to 33 per cent of those directed to the website and 32 per cent of those directed to the website and given additional support.
- Among those directed to the website and given additional support, there was an 18 per cent reduction in severe cognitive impairment compared to those who were just given advice, researchers found.
Hear from the researchers
Professor Paul Little, co-lead of the study, said: “These are really exciting findings that people can easily take on board.
“Simple messages and simple things that people can do really make a difference – and the NHS does not need to spend a lot of money.”
He added the research team was “surprised” by the cognitive improvement seen among people just given “brief advice”.
What do the experts say?
Experts said the study was “encouraging”, but added some caveats.
Dr Richard Oakley from the Alzheimer’s Society said: “People should not take this study to mean that doing puzzles can reverse dementia or improve symptoms for everyone living with memory problems.”
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Sycamore Gap stump shows new shoots three years after felling
Three years after it was illegally felled, photos show a thick ring of new shoots around the stump of the sycamore tree made famous by 1991’s Robin Hood Prince of Thieves.
What happened to it?
The tree, which was planted in the late 1800s in Northumberland, was illegally felled in September 2023 by Daniel Graham and Adam Carruthers, causing national outcry.
In 2025, the pair were jailed for four years and three months for criminal damage for cutting down the iconic tree with a chainsaw.
Slow recovery starts to show
Now, the National Trust, which operates the site at Hadrian’s Wall, has revealed the stump has shown new growth.
Since it was felled, the remaining stump has been protected by a barrier, allowing nature to take its course and new green shoots to spring up.
Promising signs
These flourishing shoots are really encouraging and show that the special measures we’ve taken, including reducing soil compaction around the roots and limiting human disturbance, are paying off.
Andrew Poad, general manager for the National Trust at Hadrian’s Wall
How triple lock could be axed to pay for national care service
Andy Burnham’s plan to put free social care in Labour’s next general election manifesto could be part of a grand bargain to drop the state pension triple lock, Labour MPs believe.
What you need to know
- A Labour MP told The i Paper that introducing the NHS-style care service would be a “politically smart” way to “sugar the pill” of finally scrapping the lock
- On Sunday, the PM kicked off Labour’s conference in Liverpool by vowing to put forward a plan to voters at the next election in which “everyone contributes, everyone is covered” for social care.
- In private, many MPs across the political spectrum confide that the lock is fundamentally unsustainable over the long term.
Figures chime in
The think-tank said an Australian-style system would deliver savings of about £650m by 2030.
The ex-cabinet minister said getting rid of the triple lock is “an option that the Government should consider”.
The junior minister suggested tax rises would be needed to fund the policy, saying it “isn’t going to be cheap”.
A word of warning
A backbencher cautioned that Burnham would have to tread carefully. “We will need to try and secure a cross-party consensus on adult social care,” they said.
Back in 2017, Theresa May proposed replacing the triple lock with a “double lock”. The policy was dubbed a “dementia tax” and the Tories subsequently lost their majority.
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Security ‘beefed up’ at main US sites
The US has at least 21 military sites across the UK, according to a document published by the Pentagon, which listed the locations of the largest 15 American sites on British soil.
They are mostly in Southern England with one site, Lossiemouth, in the North of Scotland and two sites, Menwith Hill and Fylingdales in the North of England.
The largest US force group in the UK, with more than 6,000 personnel, is stationed at RAF Lakenheath in Suffolk.
The site is home to several squadrons of fighter jets, including F-35s and F-15Es, many of which are now believed to be operating out of the Middle East.
RAF Lakenheath was thrust into the spotlight in April when an American plane was shot down in Iran, prompting a dramatic search-and-rescue mission for the pilot. The plane was later identified by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as belonging to a squadron based at RAF Lakenheath.
This led to anti-war protests outside the military site, and security is said to have been increased as a result. The site is also reportedly home to the US nuclear arsenal, which was officially moved elsewhere in 2008 but is rumoured to have been reinstated at RAF Lakenheath last year, leading to further anti-nuclear protests.
Simon Diggins, a retired colonel, said security is being “beefed up” at sites like Lakenheath after the events on Sunday.
He said: “We know that gates and various entrances have been blocked [at Fairford], presumably to stop people from easily getting onto it, so there was some recognition that was going on.”
Diggins added that the fact a member of the public couldn’t initially get through to a Ministry of Defence hotline for the area showed there was a “security gap”, which the US and the UK “will no doubt be looking at and trying to address”.
The ‘obvious’ next target – RAF Mildenhall
Just south of RAF Lakenheath is the smaller RAF Mildenhall, home to around 4,000 US personnel. It has been used for refuelling tankers and logistics support for US aircraft involved in the war in Iran.
Tankers have flown from the Suffolk site to the Mediterranean to meet jets returning from the Middle East, where they refuel them whilst airborne, allowing the jets to return to the conflict zone.
Diggins said Mildenhall would be the “obvious” next target for terrorists looking to attack US airbases in the UK.
The threat level at Lakenheath and Mildenhall is believed to have been raised to Charlie – the second-highest level when intelligence suggests there could be a potential attack.
He suggested there could be extra police patrols in the area surrounding the site, or potentially military patrols under the military aid to civil authorities powers, especially if the local police force does not have the capacity.
Former RAF commanders concerned over ‘fragile’ security
Former military personnel are concerned that Sunday’s foiled plot on RAF Fairford could be repeated at bases operated by the British military, which they say are not well defended.
An ex-RAF wing commander told The i Paper that security on other RAF bases in the North of England is “fragile”.
“We have bases that are totally open where anyone can walk in from any side,” another former wing commander said.
He was also concerned about drone attacks such as those carried out by Ukraine on Russian military bases, which he said would have “catastrophic implications” for the UK.
“About 18 months ago, there was a lot of focus post the Brize Norton incident with protestors getting onto camp,” the source said, referring to pro-Palestine protestors who spray-painted planes at the RAF base last year. “After that, a lot more was done to lock down camps but the infrastructure and geography of most camps makes it an almost impossible task.”
“A lot of these airfields were originally built in the Second World War, they’re built on open countryside,” explained Diggins. “In different circumstances, we’ve had patrols going out into the community. Security cannot just start at the perimeter, it’s got to be wider than that.”
According to one former RAF commanding officer, the main defence to airbases at the moment is “lack of will” to attack from hostile parties, so an Iranian desire to attack poses a “real problem”.
“The parallel I would draw is between the nation and the airfields – neither is properly defended,” he said. “When we are serious about defending something, we put Royal Marines around it such as nuclear sub bases. With the airbases we are using much cheaper people as guards.”