UK local leaders seek answers over suspected plot near RAF Fairford

A local MP and councillors have called for answers about the security response after five men were arrested near RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire on suspicion of explosives and terror offences. About 85 properties in Whelford were evacuated on Sunday morning after the arrests. The men were later released on police bail, although a cordon remained around the village and some residents were only beginning to return late on Monday.

Roz Savage, the Liberal Democrat MP for South Cotswolds, said she had questions about how the alleged plot had been detected and how the suspects were able to enter residential areas near the base. She said she would write to the prime minister and defence secretary. Savage said she had previously sought assurances about residents’ safety after RAF Fairford was announced as a base for US military airstrikes on Iran.

She said the weekend’s events raised doubts about whether those assurances were sufficient. Tristan Wilkinson, a Cotswold district councillor, questioned conflicting accounts of the arrests. A farmer told reporters she had contacted police about suspicious activity early on Sunday, while US President Donald Trump reportedly said the men had been under surveillance.

Wilkinson said those accounts raised questions about why the men were allegedly allowed to get close to the base and enter residential areas if intelligence services were monitoring them. He also pointed to the military base’s proximity to homes and called for improved relations and security arrangements. In July, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps warned that any base used for aggression against Iranian territory would be a legitimate target, specifically referring to RAF Fairford.

Iran has denied involvement in the Gloucestershire incident, and its embassy in London condemned what it called speculation linking Tehran to the alleged activity. The source material does not identify the alleged plot’s intended target, establish whether explosives were found or explain the basis for the arrests. The investigation and questions about the authorities’ handling of the incident remain ongoing.