US military footprint in the UK is far bigger than anyone admitted

The UK is even more of a US military colony than we thought. New documents found in the US War Department’s website show that Britain hosts double the number of American military facilities previously reported.

Our friends over at Declassified UK explained:

A US document published online identifies 16 of the US military’s locations in the UK and notes six “other sites” which are not specified. The document, published last year, outlines the US military’s “property portfolio” around the world as of September 2024.

Declassified said they had:

identified other locations in Britain that are likely to be hosting US military or intelligence personnel, bringing the total to at least 24.

But they reflected that this may even be an underestimate:

This doesn’t cover the full scale of the US military presence in the UK, since it is believed that US military personnel are frequently, if not permanently, stationed at still more sites, such as the key Royal Navy bases at Coulport, Devonport and Faslane.

Declassified explored how various installations and locations across the UK are run by US military and intelligence personnel. In many cases these operations are little-known to the public and involve thousands of US personnel and swathes of land.

In practice, a foreign power is running its global military operations from British soil with little or no democratic accountability. The Ministry of Defence (MOD) refused to comment and suggested Declassified submit a Freedom of Information (FOI) request.

US military — troops out!

Sovereignty is a critical issue at the moment.

Green Party leader Zack Polanski recently caused a furore by saying the presence of US bases and troops should be reviewed. At the time it was reported that 13 US bases and over 10,000 US troops were based here.

Now we know the situation is far worse.

Polanski said on 20 January:

We should be reviewing US bases on UK soil, and actually looking at a genuine strategic defence review.

Adding that:

Donald Trump has so much domination within Nato that I don’t believe it’s possible to reform Nato from within

US President Donald Trump had just threatened to annex Greenland. American special forces had also just kidnapped the Venezuelan president and threatened various other countries. So Polanski wasn’t really being dramatic.

American leftie priest Dan Berrigan was once asked how his late Catholic Worker colleague Dorothy Day approached political activism. They’d spent their lives opposing poverty, racism and war in the US.

He replied:

She lived as though the Truth were actually true.

You can take the religious connotation there or leave it, it matters not. But at the Canary we try to write as if the truth is true.

The truth is that Britain is a vassal state and colony of the United States. We say the UK would better off if it was not. US bases, troops and spies need to go. And, with sensible caveats, any journalist or politician making that case is a friend of ours.

Featured image via Militarycom