Les d\u00e9put\u00e9s britanniques sont partis en vacances. Auparavant, ils ont communiqu\u00e9 leur intense fureur devant une communication du gouvernement, noy\u00e9e dans diverses autres communications, concernant la base d’\u00e9coute de Menwith Hill (faisant partie<\/a> du r\u00e9seau Echelon<\/em>). Selon The Independent<\/em> d’hier<\/a> :<\/p>\n<\/p>\n \t\u00abIn the dying days of the parliamentary session last week, Des Browne, the Secretary of State for Defence, confirmed that the US listening base at RAF Menwith Hill, in north Yorkshire, would be upgraded to provide early warning of missile attack that would be fed into the planned US national missile defence system. The statement was one of more than 30 government announcements that day. The UK radar base at RAF Fylingdales has already been upgraded, and Mr Browne announced that it too would feed data to the national missile defence system.<\/em>\u00bb<\/p>\n<\/p>\n \tUne lettre collective de 23 parlementaires britanniques, un chiffre remarquable pour la rapidit\u00e9 de la r\u00e9action autant qu’\u00e0 cause de la proximit\u00e9 des vacances, demande un d\u00e9bat aux Communes. La lettre a \u00e9t\u00e9 publi\u00e9 par le Guardian<\/em> hier<\/a>. Parmi les signataires, on note le nom de Clare Short, ministre d\u00e9missionnaire au d\u00e9but de la guerre en Irak et activiste notoire ; son dynamisme laisse pr\u00e9sager qu’il y aura effectivement une pouss\u00e9e des parlementaires autant que des relais divers dans la presse et dans le monde associatif pour tenter de faire inscrire cette question au programme des Communes \u00e0 la rentr\u00e9e. La lettre dit notamment :<\/p>\n<\/p>\n \t\u00abWe are greatly concerned by the government’s announcement that the communication base at Menwith Hill is to be used for US missile defence, alongside the Fylingdales radar, both in Yorkshire (Britain insists on joint role at ‘son of Star Wars’ base, August 2). The continued and increasing involvement in US missile defence potentially puts the UK on the frontline in future wars. It has already contributed towards increased tensions with Russia. US missile defence is provocative, allowing the US to launch first-strike attacks without fear of retaliation, and increases the likelihood of a new nuclear arms race. We therefore believe that any UK support for the programme should be fully debated and agreed by parliament, rather than by ministerial announcement.<\/em>\u00bb<\/p>\n<\/p>\n