This would be the tracking station for a missile shield that will protect the good ol' US of A while providing no protection for the UK itself.

Nice to see our leaders have our best interests at heart.

It may be part of "the deal" but it whatever protection there may be will be minimal compared to that the UK based station will offer the USA.

Think about it. If a tracking station on the soil of the country it is protecting is adequate, why does Uncle Sam want one here (UK)?

Just when you think our Government cannot become any more subservient to the USA, they drop to new levels of fawning and ass-licking.

Is Menwith Hill not part of Project ECHELON, the story goes that every e-mail sent in the UK ends up here or GCHQ for proccessing. Oh dear, I use the word ECHELON they'll pick that up in an instant. What's that? Sounds like helicopters

"the deal" was the May 17th 1943 BRUSA followed by the 1947 UKUSA agreement, scant details of which have been released. Mostly COMINT based rather than ABM systems. Menwith Hill is sure impressive underground, the hospital , the...! (er..No, I *haven't* been there, otherwise I wouldn't be typing this)

"missile defence shield"

Wonderful how HMG is so determined to defend us from a few loonies with some semtex and a death-wish, but appears wholly unconcerned about putting us top of the list of targets when we are up against hard-core megalomaniacs in bunkers who control an air-force, rockets and nuclear weapons.

You’d think some evidence that this so-called shield works would be a pre-requisite. If the Yanks are so confident, perhaps we could lob a few old Tridents in their direction to test it? Any casualties could be classed as friendly fire, so that would be OK...

It may seem counter intuitive, but a quick analysis of history shows were now safe as houses. (fingers crossed.)

It's a little known, (but publically available, since I read it somewhere and am not a spock,) fact that the US actually invaded Vietnam, in response to the murder of one of their, er, quiet radio operators. This is of course contrary to all that French chicken rubbish etc.

So what do you think the yanks would do, if someone nuked a whole field of listeners? It's not like the Russians or anyone else for that matter could send a rocket from Moscow, without it being noticed.

America would HAVE to know it was next, and so it would be goodnight irene. (The same applies to any detonation of nukes, anywhere. It's not like China and Russia could depend on the goodwill of the religion of peace after what they've done to their little areas of the brotherhood is it? It would be just a matter of time for them too, and I guess they know it.)

Sure, we'd lose a particularly ugly, desolate, cold, wet, swampy field 25 miles square and 50 miles from anywhere (nice,) but it would be game over for whoever sent it, and Centreparks could open an new place round the (deep) lake that formed afterwards.

Live long and prosper.

Ah, so the 'tracking station' is a bit of a red herring, then.

How the system works is we (the UK) sit here waiting for our 'tracking station' to get the shit nuked out of it. When that happens the Yanks know its time to dive into their bunkers.

So we are more of a tethered goat than a picket ship.

"US actually invaded Vietnam, in response to the murder of one of their, er, quiet radio operators."

Not quite, the US invaded Vietnam to gain access to the oil drilling rights in the see. Most of the "excess" bombs that were dropped in the sea were for the purposes of ground sounding to see where the best oil fields were.

Even the French weren't stupid enough to think they could win the Vietnam War which is why they pulled out.

As for this listening post, it appears we haven't bent over far enough, as the US cock isn't in far enough. Yet another relationship with the US we get nothing back on except grief.