London: A Hot Question is worrying UK whether Prime Minister Tony Blair has secretly agreed to grant permission to station US missiles at RAF Fylingdales in North Yorkshire.   This is reported by Independent on Sunday.

According to the press report, Blair has agreed in principle to the US defence department that the weapons so called interceptor missiles could be sited as desired. 

The ministry of defence has, however, declined to comment saying that no such approach has been made by the US Government over the deployment of interceptors in Britain.   In absence of any request by the US the question of reaching any agreement to this effect does not arise.

The report is not clear.  However Blair is not against allowing Washington to use early warning radar at the Fylingdales base for the missile defence programme.

The Independent on Sunday said boldly that the agreement was reached at a meeting between British and American officials in May but London had asked that no formal request be made by Washington until after the UK elections, expected in May 2005. 

Menzies Campbell, foreign affairs spokesman for the liberal democrats, expressed concern that the decision might have reached secretly. 

If the report is correct, the Ministry of defence has refused to comment and elaborate the facts how that happened.  One thing is certain that no formal approach has so far been made by the United States since they were hinted that they should make that request only after the UK elections are over.

Since the missiles are currently located in Alaska and California, they want more bases in Europe and UK is at the top of it.

Our correspondent reports that the Ministry of defence is not coming forward with an open heart, they are not going to offer any comments on the alleged secret deal.  They also feel they have not yet decided whether they need their own missile system here in UK. 

According to BBC, work has already started on a £449 million project to upgrade RAF Fylingdales to make it part of the US anti-missile defence programme.   One thing is confirmed that the Government will allow the US to use early warning radar at the base.

The real story goes that in August, the Danish Government signed a deal to allow a radar base in Greenland to be used even though it is not clear whether US has asked them to site missiles.  This deal is reported to be brokered in Washington last May according to the officials of the British Embassy and the US State department who confirmed in anonymity.

MIL feels that if the deal is struck, it may have major implications for the defence posture of the UK and the relations with NATO Countries and other allies.

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