THE “Son of Star Wars” missile defence project – in which the region’s US air bases will play a key role – will put all of Europe’s security at risk, MPs have warned.

The highly-controversial ballistic missile defence (BMD) scheme should only go ahead if it can be done with the agreement of Russia, a hard-hitting report by the Commons Foreign Affairs Committee concluded.

The study also called for Parliament, finally, to debate the scheme properly – a demand repeatedly rebuffed by the Government.

The multi-billion dollar project has enormous implications for North Yorkshire, where two US bases will play a crucial role in knocking out nuclear warheads before they reach America.

RAF Fylingdales, south of Whitby, was upgraded with early-warning radar equipment, which was switched on about two years ago.

Around the same time, Gordon Brown made an announcement that the satellite ground station at Menwith Hill, near Harrogate, will monitor satellite warnings of potentially-hostile missile launches.

Opponents have warned that Britain’s involvement would make this country a potential target if a rogue state decided to attack the US with ballistic missiles.

Now the committee’s report, called Global Security: Non-proliferation, has added to those fears by warning the project will be “highly detrimental to Nato’s overall security interests”.

And it describes the inclusion of RAF Fylingdales and Menwith Hill as “regrettable”, because the scheme involves the US pulling out of the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty, a key plank of international rules.

Mike Gapes, the committee’s Labour chairman, said: “We urge that BMD in Europe should be developed, if at all, as a joint system between the US, Nato and Russia.

“We repeat the call that we made in a report two years ago for the Government to schedule a full Parliamentary debate on ballistic missile defence.”

BMD involves siting a radar station in the Czech Republic and ten interceptor missiles in Poland – prompting Russia to threaten to deploy missiles on its Polish border and to electronically jam the system.

When he reached the White House in January, President Obama announced a surprise review of BMD, suggesting it might be axed.

However, it now appears that the US will only think again if Iran rolls back its development of missiles and, it is widely suspected, nuclear weapons.

The committee’s report also called on the Government to lift the lid on whether the most recent Nato summit, held in April, would lead to any changes to European involvement in BMD.

Separately, it warns of the threat of nuclear proliferation because of the widespread belief that the five recognised nuclear powers have “failed to live up to nuclear disarmament commitments”.