Sir Keir Starmer has suggested that Donald Trump has no viable plan for his war in Iran.
In an apparent rebuke to the US president, the Prime Minister said that Britain would not get directly involved in the Middle Eastern conflict without a “thought-through” approach from the US and Israel.
Trump criticised Starmer for refusing to join the attacks on Tehran at the weekend, and for initially not allowing the US to use British bases to bomb the regime.
The Prime Minister later relented and gave the US permission to use the bases for “limited” and “defensive” purposes as Iran fired missiles and drones across the region.
When asked by Kemi Badenoch at Prime Minister’s Questions why he would not authorise the RAF to take offensive action against Iran, Starmer replied: “What I was not prepared to do on Saturday was for the UK to join a war unless I was satisfied there was a lawful basis and a viable, thought-through plan. That remains my position.”
Sir Keir has been accused by senior Tories and Reform politicians of jeopardising Britain’s special relationship with the US. Last night, Trump said Starmer was “no Winston Churchill” and “ruins relationships”.
However, the Prime Minister said: “British jets are shooting down drones and missiles to protect American lives in the Middle East on our joint bases. That is the special relationship in action.
“Sharing intelligence every day to keep our people safe. That is the special relationship in action. Hanging on to president Trump’s latest words is not the special relationship in action.”
Starmer told the Commons that an “extremely serious” situation had taken hold in the Middle East and that British troops would be “worried sick” about their relatives.
He added: “We need to act, therefore, with clarity, with purpose and a cool head. The protection of UK nationals is our No 1 priority.
“And we’re taking action to reduce the threat with planes in the sky in the region intercepting incoming strikes, deploying more capability to Cyprus and allowing US planes to use UK bases to take out Iran’s capability to strike.”
Britain cited international law when it initially denied the US permission to use its bases, including Diego Garcia in the British Indian Ocean Territory. When Sir Keir relented on Sunday night, he said he would allow their use only for “specific and limited defensive purposes”.
The dispute persuaded Trump to withdraw his support for Britain’s controversial Chagos deal, which will transfer ownership of the British Indian Ocean Territory to Mauritius.
On Wednesday afternoon, Seyed Ali Mousavi, the Iranian ambassador, was summoned by the Home Office, in what a minister said was a meeting to “condemn Iran’s role in attempting to draw the region into a wider conflict”.
Hamish Falconer, the Middle East minister, summoned Mousavi for the first time since the conflict began last weekend, and criticised the “threat this has presented to the hundreds of thousands of British citizens in the region”.
The Prime Minister was criticised by Badenoch for failing to protect RAF Akrotiri, a British base in Cyprus that was targeted by an Iranian drone on Sunday night.
The Tory leader accused Starmer of “catching arrows rather than stopping the archer” with his approach to Iranian missile and drone attacks.
She said on Wednesday: “Nobody wants to see an escalation. The fact is our bases, in case [the Government] don’t realise, have already been attacked. Iran is trying to kill our servicemen and women. He is catching arrows rather than stopping the archer.
“Why is he asking our allies to do what we should be doing ourselves? I would say to Labour MPs, we are in this war whether they like it or not. What is the Prime Minister waiting for?”
Starmer said that Britain had been pre-deploying military assets to the Middle East for several weeks. He told the Commons that multiple F-35s and Typhoons had been in operation “not just in the Middle East, but across Cyprus”, with further missions flown overnight.
The Prime Minister announced on Tuesday night that he would send HMS Dragon, a Type 45 destroyer, and Wildcat helicopters, to defend the base in Cyprus. However, The Telegraph understands the Portsmouth-based ship may not sail until next week.
RAF Akrotiri is currently defended by British radar systems, air defence and F-35 jets, but there are no Royal Navy warships in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea around it.