More than 140,000 Brits are currently located in the Middle East
Keir Starmer delivered a speech at 2pm on Thursday(Image: Getty)
Keir Starmer says he will deliver “calm, level-headed leadership” to the UK as the conflict in the Middle East widens, “no matter the pressure to do otherwise”.
Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper confirmed earlier this week that more than 130,000 Brits were based in the region and had registered updates from the UK Government. A flight chartered by the UK government to return around 180 Britons failed to take off from Muscat, Oman, overnight, due to technical issues, but will depart “imminently”.
The Prime Minister has faced criticism from domestic and foreign politicians for his reluctance to greenlight UK intervention in the Middle East, having eventually agreed for the US to use British military bases for “defensive” strikes on Iranian missile sites to protect neighbouring Gulf states.
“I know that people are worried sick about their family and friends who are caught up in this,” the Prime Minister said to journalists. “They can hardly believe that, yet again, we’re seeing missiles and drones falling…across the region. So, I want to reassure the British public about the action that we are taking.
“While the region has been plunged into chaos, my focus is providing calm, level-headed leadership in the national interest. That means deploying our military and diplomatic strength to protect our people. And it means having the strength to stand firm by our values a principles, matter the pressure to do otherwise.”
He reaffirmed that Iran should “give up their nuclear ambitions” and says this was the decision why the UK “would not join the initial strikes by the U.S. and Israel,” describing the decision as “deliberate and in the national interest”.
“But, when Iran started attacking countries in the Gulf, and the wider region, the situation changed. Iran has now fired drones and missiles at 10 countries that did not attack them. These are allies of the UK, where we have hundreds of thousands of British people, as well as British military personnel.”
The Royal Air Force Akrotiri base in Cyprus was believed to have been hit by a “Shahed-type drone”, a common weapon of choice for Tehran, which evaded detection by flying low and slow on Sunday (March 1). However, the Ministry of Defence confirmed the drone had not been fired from Iran, but did not disclose where it might have came from.
A hangar used by American U-2 spy planes was targeted in the strike and burst into flames. The HMS Dragon Type 45 destroyer, along with anti-drone capability helicopters, was being readied to protect RAF Akrotiri, but will not make the journey to the Mediterranean until next week.
“Our number one priority is protecting our people. And that’s why, long before the U.S. and Israeli action last weekend, we had already deployed additional military capabilities to the region,” the Prime Minster continued.
Government officials confirmed HMS Dragon is currently being loaded with ammunition in Portsmouth, having recently undergone maintenance, and was earmarked for a different operation.
Chief Secretary to the Treasury James Murray said he was “not going to get into operational detail” when asked when the warship would arrive, adding, “It will be as soon as possible.” The minister claimed defensive capabilities around Cyprus had increased in recent weeks since the outbreak of war.
“We’ve been building up F35s at our bases in Cyprus, Typhoons in Qatar, radar capability, all of the defensive capability which is important to enable us to protect British armed forces, British nationals in the region.”
Keir Starmer also confirmed that more than 4,000 Brits had returned home via commercial flights, and that the government was using rapid deployment teams on the ground across the Middle East, in Oman and Saudi Arabia, to bring more home.
“Despite airport closures, we’re working around the clock with airlines, travel companies and governments to open safe routes home,” he said. “