Questions have been raised about whether Sir Keir Starmer allowed the US President and his US bombers to use Diego Garcia so they could fly 3,500 miles to Iran.
Last week, senior military figures urged the Prime Minister to put national security first and let Donald Trump use British bases for an attack on Iran.
Meanwhile, the Chagossian First Minister, said he gave his ‘blessing’ for the United States to use the base at Diego Garcia to launch strikes on the Iranian regime.
Misley Mandarin said they ‘govern’ and ‘decide what happens’ on the island while also giving Trump ‘permission’ to use the base ‘in defence of peace’.
The UK-US base, located in the Indian Ocean, plays a critical role in both countries’ ability to deter their adversaries and transatlantic defence.
Last May, Labour signed over sovereignty of the Chagos Archipelago to Mauritius in exchange for retaining full operational control of the base on an initial 99-year lease.
And a month before, the US sent an ‘unprecedented’ deployment of its heavy B-2 bombers to the Chagos Islands as tensions grew over nuclear talks with Iran.
Six stealth bombers flew into the US airbase on Diego Garcia from Missouri in what was said to have been the ‘largest single deployment in US history’ as Trump was queried if he was preparing to strike Iran 3,500 miles away.
Senior military figures previously urged Sir Keir Starmer to put national security first and let Donald Trump use British bases for an attack on Iran
The Chagossian First Minister, Misley Mandarin, said he gave his ‘blessing’ for the United States to use the base at Diego Garcia to launch strikes on the Iranian regime
Donald Trump today condemned Iran’s ‘vicious’ leaders’ 47-year ‘campaign of bloodshed and mass murder’ as he announces strikes on the country
And as the US and Israel launched a daylight missile attack on Iran today, with Trump vowing to ‘raze their missile industry to the ground’, questions have been raised over whether the President used the British overseas military base.
Richard Tice, the Reform MP for Boston and Skegness took to X, saying ‘the US & Israel rightly aim to protect us all in the West by destroying the dangerous Iranian regime’.
However, he questioned whether ‘Starmer & Labour cowardly refused to allow use of UK bases, including Diego Garcia?’
He added: ‘If so, they’ve seriously damaged the special relationship at a critical point in history.’
Last week, Downing Street refused to give the US permission to launch an air strike from UK and overseas bases, with Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper telling US Secretary of State Marco Rubio that Britain favoured ‘diplomatic and economic pressure’ on Iran.
Trump was said to be particularly keen to use Diego Garcia as well as RAF Fairford in Suffolk to ‘eradicate a potential attack by a highly unstable and dangerous regime’ in Tehran.
However, Sir Keir blocked US plans amid concerns over the legality of the air strikes, which the US were preparing to launch at the time.
It is understood that the UK did not participate in the US-Israeli strikes on Iran and that Sir Keir is set to chair a meeting of the Government’s emergency Cobra committee this morning.
Last week, Labour also came under fire from both the Conservative Party and former top brass over their decision to refuse US permission to launch air strikes, as they said Iran’s nuclear programme ‘poses a grave threat to Britain and our allies’.
Reform MP Richard Tice took to X to question whether the Prime Minister had refused to allow the US President to use the overseas British military base
A US Air Force B-1B bomber takes off from Diego Garcia on October, 7, 2001
Six B-2 bombers seen on the apron of the US military base on Diego Garcia island, April 2
Rear Admiral Chris Parry, a retired Royal Navy officer, said: ‘At a time when our US ally needs to be reassured of Britain’s staunch opposition to brutal regimes and about its access to the Chagos Islands and [UK-US military base] Diego Garcia, our Government is proving unreliable and weak.’
Former Royal Navy Commander Tom Sharpe said: ‘We absolutely should let the US use UK bases in launching targeted strikes against Iran. It would be madness not to. The Americans can use Diego Garcia anyway, as it is a joint base, but we should be actively supporting.’
Last April, when the US launched the ‘largest single deployment in US history’ as they flew six stealth bombers from Missouri to Diego Garcia, Trump was asked whether he was gearing up to strike Iranian nuclear facilities.
At the time, he said: ‘Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon, and if the talks aren’t successful, I actually think it will be a very bad day for Iran if that’s the case.’
US Air Force tankers were deployed across the Atlantic en route to the region at the time.
However, retired Brigadier General Steve Anderson said refuelling bombers tasked with potentially travelling 3,500 miles from Diego Garcia to the Middle East would prove to be a challenge.
With the B-2 Bombers, the US would be able to provide vital bunker busters, such as the Massive Ordnance Penetrator (GBU-57), capable of penetrating up to 200ft and putting Iran’s remaining nuclear sites in jeopardy.
In May 2025, the Pentagon sent fighter jets to the military base in the Indian Ocean to protect assets there, the War Zone military news website reported.
A senior officer from US Indo-Pacific Command said that F-15s had been deployed to ‘provide force protection’, without specifying how many.
In March, satellite imagery showed C-17 cargo planes and KC-135 refuelling tankers had been moved to Chagos. And by the end of the month, the US said it had sent ‘several’ additional A-10 Warthogs to the Middle East, along with 300 airmen.
It comes as airstrikes were launched on Iran today by, following weeks of tension building between Washington and Tehran.
They are believed to have targeted the offices of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
However, officials said the 86-year-old, who has not been seen in public for days, is not in Tehran and has been transferred to a secure location.
Iran said there would be a ‘crushing response’ with explosions rocking northern Israel shortly after 8am on Saturday morning.
The explosions come as tensions are high between Iran and the United States over Tehran’s nuclear programme
The Israeli military said it had identified ballistic missiles launched from Iran towards Israel, with defensive systems operating to ‘intercept the threat’.
Blasts have also rocked Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait and Abu Dhabi sparking fears the Middle East may now be on the brink of all out war.
In Bahrain, officials confirmed that the headquarters of the US Navy’s 5th Fleet had been targeted by a missile attack – with footage shared on social media showing a large plume of smoke rising into the sky.
Explosions have also been heard in the Syrian city of Damascus and in the city of Sidon in southern Lebanon, apparently as a result of Israeli missile interceptions.
President Trump announced today that the US had begun ‘major combat operations’ in Iran with explosions heard in five cities across the country.
In a video posted to Truth Social, he claimed Iran had continued to expand its nuclear programme and has plans to develop missiles to reach the US.
The operation in the Middle East has been dubbed ‘Epic Fury’ by the US Department of Defence, which Trump has renamed the Department of War.
