Keir Starmer gave the go-ahead tonight for the US to use British bases to strike Iranian targets blocking the Strait of Hormuz in what Kemi Badenoch called ‘the mother of all U-turns’.
The Prime Minister deepened UK involvement in the war hours after Donald Trump branded Nato allies as ‘cowards’ for not helping protect the vital shipping lane.
Following the President’s latest tirade, Downing Street said RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire and Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean could now be used by the US to reopen the Strait.
No 10 had previously allowed American forces to use the bases for ‘defensive’ attacks on Iranian missile sites that would put British lives or interests at risk.
Tonight the Ministry of Defence also confirmed the RAF is flying ‘defensive air patrols’ over Jordan, Qatar, the UAE and Bahrain to protect Middle East allies.
Tory leader Mrs Badenoch called Sir Keir’s announcement the ‘mother of all U-turns’.
Shadow Defence Secretary James Cartlidge added: ‘After weeks of dither and finger-pointing, the Prime Minister has again changed his mind and performed another screeching U-turn.’
MPs warned Sir Keir tonight was dragging the UK further into the war without letting Parliament have a say.
Keir Starmer gave the go-ahead tonight for the US to use British bases to strike Iranian targets blocking the Strait of Hormuz
Former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said: ‘This is a reckless act of escalation that endangers us all. No discussion. No debate. What a disgrace. How on earth can the Prime Minister still pretend we are not involved?’
A US intelligence assessment concluded Iran has the capability to keep the strait closed for up to six months, CNN reported.
The new agreement means the US can now use the UK bases in ‘defensive operations to degrade the missile sites and capabilities being used to attack ships in the Strait of Hormuz’.
A No 10 spokesman said: ‘Ministers agreed that Iran’s reckless strikes, including on Red Ensign vessels and those of our close allies and Gulf partners, risked pushing the region further into crisis and worsening the economic impact being felt in the UK and around the world.’
Downing Street said Britain will still not be directly involved in the strikes and ‘the principles behind the UK’s approach to the conflict remain the same’.
In a post on Truth Social this afternoon, Mr Trump called Nato a ‘paper tiger’ without the US.
He vowed ‘we will REMEMBER’ how Western nations ‘didn’t want to join the fight’ and refused to help open the Strait of Hormuz.
He added: ‘Now that fight is Militarily WON, with very little danger for them, they complain about the high oil prices they are forced to pay but don’t want to help open the Strait of Hormuz, a simple military manoeuvre that is the single reason for the high oil prices.
Tory leader Kemi Badenoch called Sir Keir’s announcement tonight the ‘mother of all U-turns’
‘So easy for them to do, with so little risk. COWARDS, and we will REMEMBER!’
Outside the White House, he added the UK ‘should have acted a lot faster’ in allowing America to use British bases to strike missile sites targeting the Strait.
He said: ‘I was a little surprised at the UK to be honest – they should have acted a lot faster.
‘The relationship is so good but this has never happened before. They were really pretty much our first ally… they didn’t want us to use the island (Diego Garcia) which for some reason they gave up rights to.’
His tirade came as Nato withdrew its advisory mission in Iraq, which removed ‘all its personnel’ from the Middle East.
Meanwhile, some 2,500 US Marines are set to arrive in the region in the coming days with two more such units to follow as Mr Trump is reportedly mulling a high stakes invasion of Kharg Island to force open the Strait.
The tiny territory, twice the size of Heathrow, sits 15 miles offshore from the mainland and is strategically vital as it processes 90 per cent of Tehran’s crude oil exports.
Washington hopes that by seizing it they can force the new Supreme Leader to the negotiation table.
Donald Trump vowed on Truth Social this afternoon ‘we will REMEMBER’ how Western nations ‘didn’t want to join the fight’ and refused to help open the Strait of Hormuz
‘We need about a month to weaken the Iranians more with strikes, take the island and then get them by the balls and use it for negotiations,’ a US source told Axios news website.
However, seizing the island would not only cut off the vast majority of Iranian oil exports but could also provoke the regime to ignite a full-scale war against energy infrastructure across the Gulf and send crude prices soaring even further.
It could also risk the wrath of China which gets 13 per cent of its oil from Iran and there is no guarantee Iran would surrender.
Today, Tehran defiantly insisted that it will continue to deny its enemy their security in the Strait and will fight on.
‘The soldiers of Islam are eagerly awaiting the American marines,’ the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said.
‘They are fully prepared to deliver a hard slap to the American warship deep in the theatre of war and to bring maritime surprises up close for the American marines to witness.’
IRGC spokesman General Ali Mohammad Naeini said: ‘These people expect the war to continue until the enemy is completely exhausted.’
But hours later Naeini was reportedly killed in a strike. Saudi Arabia also gave its strongest hint yet that it may retaliate against Iran if the regime continues to strike critical infrastructure across the Gulf.
Despite calls to halt strikes on energy facilities, Iranian drones hit a Kuwaiti oil refinery today.
This came after Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu said a ‘ground component’ would be necessary to topple the Iranian regime as ‘revolutions from the air’ were not possible.
The US has not ruled out boots on the ground.
UK military planners have joined the US Central Command to look at options for getting tankers through the Strait of Hormuz.
But defence sources have stressed the situation was so dangerous, not many nations would be willing to put warships ‘in the middle of that threat right now’.
Shadow Defence Secretary James Cartlidge said: ‘The Prime Minister had the Navy’s only active minesweeper taken out of the Gulf a week before the war began. He dithered about sending a warship to help defend our base in Cyprus.
‘And where we have been clear from the outset that we would have allowed our closest military ally to use our bases, Starmer has been all over the place.’
Other MPs warned Sir Keir was dragging the UK further into the war without giving Parliament a say.
Veteran Labour MP Jon Trickett said: ‘It’s impossible to reconcile the Government’s stated objective to ‘de-escalate the war’ with the decision to allow US war planes to attack Iran from bases on UK territory.’
Plaid Cymru’s Liz Saville Roberts said: ‘There must be a vote in Parliament.’
