Chancellor Rachel Reeves has described Donald Trump’s decision to go to war against Iran as “folly”, in an unusually blunt criticism of the US president. Speaking to the Daily Mirror ahead of her trip to Washington for IMF meetings, Reeves said she felt “frustrated and angry” that the US entered the conflict without a clear exit plan or defined objectives.
“This is a war that we did not start. It was a war that we did not want,” Reeves said. She noted that the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz was already affecting UK families and businesses, reversing earlier economic progress. The chancellor pointed out that inflation had been falling and the economy was set to grow, but the war had undermined those gains.
Meanwhile, Fiona Hill, co-author of Britain’s strategic defence review, has joined criticism of Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s leadership on military policy. She warned of a “bizarre” lack of urgency in defence planning, echoing concerns raised by former defence secretary Lord Robertson, who accused Starmer of “corrosive complacency towards defence”.
Hill’s remarks add to mounting pressure on the government to increase defence spending and address long-standing inefficiencies in the Ministry of Defence. The criticism comes as Labour MPs propose new policies to reduce dependence on Washington, including a Swiss-style deal with the EU and lower electricity prices.
