Prime Minister Keir Starmer has confirmed that the UK will allow the United States to use British military bases for defensive strikes against Iranian missile sites. In a recorded statement on Sunday evening, Starmer said the UK has not been involved in US-Israeli strikes on Iran, but that Tehran's increasingly reckless behaviour is putting British lives at risk.
Starmer noted that around 200,000 British nationals are in Middle Eastern countries targeted by Iran. He explained that the only way to neutralise the threat is to destroy missiles at their source, and that the US requested permission to use British bases for that limited defensive purpose. The UK accepted the request to prevent Iran from firing missiles across the region.
Within hours of the announcement, the UK's Akrotiri air force base in Cyprus was hit by a suspected drone, causing only minor damage and no casualties. The Ministry of Defence said force protection in the region is at the highest level. The government released a summary of its legal position, stating it is acting in collective self-defence of regional allies who requested support.
The decision has sparked political controversy. Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey demanded that MPs be given a vote on the use of British bases, warning of a slippery slope. Green Party leader Zack Polanski called the US action an illegal and unprovoked attack. Labour chair of the foreign affairs committee, Emily Thornberry, previously said US action breached international law. Meanwhile, Conservatives and Reform UK pressured Starmer to offer more support to the US.
Defence Secretary John Healey declined to condemn the US strikes, which killed around 48 Iranian leaders, and said few would mourn Iran's supreme leader Ali Khamenei, describing the regime as a source of evil. Starmer also confirmed that British jets are in the air as part of coordinated defensive operations that have already intercepted Iranian strikes.
