Donald Trump launches blistering attack on UK and Keir Starmer over Iran as minister defends approach

A government minister has insisted UK decisions are ‘based on legality’ after Donald Trump’s criticism

Donald Trump said Sir Keir had not been ‘helpful’(Image: PA Wire/PA Images)

The UK will make decisions based on “legality and British interests”, a minister has asserted, following Donald Trump’s latest criticism of Sir Keir Starmer over the Middle East conflict.

Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, Darren Jones, stated the initial strikes in Iran by the US and Israel did not “meet the test the Prime Minister has set out”, as he responded to questions about the level of British support for America’s actions. It follows Mr Trump’s comments that Sir Keir had “not been helpful” and labelled the transatlantic divide “very sad” in an interview with the Sun on Monday evening.

“This was the most solid relationship of all. And now we have very strong relationships with other countries in Europe,” he said. “It’s not going to matter, but (Sir Keir) should have helped… he should have.

“I mean, France has been great. They’ve all been great. The UK has been much different from others.”

When asked during the interview about allegations that Sir Keir was pandering to Muslim voters for political reasons, the president suggested that “it could be”.

It is the second reprimand issued by the president in a British newspaper after he told the Telegraph he was “very disappointed” in the Prime Minister’s decision not to allow US jets to deploy from UK bases to carry out the initial strikes over the weekend.

On Monday, Sir Keir stated his Government “does not believe in regime change from the skies”, seemingly criticising the US President’s bombing campaign in the Middle East. In a conversation with broadcasters on Tuesday morning, Mr Jones defended Britain’s stance, asserting that decisions must be made lawfully.

Sir Keir Starmer speaking in the House of Commons(Image: PA Wire/PA Images)

When questioned if he acknowledged the US’s frustration, the Chief Secretary to the Prime Minister told Sky News: “Well I’ve seen the president’s words but that doesn’t really negate the fact that we make decisions, as I say, on the basis of legality and British interest.

“We were happy to provide bases at Diego Garcia and RAF Fairford, because clearly, the operations the Americans will conduct from those airfields will lessen the threat to British citizens and British assets in the region and that’s why we agreed to the request to use those bases solely on that basis.

“But the Prime Minister is very clear that we were not involved in that initial strike and we’re not intending to go to war with Iran or engage in a broader range of activities.”

Chief Secretary to the Prime Minister, Darren Jones(Image: PA Wire/PA Images)

When asked if the UK’s evaluation was that there wasn’t a legal foundation for the initial military action over the weekend, Mr Jones said: “We were not involved in the first wave because it didn’t meet the test the Prime Minister’s set out.”

UK bases, including the joint UK-US Diego Garcia site in the Chagos Islands and RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire, are now implicated in the conflict, but only so the US can launch defensive strikes to safeguard countries under threat from Tehran

The conflict escalated throughout Monday, with a sequence of US airstrikes on Iran, whilst Israel targeted the militant group Hezbollah in Lebanon, allies of the Iranian regime. Tehran, meanwhile, launched strikes against Israel, and the oil and natural gas production facilities of Gulf states allied to the US.

The Israel Defence Forces said on X on Tuesday that they were “conducting simultaneous targeted strikes against military targets in Tehran and Beirut”. Mr Trump also suggested the war would intensify further, telling CNN that a “big” wave of airstrikes on Iran is yet to come.

He also said that America planned for the conflict to last for some four or five weeks, and has signalled that the US wants to destroy Iran’s missile capabilities, its navy and any hope of it obtaining nuclear weapons. Mr Trump has, however, provided scant detail about what the US’s exit plan from the war might be.

In a post on Truth Social early on Tuesday, Mr Trump suggested the US had a “virtually unlimited” supply of “medium and upper medium grade” munitions which could support the conflict “forever”. He said: “The United States Munitions Stockpiles have, at the medium and upper medium grade, never been higher or better – as was stated to me today, we have a virtually unlimited supply of these weapons.

“Wars can be fought ‘forever,’ and very successfully, using just these supplies (which are better than other countries finest arms! )” In the same post, Mr Trump claimed his predecessor Joe Biden had handed over much of the nation’s “super high end” munitions to Ukraine, adding: “Fortunately, I rebuilt the military in my first term, and continue to do so. The United States is stocked, and ready to win, big! ! !”.

Brits remain stuck across the Middle East, with over 100,000 having registered their presence with the Foreign Office for evacuation planning. Large swathes of airspace over the region are still closed due to the conflict, and typically safe tourist destinations like Dubai have been targeted in missile attacks.