Cabinet ministers ‘blocked’ Starmer from letting US use British bases for military operation against Iran on Friday – UK politics live
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<p>A number of ministers voiced their strong opposition to Donald Trump using British airbases to attack Iran’s missile capability, according to a report</p><p>Hello and welcome to the UK politics live blog.</p><p><strong>Cabinet ministers, led by energy secretary Ed Miliband, blocked Keir Starmer from allowing Donald Trump to use British airbases for its attacks on Iran, it has been reported.</strong></p><p><strong>John Healey has flow
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04.38 EST Cabinet ministers ‘blocked’ Starmer from letting US use British bases for Iran strikes - report Hello and welcome to the UK politics live blog. Cabinet ministers, led by energy secretary Ed Miliband, blocked Keir Starmer from allowing Donald Trump to use British airbases for its attacks on Iran, it has been reported. Chancellor Rachel Reeves, foreign secretary Yvette Cooper and home secretary Shabana Mahmood rallied behind Miliband to oppose the prime minister granting the US permission to use bases in Gloucestershire and the Chagos Islands for bombing runs to the Middle East, according to the Spectator . Starmer, reportedly backed by defence secretary Jon Healey, wanted to allow Trump to carry out “defensive strikes” against Iran but bowed to the pressure of vocal opponents in his cabinet. The political journalist Tim Shipman wrote on X this morning that the US first made the request on 11 February but attorney general Richard Hermer advised that “his would be a breach of international law and Britain cannot facilitate, let alone participate”. He said that the Ministry of Defence worked with and advised its US counterparts on how draft the request and, by Sunday afternoon, the national security council gave the green light for US to launch “defensive strikes” – more than 24 hours after its first “pre-emptive strike” on Iran. It comes after it was revealed that the US did not share exact operational details or timings with the UK before the joint strikes with Israel on Iran, sources have told the Guardian. The US decision to cut the UK out of the official loop on the airstrikes alongside Keir Starmer’s decision to decline permission for the US to use British military bases for the operation. In other developments: John Healey has flown to Cyprus to calm the diplomatic fallout over a drone that evaded detection and hit an RAF base, which has prompted fury from local ministers. UK officials believe a drone that hit an RAF base in Cyprus evaded detection by f...
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