Starmer says US action ‘helped alleviate threat of nuclear capability' in Iran
Sir Keir Starmer has defended US President Donald Trump's actions in the Middle East as he called for Iran and Israel to 'get back to' a fragile ceasefire brokered overnight.
The Prime Minister said the US had helped in 'alleviating' the threat of nuclear capability for Tehran following American strikes on suspected enrichment facilities in the country.
Ministers have so far been at pains to stress Britain was not involved in the attacks, but Sir Keir on Tuesday gave his backing to Washington's course of action as he prepared to meet the US president at a major summit of Nato allies.
Asked on his visit to The Hague whether he personally felt safe with Mr Trump in the White House, the Prime Minister told Channel 5 News: 'Look, I think what we've seen over the last few days is the Americans alleviating a threat to nuclear weaponry by the Iranians and bringing about a ceasefire in the early hours of today.
'I think now what needs to happen is that ceasefire needs to be maintained, and that will be the focus of our attention, our engagement, our discussions, because that ceasefire provides the space for the negotiations that need to take place.
'It will have to be negotiations … to ensure that Iran never gets a nuclear weapon capability and that is very important for safety and security, not just in the region, but more widely.'
The two warring nations had signed up to a ceasefire deal proposed by the US president before Israel claimed Iran had violated the deal by carrying out missile strikes after it came into force.
Iran's military chiefs denied this, but faced a fresh onslaught ordered by the Israeli defence minister Israel Katz.
Mr Trump called for Israel to withdraw its warplanes, and claimed both it and Iran 'don't know what the f*** they're doing' as he departed for the Nato summit in the Netherlands.
As he arrived for the meeting of military allies, Sir Keir meanwhile called for the ceasefire to be respected.
He told reporters: 'I want the ceasefire to continue, and therefore, obviously, the sooner we get back to that the better, and that's the message that I'm discussing with other leaders today.
'We've got a ceasefire. We need to get back to that ceasefire, which is consistent with what I've been saying about de-escalation for quite some time now.'
Downing Street said the UK was prioritising getting Iran back to talks to agree a lasting settlement.
'Our priority now is a diplomatic solution, which is why the Prime Minister has urged Iran to come back to the negotiating table in pursuit of a lasting settlement,' a No 10 spokesman said.
Meanwhile, Mr Trump reportedly told journalists that 'it depends on your definition' of Nato's Article Five when asked if he supports the provision, which states that an attack against one member of the alliance is considered an attack against all.
'There's numerous definitions of Article Five. You know that, right?' he told reporters on board Air Force One.
A second evacuation flight taking Britons out of Israel left Tel Aviv on Tuesday.
The Foreign Office confirmed its departure and said it would consider arranging further flights depending on demand.
Foreign Office minister Hamish Falconer earlier told MPs: 'We are providing support and advice to more than 1,000 British nationals as they seek to leave the region by land and air.
'We have deployed teams to Israel, Cyprus, Egypt and Jordan.'
The British embassy in Tehran, the capital of Iran, has temporarily withdrawn its staff amid the ongoing crisis, Mr Falconer also told MPs.
The embassy is however still operating remotely and 'continues to provide support for British nationals in Iran', he said.
Both Iran and Israel had agreed to the ceasefire in the early hours of Tuesday morning, after Mr Trump announced they would both sign up to the plan.
But Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned his country would 'respond forcefully' if any violation of the agreement was discovered.
Accusations of one soon followed, with the Israeli military claiming Iran fired off missiles several hours after the deal came into force.
Israel then responded by ordering further strikes against Iran.
'ISRAEL. DO NOT DROP THOSE BOMBS. IF YOU DO IT IS A MAJOR VIOLATION. BRING YOUR PILOTS HOME, NOW!' Mr Trump wrote on Truth Social, the social media site he owns.
The US president appeared angry that his peace proposal had not held as he spoke with reporters outside the White House ahead of his departure for the Netherlands.
'They violated it but Israel violated it too,' the US president said, adding: 'I'm not happy with Israel.'
He also said: 'You basically have two countries that have been fighting so long and so hard that they don't know what the f*** they are doing, do you understand that?'
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Economist
30 minutes ago
- Economist
Israel's daring, dazzling, dangerous victory
THERE ARE immutable rules to Middle Eastern wars that not even Donald Trump can change. Once a ceasefire is announced, both sides rush to land one more blow. After the truce starts they sneak in a final volley. For ten hours after the president announced a ceasefire ending the 12-day Iran-Israel war, there were tit-for-tat strikes. By the time he got up on June 24th, Mr Trump had had enough, declaring on the White House lawn, 'they don't know what the fuck they're doing!' He then called Binyamin Netanyahu and read the riot act. Israel's jets turned back.
Times
32 minutes ago
- Times
Trump swears on live TV — but is he the first president to do so?
US strikes set back Tehran's nuclear progress by months, intelligence shows June 24 2025, 10.15pm
North Wales Chronicle
33 minutes ago
- North Wales Chronicle
Starmer: No tax rises on working people to reach 5% defence spending pledge
The Prime Minister is meeting leaders of other Nato member countries in The Hague, where they are expected to formally agree the target, made up of 3.5% on 'core defence' and another 1.5% on 'resilience and security'. He rejected that tax rises would be needed to pay for higher defence spending. 'Every time we've set out our defence spending commitments, so when we went to 2.5% in 2027/28, we set out precisely how we would pay for it, that didn't involve tax rises. 'Clearly we've got commitments in our manifesto about not making tax rises on working people and we will stick to our manifesto commitments,' the Prime Minister told reporters in the Netherlands. He said the current commitment to get defence spending up to 2.5% of GDP by 2027/8 was not coming at the expense of welfare, but rather from cuts to overseas development aid. 'So, it's a misdescription to suggest that the defence spending commitment we've made is at the expense of money on welfare.' Donald Trump is among the world leaders at the summit, and told reporters on the way to the Netherlands that it would depend 'on your definition' when asked if he would commit to Nato's Article 5, which requires members to defend each other from attack. At a Cabinet meeting on Tuesday morning, Sir Keir underscored that national security is the 'first duty' of Government. His trip comes as the Government publishes its national security strategy, setting out plans to make the UK 'more resilient to future threats'. Downing Street has described the 5% goal as 'a projected target' that allies will review in 2029 when Nato carries out its next capability assessment. It is a significant jump from the current 2% Nato target, and from the UK Government's aim of spending 2.5% of gross domestic product (GDP) on defence from 2027 and 3% at some point after the next election. But the figure is in line with the demands of US President Donald Trump, who has called for Nato allies to shoulder more of the burden of European defence. The Government expects to spend 1.5% of GDP on resilience and security by 2027. The details of what counts towards that target are due to be set out during this week's summit, but it is likely to include spending on energy and border security as well as intelligence agencies. But increasing core defence spending to 3.5% will not happen until 2035, with at least two elections likely to take place before then. The Institute for Fiscal Studies estimates that an increase in core defence spending from 2.6% to 3.5% would cost around £30 billion more a year. It noted however that the plans concern spending far in the future – due in 10 years' time – and therefore may not affect the Government's spending review or autumn budget decisions, but prompt the chancellor to revise plans at the 2027 spending review. Spending 3.5% of national income on defence is 'certainly not unprecedented' but much more is now spent on health than in the past, IFS researcher Bee Boileau noted. Shadow foreign secretary Dame Priti Patel said the Government had not been clear enough about how it would reach the core defence spending goal, claiming ministers had only offered 'smoke and mirrors'. She added: 'So, when will he actually deliver a plan to get to 2%, and why won't he heed our calls to hit 3% by the end of this Parliament, which would be vital, and a vital stepping stone on the way to that higher defence spending that he is seeking.' The Nato gathering comes amid the backdrop of escalating Middle East tensions and the ongoing war in Ukraine. Sir Keir has urged Israel and Iran to get back to the fragile ceasefire brokered by Donald Trump. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is expected to attend the summit, but not take part in the main discussions of the North Atlantic Council. Nato secretary-general Mark Rutte described the move to spend more on defence as a 'quantum leap' that would make the organisation 'a stronger, a fairer and a more lethal alliance'. But it was reported on Sunday that Spain had reached a deal that would see it exempted from the 5% target. Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said that Spain would be able to keep its commitments to the 32-nation military alliance by spending 2.1% of GDP on defence needs.
