Keir Starmer to chair emergency Cobra meeting to discuss Israel-Iran conflict
As the prime minister lands back in Britain after the G7 summit in Canada, he will bring together ministers and senior officials to update the UK's response to the rapidly escalating conflict in the Middle East.
Downing Street was unwilling to repeat Starmer's comments from Tuesday that he was confident the US would not join Israel's bombing campaign despite US military deployments and mixed messages from Donald Trump.
However, the deputy prime minister, Angela Rayner, standing in for Starmer at prime minister's questions, insisted the UK would continue to back a diplomatic route to resolving the conflict.
'The one thing I will say is we agree with President Trump that Iran must never have a nuclear weapon, but we've been consistent in urging Iran to engage in the diplomatic process and work with the United States, and we continue to support that diplomatic approach,' she told MPs.
The Foreign Office has advised British citizens in Israel to stay put and close to shelter, despite the families of embassy staff leaving the country on Tuesday night. No 10 was unable to say why embassy families were told to leave.
The Forign Office said family members of British diplomatic staff working at the UK embassy in Tel Aviv and consulate in Jerusalem had been 'temporarily withdrawn as a precautionary measure', although staff at the mission remain.
Despite the official advice not to leave, Downing Street flagged that commercial transport services to border crossings were operating regularly, though subject to safety alerts, and were not currently full.
'First and foremost, this is a fast moving situation. We're keeping all our advice under constant review, and the FCDO continues to plan for a variety of developments. As you'd expect, the safety and security of British nationals is our top priority,' a No 10 spokesperson said.
'Our key message to British nationals in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories is to follow the advice of local authorities on staying close to shelter.'
Downing Street said the government's priority was to de-escalate the conflict, after Trump left the G7 summit a day early to fly back to Washington.
'The prime minister, the foreign secretary, have spoken with partners and counterparts across the region and beyond, including all our allies, to reiterate the need for de-escalation and a return to diplomacy,' the spokesperson said.
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'You can expect to see this continue today. Our priority is de-escalation, and that is what ministers will continue to push.'
Asked about the prospect of the US joining military action at the G7 on Tuesday, Starmer told reporters: 'There's nothing the president said that suggests that he's about to get involved in this conflict.
'On the contrary, the G7 statement was about de-escalation ... I was sitting right next to President Trump, so I've no doubt, in my mind, the level of agreement.'
Asked 24 hours later whether he would repeat the prime minister's words, the No 10 spokesman would only say: 'This is an extremely fast moving situation, and we are working with partners to reiterate the need to return to diplomacy.'
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