Starmer insists 'this is not our war' as Iran weighs up attacking UK bases
Another week of the war on Iran, another address from the British prime minister, as Keir Starmer told the nation once more that the UK has not been dragged into the US-Israeli operation.
Starmer, wearing a sober blue tie and flanked by two Union Jacks, appeared tired and solemn as he spoke from a Downing Street podium on Wednesday morning.
The speech itself veered dramatically between statements of reassurance and sympathy, to portentous - sometimes abstract - proclamations about the momentous nature of war.
"No matter how fierce this storm, we are well placed to weather it," Starmer said.
The prime minister announced that the UK "has now brought together 35 nations around our statement of intent to push as one for maritime security around the Gulf.
"Later this week, the foreign secretary will host a meeting that brings those nations together for the first time."
The goal, he said, was to make the Strait of Hormuz, which is under the de facto control of Iran, "accessible and safe".
"This will not be easy," Starmer said.
'This is not our war'
Starmer insisted repeatedly that the UK was not involved in the war.
People "worry that the UK will be dragged into this," he said. "We won't."
'This is not our war. We will not be drawn into the conflict'
- UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer
US President Donald Trump has relentlessly mocked and criticised Starmer over the past few weeks for his initial reluctance to be involved, and Starmer here was seeking to be both defiant and reassuring.
"This is not our war," the prime minister said. "We will not be drawn into the conflict."
Many Britons will find this confusing. Gloucestershire, the county in south-west England, has become crucial to US attempts to destroy Iranian military capabilities.
At the start of this week, there were 23 long-range US bombers at the RAF Fairford base, which is used as a launching pad for bombing missions over Iran. The US is allowed to use British bases to target Iranian missile sites and - as of nearly two weeks ago - for attacks intended to open Hormuz.
The Iranian ambassador in London, Seyed Ali Mousavi, said on Times Radio just hours before Starmer's address that Tehran was "considering" whether to strike British bases in retaliation.
Iranian Foreign Minister Seyyed Abbas Araghchi had said a week and a half ago that he had told the British foreign secretary the UK's choice to let the US use British bases was "participation in aggression".
"It's very unfortunate," the Iranian ambassador told Times Radio.
Three hours later, Starmer told the nation: "This is not our war and we're not going to get dragged into it."
'We're actually ahead of the game'
Starmer was also keen to disabuse the British public of the notion that there was an easy way out of the "crisis".
Donald Trump has been declaring that the war is nearly over, but he also told the UK on Tuesday to "go get your own oil", and insisted the US will not help its European allies to unblock the Strait of Hormuz.
'I'm sick and tired of your energy bills fluctuating up and down'
- Keir Starmer
"I don't think it can necessarily be assumed that a de-escalation of the conflict at the same time brings a reopening of the Strait of Hormuz," Starmer said, solemnly.
While the Australian prime minister, Anthony Albanese, told his people just hours beforehand to "switch" to public transport if they can, and not to "take more fuel than you need", Starmer merely said that the government was continuing with its previously introduced measures.
Last month it was announced that energy bills would be capped for four months and fuel duty would be capped until September. This still stood, Starmer said.
"We're actually ahead of the game," he added.
Multiple lobby reporters stood up and asked Starmer whether he would tell the public to change their personal behaviour, as Albanese had done. Starmer deflected their questions.
"I'm sick and tired of your energy bills fluctuating up and down," he said. "We're taking back control of our energy security by investing in clean British energy."
The prime minister went on to say that the UK would not come out of the current crisis and say "business as usual".
No, he promised: "This time will be different."
He then revealed the existence of a "long term plan to emerge from [the war] a stronger and more secure nation", without spelling out what this plan was.
"How we emerge from this crisis," Starmer said, "will define us for a generation."
In the meantime, he has local elections in May to worry about.
This article was sourced from Middle East Eye.
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