In what may be the most consequential foreign policy decision since the Iraq War, Prime Minister Keir Starmer has confirmed that British military bases will be used by the United States to launch “defensive” strikes against Iranian missile sites. The announcement, made at the Munich Security Conference on 1 March, came without any prior parliamentary debate or vote.
Let that sink in. A Labour Prime Minister — the party that spent two decades apologising for Iraq — has committed British military infrastructure to an active war zone without so much as a Commons statement beforehand.
The justification? Starmer called the strikes “defensive in nature,” a phrase so elastic it could cover almost anything. Defence Secretary John Healey has since confirmed that RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus and Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean are among the facilities being made available to US forces.
Where Are the Anti-War Labour MPs?
The silence from the Labour backbenches has been deafening. The same MPs who built their careers on opposing military intervention have apparently decided that party loyalty trumps principle. Only a handful — notably Zarah Sultana and Richard Burgon — have publicly questioned the decision.
The Conservatives, meanwhile, are in the absurd position of supporting the Government’s decision while criticising how it was made. Shadow Defence Secretary James Cartlidge called for a “retrospective vote,” a contradiction in terms that perfectly captures the Opposition’s incoherence.
The Bigger Picture
Britain is now functionally a participant in the US-Iran conflict. Oil prices have already surged past $118 a barrel, and the economic consequences for ordinary Britons — higher fuel costs, rising food prices, potential supply chain disruption through the Strait of Hormuz — are only beginning.
Starmer promised a government of service. What he’s delivering is a government of servitude — to Washington’s war machine.