The Prime Minister has said the government is contacting Jewish and Muslim communities across the UK to ensure measures are in place to protect places of worship amid the escalating tensions in the Middle East.
Addressing Parliament on Monday afternoon, Sir Keir Starmer said: “We’re also reaching out to communities across the UK, including Muslim and Jewish community organisations, and we’re making sure that sites across the country, including places of worship, have appropriate protective security in place.”
Earlier in the day, when asked about the threat to the Jewish community posed by Iran-backed actors, a government spokesperson said that the UK’s security services were working “as they always do” to “protect British citizens and individuals in this country from state actors at work”.
On Sunday, the Community Security Trust (CST) said that, while it did not have “specific intelligence” of a raised threat, Iran’s targeting of the Jewish diaspora is “a primary reason” for the security measures ordinarily in place throughout the community and urged community members to adhere to existing security protocols.
In his statement to the Commons, Starmer also recognised that global events have taken a “toll” in the UK.
“They come crashing into our lives with ever greater frequency, hitting our economy, driving up prices on the supermarket shelves or at the pub, dividing communities, bringing anxiety and fear. That’s why how we operate on the world stage matters so much,” he said
Setting out the government’s position on the war with Iran, he confirmed that Britain would not join the US and Israel in offensive strikes on Iran, but would continue its “defensive actions” to protect British civilians and military personnel in the region.
Over the weekend, British officials stated the military did not participate in the US-Israeli strikes and declined to endorse those two states’ actions.
But, in an apparent U-turn, Starmer announced that the UK had agreed to grant the US permission to use British military bases as a platform for "limited and specific" defensive strikes against Iranian missile sites and launchers.
On Monday, though, the prime minister appeared to rebuke Washington’s strategy, stating that he did “not believe in regime change from the skies” and that any decision made by the UK must have a “lawful basis”.
He refused to be drawn on whether the government wants to see regime change in Iran, saying instead that “the immediate plan is to take necessary measures to protect British nationals” and the end of hostilities would come with a “negotiated outcome”.
He reiterated that the UK had chosen not to take part in the initial volley of strikes from the US and Israel that led to the death of Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and condemned the Iranian regime's response after the Islamic Republic launched strikes against military and civilian targets in the region in what he called a "reckless" manner.
The death of Khamenei "will not stop Iran from launching these strikes," Starmer told the House. "In fact, their approach is becoming even more reckless and more dangerous to civilians."
British security sources reportedly understand that Tehran has the capacity to continue attacks on British allies in the Gulf for at least a week. So far, the regime has launched missile strikes on Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates.
Starmer confirmed to parliament that the UK is “not joining the US and Israeli offensive strikes” against the Islamic Republic, but the decision will remain under review.
However, US President Trump had expressed dismay at the UK’s initial decision.
Speaking to MPs, Starmer explained: “President Trump has expressed his disagreement with our decision not to get involved in the initial strikes, but it is my duty to judge what is in Britain’s national interest; that is what I’ve done, and I stand by it.”
On allowing the use of UK airbases for defensive strikes, Starmer continued: “The basis for our decision is the collective self-defence of longstanding friends and allies and protecting British lives, it is in accordance with international law.”
"We are not joining the strikes, but we will continue our defensive action in the region," the PM added.
He said the UK had taken “two distinct and separate decisions”, saying: “The first was whether or not the UK should join the US-Israel offensive against Iran – we took the decision that we should not.
“The second decision was a separate decision and actually a second request from the US.”
The latter was the request to permit the use of UK bases for defensive action.
“We took the decision that we should do so,” Starmer said, adding that any action “must also always have a viable and thoughtful plan”.
“Where our military personnel take action, putting their lives at risk, it is my duty to ensure they have a legal basis. They deserve to know that their actions are lawful and there is a viable, thought-through plan.”
Starmer then once more condemned the Iranian regime, which he called “utterly abhorrent”, and referred to the brutal suppression of anti-government protests in January, which saw the regime murder thousands.
“For decades they have sought to destabilise the region,” Starmer said, adding: “The regime’s tentacles have even reached these shores, posing a direct threat to dissidents and Jews.”
He cited 20 Iran-plotted attacks on British soil foiled by security services, as recently confirmed by MI5.
He also insisted that the regime must not be “allowed to get their hands on nuclear weapons”.
But the prime minister reiterated his belief in the need for the conflict to be resolved “at the negotiating table”.
Responding, Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch accused Starmer of providing "no clarity" over the government's position on the strikes, claiming he "still cannot say whether he backs the strikes or not".
She added that she hopes for a "safer world" with the "future of Iran back in the hands of the Iranian people,” but “that outcome is not guaranteed”.
“International law didn’t prevent our allies from clearly and unequivocally stating whose side they are on; you don’t need international law to say whose side you are on,” she went on.
Sir Ed Davey, leader of the Liberal Democrats, meanwhile, accused the prime minister of "failing to stand up to" Washington.
He asked: "Does the Prime Minister understand that when he fails to stand up to Trump, especially when he breaks international law, it makes our country less safe?"
Davey, who expressed opposition to the strikes on Iran, also questioned how the prime minister would ensure “he won’t follow Trump’s lead into a slippery slope into a protracted conflict”.
And he asked if it was right that the UK was offering protection to British citizens living in the Gulf who do not live and pay taxes in Britain.
“As we protect them, does the PM agree it is only right for tax exiles to start paying taxes as we do?” Davey asked.
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