Critics will accuse him of yet another U-turn, but Sir Keir Starmer insists circumstances have changed and British lives are now at risk from attacks by Iran.
The prime minister’s announcement that two British airbases – Fairford in Gloucestershire and the hotly disputed Diego Garcia in the Chagos Islands – can be used by the US came at 9pm on Sunday.
If not a U-turn, it was certainly a change from his original decision to reject Donald Trump’s earlier request to use the bases, a snub that will have massively irked the US president.
Who knows? The PM’s change of heart, which came after a phone call with The Donald on Saturday, may even persuade him to drop his opposition to the controversial Chagos deal. Well, he can but hope.
After the Number 10 announcement, government sources were quick to point out that the bases will not be used for bombing Iran, but to stop the Iranians attacking Brits and others throughout the Middle East.
“It’s very clearly not a U-turn,” a close ally of the PM told Sky News.
“This is a different question that has been asked. It’s about stopping missiles being fired at British citizens.”
The horror story at Beit Shemesh where an Iranian missile evaded Israel’s formidable defences
Trump’s war with Iran has become personal for people in Dubai
Ayatollah Khamenei killed: What next for The Middle East? Q&A with Richard Engel
But the government is already facing calls for a Commons vote on the use of the UK bases, led – not surprisingly – by the Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey, who said the move was “a slippery slope”.
In his latest solemn TV address, the PM said the aim was to enable the US and its allies – including the UK – to destroy Iran’s missile depots and rocket launchers used to fire the missiles.
“The United States has requested permission to use British bases for that specific and limited defensive purpose,” Sir Keir said in a lengthy explanation of his decision.
“We have taken the decision to accept this request – to prevent Iran firing missiles across the region, killing innocent civilians, putting British lives at risk, and hitting countries that have not been involved.
“The basis of our decision is the collective self-defence of longstanding friends and allies and protecting British lives.”
Either the PM or Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper will have to defend the decision in the Commons on Monday, when left-wingers will condemn it and Tories and Reform UK will claim it has come too late.
Anticipating the claim by Labour left-wingers and MPs from the smaller political parties that the move breaches international law, the PM published the legal advice along with his statement.
It states: “The UK and its allies are permitted under international law to use or support force in such circumstances where acting in self-defence is the only feasible means to deal with an ongoing armed attack and where the force used is necessary and proportionate.”
Let’s see if that convinces the critics.
In his TV address, the PM said Iran had hit airports and hotels where British citizens are staying. There are at least 200,000 Brits in the region – “residents, families on holiday and those in transit”, he said.
And on Saturday, he added, Iran hit a military base in Bahrain, narrowly missing British personnel.
“Our partners in the Gulf have asked us to do more to defend them, and it is my duty to protect British lives,” said Sir Keir, who on Sunday spoke to the leaders of Bahrain, Kuwait, Jordan, Cyprus and Oman.
Keep up with all the latest news from the UK and around the world by following Sky News
Read more
RAF base in Cyprus hit by suspected drone strike
UK plans evacuation for tens of thousands as Middle East airports close
And then, also anticipating reminders of Tony Blair’s ill-fated collaboration with another US president, George Bush, in 2003, Sir Keir said: “We all remember the mistakes of Iraq. And we have learned those lessons.”
That will be disputed by critics of the Iraq War. And he didn’t have to wait long for a reminder of Iraq.
Green Party leader Zack Polanski, still basking in his party’s by-election triumph in Gorton and Denton last week, wasted no time in attacking the PM.
“It took just one phone call from Donald Trump for Starmer to jump into yet another Middle East illegal war, failing to learn the lessons of the tragedies of Iraq, Libya and Syria,” he said.
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage, obviously, took the opposite view. “Keir Starmer has finally given the UK permission to use British bases to destroy Iranian missiles,” he said.
“Better late than never. The prime minister is a follower, not a leader.”
And the Lib Dem leader said: “No matter how the prime minister tries to define offensive as defensive, this is a slippery slope. He must not let Trump drag Britain into another prolonged war in the Middle East.”
Sir Ed added: “Starmer must come to parliament tomorrow [Monday], set out the legal case in full and give MPs a vote. We have a duty to defend our brave British troops and citizens in the region and that must be the focus of any operations.
“The UK must not be complicit in illegal military action.”
