>British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has just shared a video statement on X.
>He says the UK is going to allow the US to take defensive action from British military bases.
>”Our partners in the Gulf have asked us to do more to defend them… We have British jets in the air as part of coordinated defensive operations… which have already successfully intercepted Iranian strikes,” he says.
>”But the only way to stop the threat is to destroy the missiles at source – in their storage depots or the launchers which are used to fire the missiles.”
>He says the US has “requested permission to use British bases for that specific and limited defensive purpose”.
>”We have taken the decision to accept this request to prevent Iran firing missiles across the region killing innocent civilians, putting British lives at risks and hitting countries that have not been involved,” he adds.
Agreeable_Falcon1044 on
Not much choice now the area is in flames and our troops and assets in Bahrain and Cyprus are being targeted!
Gold_Motor_6985 on
And we trust the US will only use them for defensive purposes?
Alaea on
What bases? Al Udeid in Qatar is shared with the US.
Al Minhad in the UAE? The US already has established airbases there so what difference would it make?
Maybe Akotiri and Diego Garcia, but they’re miles out to be of any use now the assets are already there except maybe flying U2s out of Akotiri for scouting launch sites.
The-Peel on
“We’re with you whatever” – ~~Tony Blair~~ Keir Starmer
AbbreviationsHot7662 on
Trump caused all this. It’s all on that fat prick and all those Yankee imbeciles that voted for him, twice.
FelisCantabrigiensis on
Great, now we’re getting sucked into Gulf War 3.
Trump and Bibi made this mess, Trump and Bibi should be left to handle it, using their own resources.
Avorius on
“defensive action”
so is that just using the bases to intercept incoming missiles and drones then?
Appropriate-Gap6817 on
Nothing defensive about bombing the shit out of a sovereign nation
spiderham42 on
Defensive action? They are the aggressor. We should not be getting caught up in helping to defend and illegal action. The spin is just ridiculous.
LauraPhilps7654 on
The US has a rather broad interpretation of “defensive action”.
somedegree123 on
Defensive attacks? What kind of double speak is this? Labour dragging us in to a US war yet again
KoffieCreamer on
Starmer just cannot do a thing right can he? Let’s get sucked into a war that Trump has caused and assist with the Epstein file distraction.
Bravo Starmer.
Safe-Tiger-9518 on
Not sure why anyone would oppose the shooting down of missiles heading for innocent civilians in the Gulf.
That being said, how the UK can ensure the US doesn’t use their bases for offensive operations, I do not know.
Krakshotz on
Let me guess, Trump’s now promised to greenlight the Chagos Deal… again
el_grort on
It seems to be about intercepts of missiles and drones that might hit British assets as well as civilian targets, which seems fine, if a little unpalatable because of the cause of the risk. But less deaths where we can actually influence them seems better than not. Not like we’re striking Iran or have the ability to get Israel/America down from their current position.
the-player-of-games on
I hope everyone slagging off starmer for this is aware that multiple UK bases have been targeted by Iranian drones and missiles
This after the UK refused to let the US use bases for the start of the attacks on Iran
yellow-beard1 on
I’m surprised we weren’t strong armed to letting them use them before this kicked off. The Americans must have a big set up in the water.
cagemeplenty on
Sick of being the yanks Puppet.
Let them deal with their own mess for once.
Ok_Bat_686 on
Have any of our bases been targeted yet? If they’re being used as a station for US war activities, that would make them a valid military target and they’d be more likely to get attacked.
JWadie on
Iran was already firing missiles at our bases in the region anyway (not to mention anyone they can reach), so I’m suprised we’re not getting dragged in on that basis alone
LostInTheVoid_ on
There’s absolutely been a shift in the last 12ish hours by several nations. France is actively now sending a CSG to the Med after apparently one of it’s bases were targeted. As it stands the language* being used by UK, France and Germany is that of defensive* actions. But clearly the attacks on nations not directly involved in the initial operations has caused European military commanders and Governments to shift tact slightly.
R9182 on
Defensive action which involves offensively targeting missile sites. You couldn’t make this shit up. Starmer is a fucking clown.
PaulM1c3 on
The US doesn’t need NATO. Trump said so, so why help?
qwerty_1965 on
Iran’s agents might have attacked targets in Britain anyway but that’s now definitely much more likely.
diycd on
‘defensive actions’ is pretty much the playground bully who holds the victims arms behind his back while the other playground bully whales on him.
BroodLord1962 on
Starmer is a prick. We should not getting involved in this at all. All this action against Iran will do is lead to more terror attacks on the UK
investtill on
Make sure we get our cut from their resources once the new administration is in, we’re just modern pirates.
TableSignificant341 on
Terroristic attacks in London are back on the table boys!
Lexiosity on
By the way, why was this not up to us Brits? Why did we not get a choice in the matter?
chrispbaconbutty on
Get ready for the terror attacks. Have we not learnt anything?
Puzzleheaded_Agent17 on
I’m no fan of President Trump but its so wild to me that the people of reddit cant even allow themselves to get past their hatred to acknowledge that what he’s doing here is absolutely for the greater good.
InitiativeOver7314 on
Bit by bit we get dragged into yet another illegal war.
SeriousDepth5793 on
Chicken Harmer doffs his hat. What defensive action?
ACompletelyLostCause on
I get the logic of this decision, and it would have been sensible with previous administrations, but the current US administration can’t be trusted to abide by that agreement.
They’ll be careless or let AI select the target for them, hit a clear civilian target, won’t admit their mistake, but make it look like the UK were ok with them blowing up a building full of people they shouldn’t have blown up. Then the UK is sucked in as an active participant.
fitzgoldy on
So we should, our defensive capability is absolutely appalling.
Astriania on
Oh now this is bad, bad idea. Nothing the US is doing in this war is defensive, so this is actually saying that we are allowing the US to use our bases to attack Iran. Attacking Iranian launchers inside Iran is not a “defensive” action when the US and Israel started the war.
This makes UK forces a legitimate target, I’m not sure I can describe how much I don’t support this.
InfiniteTallgeese on
I like that we took a principled stand not to be involved for less than a full weekend before getting involved.
38 commenti
>British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has just shared a video statement on X.
>He says the UK is going to allow the US to take defensive action from British military bases.
>”Our partners in the Gulf have asked us to do more to defend them… We have British jets in the air as part of coordinated defensive operations… which have already successfully intercepted Iranian strikes,” he says.
>”But the only way to stop the threat is to destroy the missiles at source – in their storage depots or the launchers which are used to fire the missiles.”
>He says the US has “requested permission to use British bases for that specific and limited defensive purpose”.
>”We have taken the decision to accept this request to prevent Iran firing missiles across the region killing innocent civilians, putting British lives at risks and hitting countries that have not been involved,” he adds.
Not much choice now the area is in flames and our troops and assets in Bahrain and Cyprus are being targeted!
And we trust the US will only use them for defensive purposes?
What bases? Al Udeid in Qatar is shared with the US.
Al Minhad in the UAE? The US already has established airbases there so what difference would it make?
Maybe Akotiri and Diego Garcia, but they’re miles out to be of any use now the assets are already there except maybe flying U2s out of Akotiri for scouting launch sites.
“We’re with you whatever” – ~~Tony Blair~~ Keir Starmer
Trump caused all this. It’s all on that fat prick and all those Yankee imbeciles that voted for him, twice.
Great, now we’re getting sucked into Gulf War 3.
Trump and Bibi made this mess, Trump and Bibi should be left to handle it, using their own resources.
“defensive action”
so is that just using the bases to intercept incoming missiles and drones then?
Nothing defensive about bombing the shit out of a sovereign nation
Defensive action? They are the aggressor. We should not be getting caught up in helping to defend and illegal action. The spin is just ridiculous.
The US has a rather broad interpretation of “defensive action”.
Defensive attacks? What kind of double speak is this? Labour dragging us in to a US war yet again
Starmer just cannot do a thing right can he? Let’s get sucked into a war that Trump has caused and assist with the Epstein file distraction.
Bravo Starmer.
Not sure why anyone would oppose the shooting down of missiles heading for innocent civilians in the Gulf.
That being said, how the UK can ensure the US doesn’t use their bases for offensive operations, I do not know.
Let me guess, Trump’s now promised to greenlight the Chagos Deal… again
It seems to be about intercepts of missiles and drones that might hit British assets as well as civilian targets, which seems fine, if a little unpalatable because of the cause of the risk. But less deaths where we can actually influence them seems better than not. Not like we’re striking Iran or have the ability to get Israel/America down from their current position.
I hope everyone slagging off starmer for this is aware that multiple UK bases have been targeted by Iranian drones and missiles
This after the UK refused to let the US use bases for the start of the attacks on Iran
I’m surprised we weren’t strong armed to letting them use them before this kicked off. The Americans must have a big set up in the water.
Sick of being the yanks Puppet.
Let them deal with their own mess for once.
Have any of our bases been targeted yet? If they’re being used as a station for US war activities, that would make them a valid military target and they’d be more likely to get attacked.
Iran was already firing missiles at our bases in the region anyway (not to mention anyone they can reach), so I’m suprised we’re not getting dragged in on that basis alone
There’s absolutely been a shift in the last 12ish hours by several nations. France is actively now sending a CSG to the Med after apparently one of it’s bases were targeted. As it stands the language* being used by UK, France and Germany is that of defensive* actions. But clearly the attacks on nations not directly involved in the initial operations has caused European military commanders and Governments to shift tact slightly.
Defensive action which involves offensively targeting missile sites. You couldn’t make this shit up. Starmer is a fucking clown.
The US doesn’t need NATO. Trump said so, so why help?
Iran’s agents might have attacked targets in Britain anyway but that’s now definitely much more likely.
‘defensive actions’ is pretty much the playground bully who holds the victims arms behind his back while the other playground bully whales on him.
Starmer is a prick. We should not getting involved in this at all. All this action against Iran will do is lead to more terror attacks on the UK
Make sure we get our cut from their resources once the new administration is in, we’re just modern pirates.
Terroristic attacks in London are back on the table boys!
By the way, why was this not up to us Brits? Why did we not get a choice in the matter?
Get ready for the terror attacks. Have we not learnt anything?
I’m no fan of President Trump but its so wild to me that the people of reddit cant even allow themselves to get past their hatred to acknowledge that what he’s doing here is absolutely for the greater good.
Bit by bit we get dragged into yet another illegal war.
Chicken Harmer doffs his hat. What defensive action?
I get the logic of this decision, and it would have been sensible with previous administrations, but the current US administration can’t be trusted to abide by that agreement.
They’ll be careless or let AI select the target for them, hit a clear civilian target, won’t admit their mistake, but make it look like the UK were ok with them blowing up a building full of people they shouldn’t have blown up. Then the UK is sucked in as an active participant.
So we should, our defensive capability is absolutely appalling.
Oh now this is bad, bad idea. Nothing the US is doing in this war is defensive, so this is actually saying that we are allowing the US to use our bases to attack Iran. Attacking Iranian launchers inside Iran is not a “defensive” action when the US and Israel started the war.
This makes UK forces a legitimate target, I’m not sure I can describe how much I don’t support this.
I like that we took a principled stand not to be involved for less than a full weekend before getting involved.