LONDON/WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump intensified his criticism of Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Tuesday, saying his lack of immediate support for US strikes on Iran showed “this is not Winston Churchill we’re dealing with.”
Trump has lashed out at Starmer three times this week after he said neither the British military, or its air bases, were involved in the initial US and Israeli strikes on Tehran that killed Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Starmer told parliament that the government had learnt from its mistakes in backing the US in the 2003 Iraq war, and said any military action must have a “viable, thought-through plan.” He also said he did not believe in “regime change from the skies.”
But Starmer has since allowed the US to use UK bases to launch what he called limited and defensive strikes to weaken Tehran’s capabilities, after Iran hit US allies in the region with drones and missiles.
On Monday, a British base in Cyprus was hit by a drone that Cypriot officials said was likely launched by Iran-backed Lebanese group Hezbollah, prompting London to send a destroyer and more helicopters with counter-drone technology to the region.
