Gulf allies are unimpressed with Starmer’s plodding response to the Iran war, particularly with the failure to send necessary defensive resources to the region in the opening days of the conflict. The quotes from diplomatic and military sources speaking to Politico:
“No. 10 was determined to downplay any risk or perception of us getting involved and now the government is playing catch-up. And that means we are showing up late.”
A Gulf diplomat said there were “a lot of phone calls”, but very little “serious support.”
“We have the Prime Minister and defence secretary talking about ‘preparing the nation for war’ on a running basis, which is ironic, as we and our allies ended up not deploying deterrent force and taking a week to deploy a major warship to defend Cyprus in good time to show our strong defensive intentions.”
HMS Middleton, Britain’s only mine-hunting vessel, was withdrawn from the Middle East at the start of March – just before the US and Israeli strikes began. Starmer’s dithering is torching the UK’s alliances at record speed…
In Henry Mance’s piece today for the FT, lunching with Nigel Farage:
“Splendido!” Farage says, when the drinks arrive; I suppose it’s a step to European reconciliation. We clink glasses, and he lights the first of two back-to-back Benson & Hedges. A few minutes later, we’re back downstairs. “Are you drinking? Good.” He orders a glass of Sauvignon blanc for each of us — not a bottle, “because it’s Lent” — followed by a bottle of claret, to have with our meal. They say Farage drinks less than he used to. They say a lot of things.”