3rd Mar 2026 09:50
(Alliance News) - The UK will take decisions based on "legality and British interests", a minister has insisted after Donald Trump launched another broadside against Keir Starmer over the Middle East war.
Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Darren Jones said the US and Israel's initial strikes in Iran did not "meet the test the prime minister has set out", when asked about the extent of British support for America's course of action.
Trump had claimed Starmer had "not been helpful" and branded the transatlantic rift "very sad" in an interview with the Sun on Monday evening.
"This was the most solid relationship of all. And now we have very strong relationships with other countries in Europe," he said.
"It's not going to matter, but [Starmer] should have helped… he should have.
"I mean, France has been great. They've all been great. The UK has been much different from others."
Asked during the interview about accusations that Starmer was pandering to Muslim voters for political reasons, the president said that "it could be".
It is the second rebuke issued by the president to a British newspaper over the conflict, after he told the Telegraph he was "very disappointed" in the prime minister following the UK decision not to allow US jets to deploy from British bases to undertake initial strikes over the weekend.
Starmer on Monday said his government "does not believe in regime change from the skies", in an apparent criticism of the US President's bombing campaign.
Speaking to broadcasters on Tuesday morning, Jones rejected suggestions that the UK's limited involvement in the Middle East was to please a particular demographic of voters.
Asked about the accusations, the minister, who is also Chief Secretary to the prime minister, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "That's just, that's not right.
"The UK will act in the interests of British citizens, regardless of their faith or where they are in the UK."
Asked whether the so-called "special relationship" had changed in the way Trump suggested, Jones replied: "The UK-American relationship is important.
"It has been for a long time and will continue to be, and we're working in collaboration right now in the Middle East on defensive action to protect British citizens.
"I think the president's frustration, from the way he's articulated it, has been that we were not involved in the initial American and Israeli strikes in Iran, but as the prime minister said to the House of Commons yesterday, we will only engage British armed forces when it's in British interests, with a clear plan and on a legal basis."
He told Sky News "the president's words but that doesn't really negate the fact that we make decisions, as I say, on the basis of legality and British interest."
Asked whether the UK's assessment was that there was not a legal basis for the initial military action over the weekend, Jones said: "We were not involved in the first wave because it didn't meet the test the prime minister's set out, whereas what we have agreed to this week is legal, because what we're doing is defensive action to protect British citizens in the region, of whom there are over 300,000 across the area."
UK bases including the joint UK-US Diego Garcia site in the Chagos Islands and RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire are now in play in the conflict, but only so the US can strike defensively to protect countries being targeted by Tehran.
America and Israel have continuing to pound Iran since killing its Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Saturday, while Tehran and its allies have retaliated against Israel, neighbouring Gulf states and oil and gas production facilities.
In Lebanon, Israel launched more strikes on Hezbollah, the Iran-backed militia group, while the US embassy in Riyadh came under attack.
Trump also suggested the war could escalate further, telling CNN that a "big" wave of airstrikes on Iran is yet to come.
He said that America planned for the conflict to last for some four or five weeks, and has signalled that the US wants to destroy Iran's missile capabilities, its navy and any hope of it obtaining nuclear weapons.
However, Trump has provided scant detail about what the US's exit plan from the war might be.
In a post on Truth Social early on Tuesday, the president suggested the US had a "virtually unlimited" supply of "medium and upper medium -grade" munitions which could support the conflict "forever".
He wrote: "The US Munitions Stockpiles have, at the medium and upper medium grade, never been higher or better – as was stated to me today, we have a virtually unlimited supply of these weapons.
"Wars can be fought 'forever,' and very successfully, using just these supplies [which are better than other countries finest arms!]"
Britons continue to remain stranded throughout the Middle East, with more than 100,000 having registered their presence with the Foreign Office amid evacuation planning.
Large areas of airspace over the region remain closed because of the fighting, and tourism safe spots such as Dubai have come under fire in missile attacks.
However, some flights have begun to bring people back to the UK.
On Monday afternoon, an Etihad Airways flight carrying stranded British nationals arrived at Heathrow airport, according to flight tracking company Flightradar24.
By Nina Lloyd, PA Political Correspondent
Press Association: News
source: PA
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