3rd Mar 2026 14:23
(Alliance News) - Downing Street said the US is still a "staunch" ally after Donald Trump launched another broadside against UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer over the Middle East war.
The US president said Starmer had "not been helpful", after saying he was "very disappointed" that the UK had not allowed the US to launch initial strikes from its bases over the weekend.
Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Darren Jones earlier said the US and Israel's initial strikes in Iran did not "meet the test the prime minister has set out", as he faced questions about the extent of British support for America's course of action.
Meanwhile, the Foreign secretary confirmed that a government charter flight will take off from Muscat, Oman, "in the coming days" to bring vulnerable British nationals back.
And after a British base on Cyprus was hit by a drone, the UK is understood to be considering sending a Type 45 air defence destroyer to the region.
Trump had claimed Starmer had "not been helpful" and called the transatlantic rift "very sad" in an interview with the Sun on Monday.
"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."
He had also told the Telegraph he was "very disappointed" in the prime minister, after 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.
When the prime minister's official spokesman was asked how Starmer would describe the special relationship between the two countries, he said: "The UK's relationship with the US is we are staunch allies.
"It is reflected in decades of that special relationship, whether it is on national security, on trade or beyond."
The minister, who is also chief secretary to the prime minister, was asked on Tuesday morning whether the so-called "special relationship" had changed in the way Trump suggested.
He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "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".
In the Commons on Tuesday, Foreign Office minister Stephen Doughty told MPs the UK's relationship with the US is "strong" and "will endure into the future on both the economic and the security fronts".
Chris Philp, speaking for the Conservative Party, said the US action against Iran was "completely justified" and that Starmer had "seriously undermined" the special relationship by failing to back it right away.
"Through his actions, Keir Starmer has very seriously undermined our special relationship with the US, which has been the bedrock of our security for decades now," the shadow home secretary told the Press Association.
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 been 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 are still 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 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, an Etihad Airways flight carrying British nationals arrived at Heathrow airport, according to flight tracking company Flightradar24.
Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper told MPs on Tuesday the UK is talking to counterparts to support departures.
She told MPs: "We are also working with airlines on increasing capacity out of Muscat for British nationals, with priority for vulnerable nationals, and a Government charter flight will fly from Muscat in the coming days, prioritising vulnerable nationals, but British nationals in Oman must wait to be contacted by the Foreign Office regarding these options, and we will continue to work 24/7 on supporting British nationals in the region."
By Helen Corbett and Nina Lloyd, Press Association Political Staff
Press Association: News
source: PA
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