Starmer grants US limited use of UK bases in shift of stance

THE UK has allowed the US to make use of British military bases for the specific purpose of destroying Iranian missile depots, Prime Minister Keir Starmer said. 

Britain accepted a request from the US to use its bases “for that specific and limited defensive purpose,” Starmer said in a video posted on X late Sunday.

“We have taken the decision to accept this request, to prevent Iran firing missiles across the region killing innocent civilians and putting British lives at risk,” Starmer said. “We are not joining these strikes but we will continue our defensive actions in the region.”

That included permission for the US to use the Diego Garcia base on the Chagos Islands and RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire, England, according to a source familiar with the conversations.

The Chagos base is a point of contention between the UK and US. The two countries jointly operate the outpost in the Indian Ocean, but the UK has struck a deal to return sovereignty of the islands to Mauritius, in accordance with international court decisions. 

While the US initially approved this deal, US President Donald Trump has called it an “act of great stupidity.” The UK has since said it won’t proceed without Trump’s blessing.

The US and Israel launched strikes on Iran on Saturday, killing Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Starmer made clear that the UK hasn’t been involved in offensive strikes. Defence Secretary John Healey declined to say in interviews on Sunday whether the government views the attacks as compliant with international law.

That stance drew criticism from Starmer’s political rivals. Priti Patel, the Conservative Party’s foreign affairs spokesperson, told the BBC she found it “absolutely astonishing” that Starmer hadn’t given more support.

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Richard Tice, the business spokesperson for Reform UK, said Starmer had “kowtowed to the Islamist extremists by not giving that support.”

Starmer said there were at least 200,000 British citizens in the Middle East and that Iran’s strikes were increasingly “reckless.” 

“Our partners in the Gulf have asked us to do more to defend them, and it’s my duty to protect British lives,” he said, adding that British jets were already in the air and had successfully intercepted Iranian strikes.

“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.”

Starmer said the UK’s actions were in accordance with international law and that he would publish the UK’s legal advice. BLOOMBERG