Having spent a year attempting to charm and appease Donald Trump, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Monday drew a clear line in the sand: Britain will not join its closest military partner in offensive action against Iran.
US President Donald Trump and UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer
A British base in Cyprus struck by a drone. A French facility in Abu Dhabi targeted. A base hosting Italian troops in Kuwait hit. Saudi oil facilities attacked as ships queue outside the Strait of Hormuz. Missiles over Bahrain and Qatar. Gulf airspace shut down.
AKROTIRI, CYPRUS - MARCH 2: Security personnell is seen at RAF Akrotiri on March 2, 2026 in Akrotiri, Cyprus. An Iranian-made drone crashed into the RAF Akrotiri base in Cyprus early Monday morning causing minimal damage and no injuries. This strike followed Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer's decision to let the US use British bases for defensive operations against Iran. Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides clarified that Cyprus itself is not involved in the military conflict. (Photo by Alexis Mitas/Getty Images)
President Donald Trump criticized UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer for initially blocking the US from using British military bases in its operations against Iran, driving a wedge between two long-standing military allies as conflict in the Middle East deepens.
A simmering dispute between the Treasury and Ministry of Defense over a massive spending plan designed to transform Britain’s military tumbled into public view this week after it raised doubts about a £1 billion ($1.3 billion) helicopter contract.
The HM Treasury building in the Westminster district of London, UK, on Wednesday, April 9, 2025. The UK’s borrowing costs surged to the highest since 1998 as a jump in long-dated US rates radiated around the world.
A simmering dispute between the Treasury and Ministry of Defense over a massive spending plan designed to transform Britain’s military tumbled into public view this week after it raised doubts about a £1 billion ($1.3 billion) helicopter contract.
The HM Treasury building in the Westminster district of London, UK, on Wednesday, April 9, 2025. The UK’s borrowing costs surged to the highest since 1998 as a jump in long-dated US rates radiated around the world.
The strategy that brought Keir Starmer to Downing Street ran out of road this week. Its architects have left the building. The question now is what takes its place — and whether members of Parliament give the UK prime minister time to see it through.
The strategy that brought Keir Starmer to Downing Street ran out of road this week. Its architects have left the building. The question now is what takes its place — and whether members of Parliament give the UK prime minister time to see it through.
Proposals to cut repayments on student loans made by certain graduates could cost above £10 billion ($13.5 billion) as pressure mounts on the Labour government to stem an exodus of young voters to the Greens.
The UK government has launched a review into the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein’s possible use of its military bases to traffic women and girls in and out of Britain.
The UK said it won’t implement a treaty handing the Chagos Islands to Mauritius without the support of the US, likely extending its delay due to Donald Trump’s new-found opposition to the deal.
Keir Starmer’s UK government has become concerned it could face fresh criticism from President Donald Trump if it does not lay out a plan to quickly and credibly raise defense spending.
A US Air Force F35A fighter jet, manufactured by Lockheed Martin Corp., during an aerobatic flying display during the opening day of the Farnborough International Airshow in Farnborough, UK, on Monday, July 22, 2024. The aviation summit is typically a platform for planemakers to rack up multibillion-dollar deals.
The Alliance’s value to the US was a key theme of exercise “Arctic Dolphin” in the Norwegian Sea. But officials also recognize the Greenland question is not shelved.
On board NATO flagship ESPS Almirante Juan de Borbon (F102) defense frigate during the Arctic Dolphin exercise in the Norwegian Sea on Feb. 3.
Mounting Russian casualties are likely to hinder President Vladimir Putin’s ability to launch a large-scale offensive against Ukraine in the coming months, according to Western officials.
President Vladimir Putin and Defence Minister Andrey Belousov, right, attend a wreath-laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier by the Kremlin Wall on Feb. 23. Photographer: Maxim Shipenkov/Pool/ AFP/Getty Images
The UK government said it aims to publish the first set of documents relating to Peter Mandelson’s appointment as US ambassador early next month, a move that is likely to drag out an embarrassing episode that has called Keir Starmer’s judgment into question.
Peter Mandelson and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer
UK police arrested Labour Party grandee Peter Mandelson on suspicion of misconduct in public office after the US Department of Justice released emails allegedly showing him forwarding government information to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s Labour government unveiled £4 billion ($5.4 billion) to support children with special education needs and disabilities, but risks a rebellion from left-wing Members of Parliament after unions warned it isn’t enough.
UK inflation climbed to 3% in January, boosted by food, airfares, and VAT on private school fees, exceeding the 2.8% forecast. Photographer: Matthew Horwood/Getty Images
After boasting for months about its preferential trade deal with US President Donald Trump, the UK is at risk of becoming the biggest loser in the aftermath of the Supreme Court’s decision to strike down his global tariffs.
An employee moves a wooden cask of Chivas Regal blended Scotch whisky, produced by Pernod Ricard SA, at the company's Strathisla distillery in Keith, U.K., on Tuesday, Aug. 5, 2014. Scottish nationalist leader Alex Salmond and former Chancellor of the Exchequer Alistair Darling, who leads the 'No' campaign, clashed over the risks and merits of independence six weeks before the Sept. 18 referendum that could bring an end to the U.K.
Europe’s five biggest military spenders will jointly develop low-cost air defense weapons based on battlefield lessons in Ukraine, their defense ministers said.
A drone operator conducting reconnaissance during NATO-linked military exercises with British, Latvian, Canadian and Italian forces, in Latvia, on Saturday, Oct. 4, 2025. In the wilds of Latvia, the British military is trying out new battlefield technology — and how to best integrate ‘the technician and the tactician’ in weapons development.
US President Donald Trump’s latest retraction of support for Britain’s deal to hand the Chagos Islands to Mauritius comes as the UK government holds off giving permission for him to use the Diego Garcia military base in the archipelago for any possible strike on Iran.
The British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT) or Chagos Islands (formerly the Oil Islands) is an overseas territory of the United Kingdom situated in the Indian Ocean, halfway between Africa and Indonesia. The territory comprises a group of seven atolls comprising more than 60 individual islands, situated some 500 kilometers (310 mi) due south of the Maldives archipelago. The largest island is Diego Garcia (area 44 km squared), the site of a joint military facility of the United Kingdom and the United States. Following the eviction of the native population (Chagossians) in the 1960s, the only inhabitants are US and British military personnel and associated contractors, who collectively number around 4,000 (2004 figures). (Photo by: Pictures From History/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
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