Sir Keir Starmer has chaired a meeting of the emergency ‘Cobra’ committee as the UK weighs up whether or not to support the US if Donald Trump joins Israel’s war on Iran.
The US president has fuelled fears of escalation in the Middle East, saying “nobody knows what I’m going to do” about Iran and warning “the next week is going to be very big”.
In a sign of the growing urgency of the situation, the Labour leader led the meeting just hours after he landed from a G7 meeting in Canada.
It also emerged that Britain has dramatically pulled family members of UK embassy staff out of Israel.
But thousands of ordinary Britons remain stranded, while Downing Street would not say whether or not they should attempt to flee.
One key issue for the UK would be the use by the US of the joint US-UK base at Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean to attack Iran.
It is often used by B-52 stealth bombers, of the kind which carry bombs capable of destroying Iran’s nuclear site.
Britain has continued to stress it wants the conflict resolved diplomatically, but anything that would be seen as less than a signal of support for the US could put the fragile relationship Sir Keir has built with President Trump.
After the meeting of the emergency committee, a No 10 spokesperson said: “The prime minister chaired a ministerial COBR meeting this afternoon on the situation in the Middle East. Ministers were updated on efforts to support British nationals in the region and protect regional security, as well as ongoing diplomatic efforts.”
Foreign secretary David Lammy is also travelling to Washington for talks with his US counterpart Marco Rubio.
Earlier, a No 10 spokesperson would only say that Brits stuck in Israel should “follow the advice of local authorities on staying close to shelter”.
Amid confusion over the advice to British nationals, he added that there were spaces in buses and taxis heading for the border with Jordan, but stopped short of suggesting they make the potentially dangerous journey.
While their families have left, embassy staff are understood to have remained in Israel.
Over the weekend, the Foreign Office warned Britons not to travel to the country but said there were no plans to repatriate citizens stuck there following the closure of Tel Aviv’s airport and the mass diversion and cancellation of flights.
Sir Keir urged British nationals in Israel on Tuesday to register their presence as countries step up efforts to bring back citizens.
Earlier this week The Independent highlighted the case of 15-year-old Bella Baker, stranded in a hotel in the northern Israeli port of Haifa, where on Monday 30 people were injured in a dawn missile attack on the city.
Foreign Office teams are understood to be working at the Jordanian border, to help people crossing by land from Israel, with both support and reassurance.
The decision to withdraw family members came as Israel’s air campaign against Iran entered its sixth day, with jets striking the Iranian capital, Tehran, overnight.
Earlier this week, Sir Keir insisted that Mr Trump was interested in de-escalation in the Middle East, saying “nothing” he had heard from the president suggested Washington was poised to get involved.
British Typhoon fighter jets have also been deployed to the region, which defence secretary John Healey said on Tuesday was “part of the moves to reinforce de-escalation in the region, to reinforce security in the region, and may also be used to help support our allies”.
