Politics latest: Rachel Reeves to deliver spring statement as war rages in Middle East – UK Times

Donald Trump has lambasted his relationship with Britain under Sir Keir Starmer, saying he is “very sad” to see it is “obviously not what it was”.

He added that it “took far too long” for the prime minister to change his mind.

Hitting out at the prime minister directly in an interview with The Sun, the US president said: “He has not been helpful. I never thought I’d see that. I never thought I’d see that from the UK. We love the UK.”

The Independent’s Political Correspondent Millie Cooke reports:

QatarEnergy said it would stop its production of liquefied natural gas (LNG), taking one of the world’s top suppliers off the market indefinitely.

Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia’s Ras Tanura oil refinery came under attack from drones, with defences downing an incoming aircraft. Workers were pictured evacuating from the refinery, which has a capacity of more than half a million barrels of crude oil a day.

Analysts have warned that household energy bills could surge to up to £2,500 a year if the Iran conflict causes long-term disruption to global gas supplies.

The Independent’s Political Editor David Maddox writes:

Donald Trump has said that he is “very sad” to see that the relationship with the UK “is obviously not what it was” as he warned that Britain was “not such a recognisable country” anymore.

The US president told The Sun: “Stop people from coming in from foreign lands who hate you.”

It comes after the president criticised Keir Starmer for not allowing US jets to deploy from UK bases to undertake the strikes on Iran.

Speaking about the UK prime minister, Trump said: “He has not been helpful.

“I never thought I’d see that. I never thought I’d see that from the UK.

He added: “It’s a different world, actually. It’s just a much different kind of relationship that we’ve had with your country before.

“It’s very sad to see that the relationship is obviously not what it was.”

Darren Jones has said Donald Trump’s remarks about the UK do not “negate the fact that we make decisions on the basis of legality and British interest”.

Asked whether he accepted the US was frustrated, the Chief Secretary to the Prime Minister told Sky News: “Well I’ve seen 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.

“We were content to offer bases at Diego Garcia and RAF Fairford, because evidently, the operations the Americans will run from those airfields will reduce the risk to British citizens and British assets in the region and that’s why we agreed to the request to use those bases on that basis alone.

“But the Prime Minister is very clear that we were not involved in that first strike and we’re not kind of going to war with Iran or getting involved in a wider set of activities.”

It comes after President Trump said Keir Starmer “took far too long” to change his mind about using letting the US use UK bases for strikes.

He said: “It sounds like he was worried about the legality.”

Asked whether the UK’s assessment was that there was not a legal basis for the initial military action over the weekend, Mr Jones said: “We were not involved in the first wave because it didn’t meet the test the Prime Minister’s set out.”

The UK is not at war with Iran, a Government minister has said, in the wake of an attack on an RAF base in Cyprus.

Middle East minister Hamish Falconer told BBC Radio Scotland an “unmanned drone” had hit the runway at RAF Akrotiri and inflicted “relatively limited damage”.

But asked if the UK was now at war, he said: “The UK is not at war.“Let me be really clear, the UK took a deliberate decision not to be part of the first wave of strikes conducted by the United States and Israeli governments.

“But in the face of reckless attacks from Iran on a whole range of allies in the region – those are Gulf allies in which there are many, many UK nationals, probably 300,000 – and in response to requests from those Gulf allies… we took the decision, as the Prime Minister announced last night, to support the US’s request to use our bases in order to conduct defensive actions.

“There are ballistic missile launches in Iran, pointed at the Gulf and it is vital that those missile launches are taken out in the face of these completely reckless attacks.”

The prime minister granted permission on Sunday for the US to use UK bases to target Iran’s missile launchers and stores to help protect countries targeted by Tehran, but the US president said he was “very disappointed” in Sir Keir over his initial refusal to allow the US to use the UK-US Diego Garcia base on the Chagos Islands as part of the operation.

He added that it “took far too long” for the prime minister to change his mind.

Late on Sunday, the Prime Minister said he had agreed to a US request to use British bases to protect UK nationals and allies in the region, accusing Iran of pursuing a “scorched earth strategy”.

Sir Keir said British forces would not be directly involved in the strikes, and the bases would only be used for the “specific and limited defensive purpose” of targeting missile storage depots and launchers being used to attack Iran’s neighbours.

He said: “We have taken the decision to accept this request, to prevent Iran firing missiles across the region, killing innocent civilians, putting British lives at risk, and hitting countries that have not been involved.”

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer accused Iran of using a ‘scorched earth policy’ (Jonathan Brady/PA)

It is not clear which bases will be involved, but Donald Trump has previously indicated Diego Garcia – one of the Chagos Islands in the Indian Ocean – and RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire could be used to attack Iran.

Sir Keir’s decision followed a day of conversations with regional leaders, during which it is understood they asked the UK to do more to protect them from Iranian missiles.

The Prime Minister insisted the decision was fully in line with international law, and the Government has published a summary of its legal position setting out that it is acting in “collective self-defence”.

The UK will also continue to carry out the defensive operations that have already seen British forces shoot down Iranian drones threatening northern Iraq and Qatar.

Prime minister, Sir Keir Starmer, has said that RAF Akritiri in Cyprus will not be used by the US to strike Iranian sites, because it is “not suitable”.

Green Party Westminster leader Ellie Chowns said her party condemns the “deeply irresponsible and illegal attack by the US and Israel on Iran, launched in the middle of nuclear negotiations, led by Trump”.

She branded US President Donald Trump an “unstable loose cannon” and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a “war criminal”.

The North Herefordshire MP asked for there to be a vote in Parliament on “any UK involvement in this war”.

Responding, Sir Keir said: “We are not at war and we are not getting involved in offensive action that the US and Israel are taking.”

Former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn called for the Government to adopt a stance of “trying to bring about an immediate ceasefire in order to prevent further dreadful loss of life across every country in the whole region, and the danger of this escalating into a semi-global conflict”.

Sir Keir Starmer has said “we’re all shocked” by the actions of Green Party deputy leader Mothin Ali, who attended a rally protesting against the US killing of Iran’s Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

The Prime Minister was responding to Conservative former minister Sir Alec Shelbrooke, who said: “I was appalled, but I’m afraid, not shocked – I’m sure the Prime Minister was as well – to see, once again, the deputy leader of the Green Party at the weekend, protesting in support of the Ayatollah.

“And I’m afraid that the Green Party has become a magnet for all of the people that he quite rightly kicked out of the Labour Party.

“And the hatred and the fear that runs through Leeds now being whipped up at times by councillor Mothin is a disgrace…

“My Jewish community are terrified going into Leeds at the weekend. May I ask the Prime Minister, will he ensure that he works closely with all policing authorities to ensure that my Jewish community and other communities can be safe?”

Sir Keir replied: “I think we’re all shocked by the actions of deputy leader of the Green Party, perhaps not surprised, given their recent turn of direction, and it is important that all of us set our face against antisemitism. And I have to say, the argument that the Green Party makes that now is the time to get out of Nato and negotiate with Putin over our nuclear weapons is contrary to the British national interest.”