Politics latest: Starmer to send UK fighter jets to Qatar as first repatriation flight set to land in UK – latest – UK Times

Our community voiced frustration and anxiety over soaring oil and gas prices, warning that a system tied to volatile global markets leaves households exposed, heating oil users unprotected, and consumers once again paying the price for political decisions and energy policy failures at home and abroad.

The government’s first charter plane to evacuate British nationals from the Middle East is due to land in the next couple of hours.

The flight was originally scheduled to leave Muscat, the capital of Oman, at 7pm on Wednesday.

But it was delayed overnight due to problems with “getting passengers on board”. The flight actually took off at around 2pm.

British Airways has announced it will operate a fourth daily flight from Muscat to London Heathrow – a route it does not usually serve – departing at 10.30pm GMT on Saturday.

Sir Keir said: “We will lay on additional charter flights in the coming days.

“British Airways is putting on daily flights from Oman, and we will keep working with all of our partners to increase the speed and capacity of this airlift.

“I want to be very clear, this is a huge undertaking.

“It’s one of the biggest operations of its kind, many times bigger than the evacuation from Afghanistan.

“It’s not going to happen overnight, but we will not stop until our people are safe.”

More than 140,000 Britons have registered their presence in the Middle East with the Foreign Office.

Muscat international airport is tiny by Middle Eastern standards – with barely one-eighth of the passenger numbers handled in a typical year by Dubai.

But with airports in the UAE, Qatar and beyond either operating with only a small fraction of normal operations, or closed completely due to airspace restrictions, the airport in the Omani capital is experiencing a surge in flights and passengers.

Qatar Airways, which has flown no passengers since the weekend, is launching a “mini hub” in Muscat. From Friday, a small number of jets together with pilots and cabin crew will be shuttling from there to London Heathrow as well as Berlin, Copenhagen, Madrid, Rome and Amsterdam.

Announcing the extra military assets being sent to the region, Sir Keir said: “I can announce today that we’re sending four additional Typhoon jets to join our squadron in Qatar to strengthen our defensive operations in Qatar and across the region.”

The families will be offered £10,000 per member, capped at four per family, to leave the UK voluntarily. They will have seven days to reply, and if they do not take up the offer, the Home Office will attempt to forcibly remove them from the country.

Our home affairs correspondent Holly Bancroft reports:

Defence secretary John Healey has declined to rule out UK aircraft taking part in strikes on Iran.

He was asked during a trip to Cyprus whether he would rule out getting involved in strikes on Iran in an offensive capacity.

During an interview with Sky News, he said: “As circumstances in any conflict change, you’ve got to be willing to adapt the action you take.

“I’m doing that by bringing in anti-drone helicopters in overnight. I’m doing that in the next couple of weeks to bring in the Type 45 air defence destroyer.

“I’m doing that by bringing in the top planners to help … co-ordinate the sort of contribution that other nations are now starting to make … the German frigate in the area, and Greek ships also now joining.”

Pressed again on whether he would rule out British aircraft taking part in offensive operations over Iran, he said: “Everything that we have done is defensive, is legal and is co-ordinated with other allies.

“That’s one of the great strengths that Britain, Nato allies and long-standing partners like Qatar, like Jordan, like Cyprus, have in working with the Brits.”

The Irish minister for foreign affairs has denied to confirm if she believes Israeli and American air strikes on Iran broke international law.

Helen McEntee was questioned several times on Thursday if actions by the two countries were outside international law. She referred repeatedly to the lack of a UN mandate, saying in order for conflicts to be “justified” there “needs to be a UN mandate from the UN Security Council”.

On Saturday, the US and Israel targeted Iran’s leadership, missile arsenal and nuclear programme in a series of air strikes.

Iran retaliated with thousands of drones and ballistic missiles targeting Israel, UK and American military bases and embassies in the region, and energy facilities across the Persian Gulf.

The war has killed over 1,230 people in Iran, more than 100 in Lebanon and around a dozen in Israel, according to officials in those countries.

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps warned they would set fire to any vessels attempting to pass through the Strait of Hormuz after claiming “complete control” of the major shipping route on Wednesday.

Northern Ireland’s first minister has accused the DUP of “championing and being cheerleaders” for the war in Iran.

Michelle O’Neill said the surge in oil prices is the “real-life implication” of the war in the Middle East, but insisted Sinn Fein and the DUP can work “together whilst having a very different approach to what’s happening internationally”.

Hundreds of Northern Ireland citizens have been trapped in the region since last Saturday amid the conflict between Iran and the US and Israel, which caused widespread airspace closures in the Middle East, sparking major disruption to flights.

The First Minister was also criticised by opposition parties for not attending Cabinet Office briefings on the situation in Iran, alongside her deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly. Both faced criticism for not issuing a joint statement.

Labour wants the election watchdog to investigate donations to Reform UK after claiming the party has “serious questions to answer” over cryptocurrency.

Chair Anna Turley wrote to the Electoral Commission after the body’s quarterly report revealed that Nigel Farage’s party had secured a second multi-million pound donation from a Thai- based billionaire, boosting the party’s war chest ahead of the crucial May elections.

The £3 million donation from Christopher Harborne, a cryptocurrency investor who bankrolled Brexit, came on top of the record £9m that he gave to Mr Farage’s party last year. It received a total of £5.5m in donations in the last quarter of 2025 – more than any other party, according to figures released by the Electoral Commission.