Left and progressive parliamentarians in Britain continue to oppose Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s apparent determination to get the country more involved in attacks on Iran. In recent statements, Starmer announced moving more military equipment into West Asia and has allowed British bases to be used for US operations in the region.
In response, Jeremy Corbyn tabled a bill requiring parliamentary approval for use of British bases by foreign forces, among other things. The proposal has been endorsed by several MPs, including representatives from the Green Party – and even Labour parliamentarians. “During your statement this week, you said that ‘the use of the bases is to allow the US to take out Iran’s ability to launch attacks in the first place,'” they wrote to the Prime Minister on March 5. “Under this reasoning, almost any attack on anybody can be classified as defensive. The truth is that this decision risks dragging Britain into an illegal and catastrophic war with Iran.”
The MPs also reminded Starmer that only six years ago, he suggested pursuing legislative reform increasing Parliament’s oversight over Britain’s participation in armed conflicts. “You now have an opportunity to fulfill that promise,” they emphasized.
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Starmer is highly unlikely to pursue that opportunity, however: apart from Spain, most European governments have swiftly fallen in line behind the US narrative about illegal attacks on Iran it continues to conduct with Israel. The current Labor administration remains among those obedient European allies, even as US President Donald Trump continues to criticize Keir Starmer on a regular basis.
The Prime Minister’s actions have led to frustration within the government as well, as several ministers reportedly resisted his intention to provide some form of support for the strikes on Iran from their very beginning, Morning Star reports. While this has not prevented Starmer from pursuing yet another catastrophic course of action in less than two years, it speaks to the uneasiness among the party’s ranks regarding Starmer’s foreign policy choices.
Despite all this, Starmer continues to insist that the “special relationship” between Britain and the US – if strained – is working out to the country’s benefit. “The ‘special relationship’ is phoney,” MP Diane Abbott wrote on social media. “Empire nostalgics can pretend that Britain is still a major world power. The cost is subservience to the US, participation in illegal wars, and people in this country are worse off.”
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