Starmer confirms UK has moved fighter jets to Middle East to provide ‘support’

The UK is providing “contingency support” including fighter jets in the Middle East amid fears of the conflict between Israel and Iran escalating , Keir Starmer has confirmed.

Asked on Saturday whether “assets” in the region were being used to defend Israel, Starmer told reporters who would not “get into operational issues”.

He also refused to define the circumstances in which British fighter jets would be scrambled and deployed, citing security concerns.

But Starmer admitted:”We do have long standing concerns about the nuclear programme that Iran has. We do recognise Israel’s right to self-defence.”

The UK already has RAF jets in the Middle East, but it is understood additional Voyager aircraft used to refuel planes on longer missions are to be sent over as well as fighter jets.

Jewish News also understands that the Prime Minister gave an assurance that the UK would bolster its presence in the region during a phone call with Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday.

“In relation to Israel, I had a good and constructive discussion with Prime Minister Netanyahu yesterday, and that included discussions about the safety and security of Israel, as you would expect, between two allies,” Starmer confirmed on Saturday.

Asked if Britain had been told in advance of Israeli’s military plans, the Prime Minister said: “I’m not going to go into what information we had at the time or since.

“But we discuss these things intensely with our allies. But I’m not going to get into precisely what we knew, because it’s a constant flow of information between our allies, and between us and the US.”

A source told The Times newspaper that Israel now viewed the UK as an “unreliable” friend and had not therefore alerted it prior to the initial attack on Iran.

Speaking in Canada as he headed to the G7 Summit Starmer said:” “I will always make the right decisions for the UK and our allies.

“We are moving assets to the region, including jets, and that is for contingency support in the region.

“I will be clear-eyed in relation to our duties and obligations and my duties as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.”

Relations between Starmer and the Israeli PM are not believed to be as fractured as relations between other ministers of the two countries currently are.

“There’s still a lot going on, even after the UK government’s response to the Gaza war,” one official told Jewish News.

“We’re having ongoing discussions with our allies all of the time, both myself and David Lammy, as you’ve seen, who also spoke to the Iranians, as I think is a matter of record now,” Starmer added on Saturday.

“Our constant message is to de-escalate, and therefore everything we’re doing, all discussions we’re having are to do with de-escalation.”