Iran-US war latest: Iran says Strait of Hormuz open to all but ‘enemy-linked ships’ after Trump’s threat

Sir Keir Starmer may have “undermined our standing in the world” by “dithering” on Iran, Sir James Cleverly has said.

The shadow housing secretary told Sky News’ Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips that Donald Trump was “deeply unfair” when he accused the UK and European allies of being cowards.

He said: “It’s inappropriate language. We know that President Trump shoots from the hip when it comes to his description of things, look, I think that’s deeply unfair.

“However, I don’t think it has been helped by the fact that our Prime Minister has sat on his hands at a time when the Canadians, a left-of-centre government, were supportive of the action against Iran.

“Australia, a left-of-centre government, supportive of the action against Iran – so it’s not a left-right split.

“The fact is Keir Starmer was equivocal, he was dithering, he was undecided and that, I fear, has undermined our standing in the world.”

Israel’s defence minister Israel Katz said on Sunday that he and prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu had instructed the military to accelerate the demolition of Lebanese homes in “frontline villages” to end threats to Israeli communities.

The military was instructed to immediately destroy all bridges over Lebanon’s Litani river which he said were used for “terrorist activity”, Katz said in a statement released by his office.

Steve Reed has refused to say how close Iran’s long-range missiles came to reaching Diego Garcia.

The housing secretary appeared to suggest Israel’s warning that Iran has developed long-range missiles capable of reaching Europe is exaggerated.

He told BBC’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg programme: “There is no specific assessment that the Iranians are targeting the UK or even could, if they wanted to.

“We have the finest military in the world. We are perfectly capable of protecting this country.”

Mr Reed said the Israeli Defence Forces’ statement was “conditional”, adding “there is no assessment to substantiate what’s being said”.

There is no need to ration fuel despite the ongoing Middle East war, Steve Reed has said.

The Housing Secretary insisted the Government does have a contingency plan.

He told Sky: “There’s no need to ration fuel. People should go around and buy their fuel just like they always would.

“If the situation were to change, then the Government would look at what was required in that circumstance.

“We did intervene when it came to heating oil, because we saw the prices escalating and people were seeing their bills doubling and tripling overnight. We can’t have that, so we stepped in to support people.”

Japan could consider deploying its military for minesweeping in the Strait of Hormuz, a vital artery for global oil supplies, if a ceasefire is reached in the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran, Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi said on Sunday.

“If there were to be a complete ceasefire, hypothetically speaking, then things like minesweeping could come up,” Motegi said during a Fuji TV programme. “This is purely hypothetical, but if a ceasefire were established and naval mines were creating an obstacle, then I think that would be something to consider.”

Japan’s military actions are limited under its postwar pacifist constitution, but 2015 security legislation allows Japan to use its Self-Defence Forces overseas if an attack, including on a close security partner, threatens Japan’s survival and no other means are available to address it.

Tokyo has no immediate plans to seek arrangements to allow passage through the Strait of Hormuz for stranded Japanese vessels, Motegi said, adding it was “extremely important” to create conditions that allow all ships to navigate through the narrow waterway, the conduit for a fifth of the world’s oil shipments.

Steve Reed would not be drawn on whether the Government backs President Donald Trump’s 48-hour deadline for Iran to open the Strait of Hormuz.

He was repeatedly asked about his position appearing on Sky News’s Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips programme but only said the UK will not be drawn into a wider conflict.

“I think you need to ask President Trump about the things that President Trump is talking about,” the Housing Secretary said.

Early on Sunday, Mr Trump wrote on Truth Social that Iran had 48 hours to “FULLY OPEN, WITHOUT THREAT, the Strait of Hormuz”, or the US would “obliterate” Iran’s power plants.

Housing secretary Steve Reed insisted that the UK was safe and will not be dragged into the Iran conflict.

Despite warnings Iran has developed long-range missiles capable of reaching major European cities, he said the UK had strong defensive capabilities.

He told Sky News’s Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips programme: “We have systems and defences in place that keep the United Kingdom safe, and that will continue to happen, but the Prime Minister has been crystal clear about this war.

“We didn’t join the war, we’re not going to be dragged into this war, but we will take necessary defensive action to protect British interests, British people, or our allies across the region.

Mr Reed said the fact that one of the missiles fired at Diego Garcia was intercepted, and the other failed, shows shows “that our defensive capabilities are correct”.

The Prime Minister will hold a Cobra meeting next week to discuss plans to help households with cost of living issues caused by the war, it is understood.

Lord Richard Walker, the cost-of-living tsar, said he has “asked the government to consider a temporary profit cap, if required, to stop producers and retailers exploiting the crisis to make windfall profits at the expense of consumers”.

The desire to stay out of other people’s wars is understandable, and there is no dishonour in John McDonnell, a Labour neutralist, seeking Liberal Democrat and Green support in parliament to try to block the United States using British bases for attacks on Iran.

But it is not possible for Britain to have nothing to do with the conflict in the Middle East. Our citizens’ standard of living is affected by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz. British expatriates are vulnerable to Iranian missiles in several Gulf countries, which are allies. And British bases, including Cyprus and Diego Garcia, are also within range.

Mr McDonnell would no doubt want to give up British military bases around the world, and thinks that British expats and the allied nations that accommodate them should look after themselves. But even then he ought to recognise that Britain has an economic interest in the free passage of ships in international waters – at least until such a time, some decades in the future, when we can function without petroleum products at all.

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