ANDY Burnham will continue to allow the US to use military bases in the UK to launch some strikes on Iran, it has been revealed.
Bloomberg reports that Burnham agreed with Keir Starmer’s decision to permit the use of the Chagos-based airfield Diego Garcia and RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire for “defensive strikes”, and will continue to allow access as the US ramps up its attacks again.
The decision comes as the US launched its 11th day of attacks on cities across Iran since full-scale conflict broke out again after a thinly-veiled ceasefire, with the country’s military chiefs saying strikes targeted logistics infrastructure, drone storage facilities and other military sites.
In response, Tehran has launched retaliatory strikes on its US-allied neighbours, including Jordan, Bahrain, Syria and Kuwait.
Human rights groups have previously warned that the UK may be breaching international law by permitting the use of its bases. Despite this, Starmer permitted an expansion of their use to encompass the defence of Gulf state allies and strikes on Iranian installations targeting shipping in the Strait of Hormuz.
Speaking after Trump made threats on his social media platform Truth Social to completely wipe out Iran, saying “a whole civilisation will die tonight”, Kristyan Benedict, Amnesty International UK's crisis response manager said: "This is a moment of extreme danger for civilians in Iran and the wider region.
“For president Trump to threaten that 'a whole civilisation will die tonight' echoes genocidal language – and the UK government must urgently end military support to the US that could enable crimes under international law, including war crimes.
"A US strike has already killed over 168 people, including more than 100 children, at a school in Minab, Iran. Bridges and energy infrastructure are being bombed.
"The decision to allow the US to use British military bases does not exist in a vacuum – it carries serious human rights responsibilities.
Pete Hegseth, the US defence secretary was also questioned by Sky News on Wednesday on what the Trump administration knows about a US strike earlier in the year that hit the school after the broadcaster’s investigation reinforced reports that the US was responsible for the strike.
Hegseth has been giving evidence to senators this week as the Trump administration seeks an additional $88 billion to continue the war in Iran, which has already cost $37.5bn.
Following his appearance on Tuesday, Sky News challenged Hegseth on the Minab school bombing, which a security insider told the broadcaster that "human error was responsible" for the deaths, and that the Trump administration is "undermining transparency" by failing to fully probe the decision to launch the strikes.
He failed to answer to the reporter, walking past the Sky News cameras without speaking.
Human Rights Watch's UK director, Yasmine Ahmed, also wrote to Burnham’s predecessor in March, highlighting that the government’s legal justification for the move failed to mention issues related to international humanitarian law.
She cited a number of instances which have raised questions around US compliance with the law, including an air strike on the Shajareh Tayyebeh primary school.
