Britain told Donald Trump to explain how his war against Iran is lawful after the US president launched another stinging attack on Sir Keir Starmer.
In an unprecedented rift during a major, modern-day war between the UK and America, a Government minister said the so-called Special Relationship was now operating on a “functional” basis.
Sir Keir refused to allow British bases to be used by US forces for the initial and offensive attacks on Iran, stressing he would not do so unless there was a lawful basis for doing so, as well as a “thought-through plan” on the conflict.
Tearing into the PM on the war, Trump told The Sun: “He has not been helpful.
“I never thought I’d see that. I never thought I’d see that from the UK.”
On Britain, he added: “It’s also not such a recognisable country. I mean, you look at what happened over the last period of time and it’s very different.
“London is a very different place, with a terrible Mayor.”
On the Special Relationship, Trump added, praising France and Germany as he hit out at the UK: “This was the most solid relationship of all. And now we have very strong relationships with other countries in Europe.”
Criticising the UK on immigration, the US president said: “Stop people from coming in from foreign lands who hate you.”
Pressed on whether the Government was “pandering” to Muslim voters, Trump said it could be.
But Darren Jones, Chief Secretary in No10, hit back, telling Times Radio: “I obviously disagree with those sentiments.
“The Prime Minister was very clear yesterday in the House of Commons that we will only engage British assets or British forces where there is a legal basis to do so, a clear plan for why we are doing it and if it’s in the interest of our country.”
Asked if the initial US/Israel airstrikes were legal, Mr Jones told Sky News: “The Americans have got to set out the legal basis for their interventions.”
Strongly suggesting Britain did not believe the initial military action was lawful, he added: “We were not involved in the first wave because it did not meet the tests that the Prime Minister set out.”
Speaking to LBC Radio, he stressed: “We’ve learnt the lessons from Iraq.
“We don’t want to go back into war in the Middle East where there is no clear plan and no legal basis to do so.”
Sir Keir announced on Sunday night that US forces would be able to use British bases for defensive purposes, such as targeting Iranian missile sites, on the basis of “mutual self-defence” after Tehran launched a wave of attacks which put UK citizens in danger.
Updating MPs on Monday, the PM said his Government “does not believe in regime change from the skies”, in another apparent criticism of the US President’s bombing campaign in the Middle East.
Earlier, Trump had criticised Sir Keir’s decision not to allow American jets to deploy from UK bases to undertake the strikes, telling the Telegraph he was “very disappointed” in the Prime Minister.
UK bases are now in play in the conflict, but only so the US can strike defensively to protect countries being targeted by Tehran.
This is understood to include the joint US-UK Diego Garcia base in the Indian Ocean and RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire.
The conflict has spiralled, with a series of US airstrikes on Iran, while Israel targeted the militant group Hezbollah in Lebanon, allies of the Iranian regime.
Tehran, meanwhile, launched strikes against Israel, and the oil and natural gas production facilities of Gulf states allied to the US.
Plans have been drawn up to evacuate more than 100,000 Britons stranded in countries in the war zone.
Some flights back to Heathrow have started to resume.
America has told its citizens to leave a string of countries in the Middle East, including Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE.
