Photograph: SWNS
Any Iranian move to close the strait of Hormuz waterway would be an act of monumental self-harm, David Lammy, the UK’s foreign secretary, said, as he continued to refuse to endorse the Israeli and American strikes on Iran, or lay out the UK view of their lawfulness.
Lammy said there was no need for the British government to say if the strikes were legal since the UK was not involved in the action and had not been asked by the US to take part, or to allow the US to use the UK’s Diego Garcia base in the Indian Ocean to target Iran.
The US used B-2 stealth bombers and a salvo of submarine-launched missiles to hit Iran’s nuclear facilities on Saturday night.
Lammy denied that the US was involved in regime change, saying the attacks were very targeted. No assessment had yet been completed on the effectiveness of the US attacks, he admitted, raising questions over whether Iran has moved its enriched uranium to a new site.
Lammy, in an hour-long statement to the Commons, also disclosed the first RAF plane had evacuated 63 British nationals and their dependents to Cyprus from Israel. He said negotiations were under way to help the 4,000 British nationals in Israel that had registered with the Foreign Office.
A summary of today's developments
An RAF flight for vulnerable British nationals and their families left Tel Aviv for Cyprus earlier on Monday. Further flights will be arranged based on “demand and the latest security situation”. Foreign secretary David Lammy said the government was “working round the clock” to secure more flights. Lammy confirmed that the RAF has evacuated 63 British nationals from Israel.
The UK’s foreign, commonwealth and development Office (FCDO) has updated its travel advice for Qatar to recommend British nationals in the Gulf state “shelter in place”. In an update to the page, the FCDO said: “Following a US security alert for US nationals in Qatar, out of an abundance of caution, we recommend that British nationals in Qatar shelter in place until further notice. Follow instructions from local authorities. “The FCDO is in contact with local authorities and international partners, and will provide further updates as the situation develops.”
The government has withdrawn staff from its embassy in Iran, David Lammy told MPs. Staff were evacuated from the centre in the capital Tehran on Friday, and the embassy is now operating “remotely”, Lammy said, adding it was a temporary move.
The home secretary said she will ban Palestine Action under anti-terrorism laws, ignoring a warning from the group’s solicitors that the proposal was “unlawful, dangerous and ill thought out”. Yvette Cooper said a draft proscription order would be laid in parliament on 30 June. The Green party of England and Wales MP Ellie Chowns described the plans as as “a shocking overreaction to a couple of protesters using paint”.
Lammy has been criticised after repeatedly refusing to say whether the UK government believes the US acted legally when it carried out strikes on nuclear facilities in Iran. Asked on the BBC Radio 4 programme if the airstrikes were legal, Lammy said three times it was for Washington to answer such questions. Former foreign secretary and Conservative MP James Cleverly described the exchanges as “excruitiating”. Chancellor Rachel Reeves, armed forces minister Luke Pollard, and a Downing Street spokesperson all similarly said it was a matter for the US
First minister of Scotland John Swinney has said he is “concerned” the UK could be drawn into the escalating conflict in the Middle East.
The government is to slash green levies on thousands of businesses, in an effort to bring down sky-high energy costs for firms and boost the manufacturing sector in Labour heartlands, a key plank of the long-awaited industrial strategy, a 10-year plan to boost sectors ranging from the creative industries to manufacturing.
Health secretary Wes Streeting has launched a national investigation into “systemic” failures in NHS maternity services in England, saying “maternity units are failing, hospitals are failing, trusts are failing, regulators are failing” and there was “too much passing the buck”.
Nigel Farage outlined a Reform UK policy which he said would attract wealthy individuals to the UK by charging them a £250,000 fee for 10 years of residency and a special tax regime. Reeves described it as a “huge tax giveaway to foreign billionaires” and “worse than a gimmick”.
Kemi Badenoch has said that the Conservatives she leads are the “adults in the room” in British politics, as she sought to put distance between her party and Farage’s Reform UK vehicle, who she derided as “not serious”.
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