‘Special Relationship’ Between America, U.K. Hits the Skids as Domestic Politics Flare in Britain Over Iran Offensive

As American warplanes land on the British-owned Diego Garcia air base in the Indian Ocean, Tony Blair’s condemnation of Prime Minister Keir Starmer for his reluctant support for America’s attack on Iran is reigniting a heated debate over whether the “special relationship” between the United States and U.K. has been irrevocably damaged. At a meeting Friday night with the news outlet, Jewish Voice, the former prime minister, who was serving as prime minister when President George W. Bush launched the second Iraq war, said when the United States calls, Britain must show up.“We have got to be very clear about this as a country. We’re depending on the American alliance for our country. They are not just an ally, they are an indispensable ally, right?” Mr. Blair said.“The American relationship matters. It matters particularly today. It’s not a question of whether it’s this president or that president. If they are your ally and they are an indispensable cornerstone for your security … you had better show up,” Mr. Blair continued, according to several news reports citing the conversation.Mr. Blair’s remarks roiled the U.K., with supporters of Mr. Starmer saying Britain should not be a lapdog to the United States while his opponents warned the prime minister’s delay is threatening Britain’s security.“Keir Starmer is right to stand up to Donald Trump over Iran. While the brutal Iranian regime should rightly be condemned and international pressure applied, this war is not the right course of action,” said London’s mayor, Sadiq Khan.“The US-UK Special relationship is the closest of any two countries because it is built upon our shared military, defense and security partnership,” said Shadow Foreign Secretary Priti Patel. “Starmer is not a leader. He has shown the world his inadequacies as he damages Britain’s standing in the world and the relationship with our greatest ally.”Britain’s Defense Ministry said Saturday that it has sent RAF Typhoon and F-35 jets over Jordan, Qatar, Cyprus and the wider region while a Merlin helicopter provides surveillance in support of British interests. Along with it are 400 personnel, radar, and air defense equipment in Cyprus. The ministry has not yet sent a British warship, HMS Dragon, to the region as it pledged last week and a second warship, the HMS Prince of Wales, remains on standby.“Labour’s failure to move warships to the conflict zone was a dereliction of duty. There are warships capable of defending Cyprus and Gulf States. The problem is those ships are nowhere near the Gulf, they are in Portsmouth,” said Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp. “Keir Starner (sic) has made another bad decision And has hurt our international credibility.”President Trump has been vocal about his view of Mr. Starmer’s delayed support. On Saturday, the president posted on his social media platform, TruthSocial, that Britain’s help is too little too late. “The United Kingdom, our once Great Ally, maybe the Greatest of them all, is finally giving serious thought to sending two aircraft carriers to the Middle East. That’s OK, Prime Minister Starmer, we don’t need them any longer — But we will remember. We don’t need people that join Wars after we’ve already won! President DONALD J. TRUMP,” the president wrote.Noting that the U.K. acted when Iran started targeting Mideast nations, where 300,000 British citizens reside, Foreign Minister Yvette Cooper pitched back at Mr. Blair on Sunday, saying Mr. Starmer is learning the lessons from “some of the things that went wrong in Iraq.”“In the end we have to act in the U.K.’s national interest,” she told Sky News. “There are some people in politics who think that we should always agree with the U.S. whatever. There are other people in politics who think we should never take action with the U.S., again, whatever the circumstances. I don’t think either of those positions is in the U.K.’s national interest and it is the responsibility for Keir Starmer to act in the U.K’s national interest.”She added that Britain does not conduct diplomacy the same way as the American president. “The thing I’ve learnt doing this job is you have to focus on the substance and not on social media posts,” she said. “We’re not going to do things in terms of the rhetoric or hyperbole. We’re going to do things on really practical, calm, steady decision-making.”While Mr. Blair’s office has said the remarks were not meant to go public, the former prime minister told the media outlet that he’s not saying anything that he hasn’t already told Mr. Starmer. He also distinguished between current events and 2003.“They were asking to use our bases to refuel… it’s not like it was in Vietnam… not like the Iraq campaign where we had thousands of British troops,” he said.

‘Special Relationship’ Between America, U.K. Hits the Skids as Domestic Politics Flare in Britain Over Iran Offensive

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