The weak-willed UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer is responding to President Trump’s suggestion yesterday that he not give away the Diego Garcia island because of some woke idea from someone else claiming the island. Trump suggested it could be used to defend against attacks from Iran.
But Starmer apparently responded by blocking Trump from using any Royal Air Force bases to attack Iran, including the one on Diego Garcia.
Here’s more via the Telegraph:
Sir Keir Starmer has blocked Donald Trump from using RAF bases to strike Iran.
The Government is yet to give consent for the US to use military bases in the UK to launch bombing runs, because of concerns they would breach international law.
The US is putting together contingency plans for a direct attack on Iran, with long-range bombing and refuelling aircraft sent to the Middle East in recent days. It is the largest US military build-up in the region since 2003, when the country went to war in Iraq.
Any US strike on Iran would likely use the Diego Garcia military base in the Chagos Islands – the British overseas territory that the UK is planning to give away to Mauritius – and European air bases in allied countries.
The US does not need consent to use Diego Garcia, but must ask the UK government before using RAF bases.
The UK’s reluctance to allow the US to use bases in this country is thought to have led Mr Trump, the US president, to withdraw his support for Sir Keir’s Chagos deal, under which Britain will give away sovereignty over the archipelago, including the Diego Garcia military base, which is shared with the US.
On Wednesday, Mr Trump told the UK to “remain strong in the face of wokeism” and not to “give away” the islands. Posting on Truth Social, the US president said: “Should Iran decide not to make a Deal, it may be necessary for the United States to use Diego Garcia, and the Airfield located in Fairford, in order to eradicate a potential attack by a highly unstable and dangerous Regime.”
Mr Trump’s comments are understood to be a reference to a US request for permission to launch long-range bombing runs from RAF Fairford, a military base in Gloucestershire that hosts US Air Force personnel.
However, the UK has yet to give consent owing to concerns raised by government lawyers, first reported by The Times, that participating in the strikes could be a breach of international law.
Government sources said the UK is unlikely to support any pre-emptive military strike on Iran, following a similar refusal to participate in the US president’s attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities last summer.
The UK could be held responsible for an illegal attack on Iran by the US under a UN edict passed in 2001, if it had “knowledge of the circumstances of the internationally wrongful act”.
After Mr Trump’s strikes on Iran last summer, ministers repeatedly refused to say whether Britain’s lawyers believed the strikes were legal.
In his message on Wednesday, Mr Trump laid out the bones of a legal justification for bombing Iran, arguing that a strike could “eradicate a potential attack by a highly unstable and dangerous Regime… [that] would potentially be made on the United Kingdom, as well as other friendly Countries”.
Mark Levin responded to the news by saying:
This quisling is no Churchill or Thatcher. He’s a Chamberlain. https://t.co/xbg94qAlmv
— Mark R. Levin (@marklevinshow) February 19, 2026
Yup. He’s too afraid of ‘international outrage’ or something to be a real force for good in the world.
I like how Colin Brazier put it on X:
Trump isn’t asking for military help like that given by the UK when the US invaded Iraq. Only for American jets to be permitted to fly from UK bases. And in doing so, destroy a demented Islamist regime bent on acquiring nukes. Why should Washington spend hundreds of millions of dollars on (notionally) RAF bases, if Starmer blocks their use when it matters? What happens if the U.S. pulls its forces from Britain? Does anyone really think Labour will spend enough on defence to keep us safe without Uncle Sam’s ultimate protection?
Exactly right. Starmer better figure out whose side he’s on, because I suspect there will be hell to pay from Trump if he stabs him in the back like this.