Iran War: I'm no fan of Keir Starmer but he's right to reject demands of pro-Trump Tories and Reform

Donald Trump may, in his particularly condescending way, think Keir Starmer is no Winston Churchill but I have news for him – he’s no Franklin D Roosevelt. In fact, it's difficult to think of any former US President to whom he could be in any way favourably compared.

The macho chest-beating by him and his Secretary of State for War while they glory in their actions against Iran, despite the deaths caused across the Gulf, Israel and among US forces, is disgusting to witness and frighteningly reminiscent of the gloating over the “shock and awe” bombing in Iraq which horrified so many.

I’m not normally a huge Starmer fan but his rejection of Trump’s demands has shown a commitment to our own national interests and citizens’ safety that offers hope of not repeating the mistakes of the Iraq War. We must not be drawn into an illegal conflict or put service personnel lives at risk in pursuit of questionable ends.

READ MORE: As Iran crisis deepens, UK must not repeat Iraq War mistakes

Smoke rises after an explosion in Tehran, Iran, amid US and Israeli missile strikes (Picture: Majid Saeedi) | Getty Images

Tories’ and Reform’s pro-Trump stance

Instead his government is rightly focused on protecting more than a quarter of a million British nationals trapped abroad. A problem compounded by the chaos created in the worldwide aviation industry by closing down a critically important air zone and transport hub.

In parliament, government minister Hamish Falconer outlined a challenge which far outstrips the evacuation of Afghanistan or even Covid repatriations. That he had to do it against a background of pro-Trump, war-effort bleating by Tory and Reform MPs was sickening.

I am old enough to remember the overthrow of the Shah, the birth of the Islamic Republic of Iran, and the beginnings of decades of instability in the Middle East. I know of the terrorist threat, of the fear of a nuclear armed Iran. This was not the way to deal with it.

READ MORE: Iran crisis highlights just how weak the UK's Armed Forces have become

The Prime Minister is right in calling for the continued pursuit of a negotiated settlement and agreement that Iran will not build a nuclear arsenal. Insisting that our bases can only be used for defence may seem to give support, though flimsy, to Trump’s criticism.

For me it is a recognition that we do have a responsibility to our allies, but one which stops short of jeopardising our own security or breaking international law.

READ MORE: How Keir Starmer's astute handling of Donald Trump is helping preserve the Special Relationship

A lack of respect

If Trump looks more closely at that Churchill-Roosevelt relationship, he might interpret it differently. Any semi-serious student of history will tell you that, at the outbreak of the Second World War, public and political opinion in the US was against any involvement. It was only the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor which drew the US into active involvement.

For the intervening years, the infamous ‘lend-lease agreement’, only recently paid off, kept us supported and supplied. It was not, the majority in the US felt, in their national interest to do more.

The Special Relationship was cemented in the aftermath of the war and has both endured and developed through the defence of joint interests and mutual respect. It is that last aspect which is so blatantly absent from the US administration’s actions this past week.

In that time, I have been working with families to bring them home, and to make the time they are trapped overseas as comfortable as possible. Our citizens need protection. That is, and always should be, our overriding priority.

Christine Jardine is the Scottish Liberal Democrat MP for Edinburgh West