Image copyright MOD The UK has put the Royal Navy and military helicopters on standby amid rising tensions in the Middle East, Defense Secretary Ben Wallace has said.(The Government was putting in place “urgent measures” to protect British nationals and interests in the region, Mr Wallace told the House of Commons.
He said non-essential UK personnel had also been moved out of Baghdad.
His statement comes in the wake of the US killing of Iranian general Qasem Soleimani in Iraq on Friday.
Mr Wallace, answering questions from MPs on the growing crisis, reiterated the government calls for all sides to “de-escalate”.
He said the Department for Transport was reviewing its advice to British shipping on a daily basis, while “a small team” had been sent to the region to provide assistance with “situational awareness and contingency planning.” When asked about the prospect of a UK military strike on Iran, he said he was “not going to rule out anything”.
He said if British citizens or armed service personnel were killed by Iranian actions the UK’s response “would no doubt be proportionate”.
“The UK will do what it has to do to defend its persons, its citizens and wherever it needs to do that. That is our duty. “
Asked by Labor MP Chi Onwurah about the risks of the UK’s” unquestioning “support of President Donald Trump – who ordered the drone strike – Mr Wallace said the support was “not unquestioning at all.”He added: ” We are friends and allies but we are also critical friends and allies when it matters. “
(Laborer leader Jeremy Corbyn accused Prime Minister Boris Johnson of “hiding behind his defense secretary” by not making the Commons statement himself.
Mr Corbyn said that the US killing of Soleimani amounted to “an illegal act” and now what was urgently required was “dialogue preferably through the UN”.
He said it was “very odd” that the prime minister “couldn’t be bothered to come and answer questions” in Parliament on the matter.
Responding, Mr Wallace said: “This prime minister actually believes in a cabinet government and letting the members of the cabinet who are responsible for the policy come to the House to be able to answer the questions around the policy matter. “
Ministers have been chorusing the case for constraint and there is a lot of talking going on.
The Defense secretary and the foreign secretary have been in touch with their counterparts in the region and in Europe and Boris Johnson has been on the phone to President Trump and to the Iraqi leadership.
But he hasn’t spoken publicly and he was conspicuous by his absence in the Commons today, which laid him open to mockery and accusations of weakness from Mr Corbyn.
The official line is ministers are being left to do their job. Senior Conservatives point out that past prime ministers tended to be front and center when dealing with a crisis on this kind of scale.
And when you remember how President Trump did just fail to inform London but did not consult them on what he did when it came to this attack you can see where a lot of this criticism is coming from.
In other developments:
GIPHY App Key not set. Please check settings