Keir Starmer attempted to mend the strained ties with Donald Trump concerning the conflict with Iran on Sunday, while a Labour rebuke intensified after Tony Blair’s claim that Britain ought to have backed the United States’ first air attacks on Iran.
The prime minister contacted the American president on Sunday afternoon after Trump unleashed a series of criticisms, having told his British counterpart on Saturday that assistance was unnecessary, despite the United States still employing British bases for operations against Iran.
Following a diplomatic rift that prompted the U.S. leader to post on social media, “We don’t need people that join wars after we’ve already won,” Trump and Starmer conversed on Sunday to address their countries’ defence collaboration.
A Downing Street official reported that the heads of government “started by reviewing the current Middle East developments and the joint military efforts of the UK and US via RAF installations, aimed at the collective self‑defence of regional partners.”
The conversation followed cautions that Starmer’s early denial of permission for U.S. warplanes to operate from British airfields had “damaged” the special relationship. Former army chief Lord Richard Dannatt told GB News, “They rely on us. We rely on them. And Keir Starmer, clinging to a narrow legal argument, has harmed that bond.”
A cabinet minister dismissed Dannatt’s claim, emphasizing the need to back EU partners and Ukraine, and asserting that the special relationship would survive beyond the present leaders of the United States and Britain.
The minister added: “If we are to expose our troops to danger, a legal authority and a comprehensive, end‑to‑end strategy are required – both of which are hard to discern in the U.S. stance on Iran at present. Observers may critique, attack, or chase personal or political gain from the margins, yet I am convinced we will stand on the correct side of history here.”
The prime minister also faced criticism, reported initially by the Mail on Sunday, from his predecessor Blair, who told a closed‑door Jewish News gathering on Friday that Starmer “should have supported America from the outset” and permitted the Trump administration to employ British airfields.
Blair, serving on the executive panel of Trump’s “board of peace,” described as the president’s substitute for the United Nations, remarked: “If they are your ally and a vital pillar of your security … you ought to appear when they call upon you.”
A representative for the former prime minister clarified that the remarks were delivered at a private gathering and were not meant for public release.
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