Sunak ‘will not hesitate’ to protect UK security after Yemen airstrikes
The British government would not “hesitate to protect” UK security amid ongoing tensions with Houthi rebels, Rishi Sunak has said.
The British military joined forces with the US on Thursday night as it launched attacks against Houthi bases in Yemen – in retaliation for the targeting of international trade in the Red Sea.
The prime minister said the aim of the action was to “de-escalate tensions in the region and actually restore stability back to the area”.
However, with questions swirling around over whether further action would be taken, he added the UK “will not hesitate to protect our security where required”.
Mr Sunak is due to give a statement in the Commons about the operation at around 3.30pm.
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The US carried out a further strike in Yemen on Friday, but reports suggest only 25% of the Houthi capability to carry out attacks on cargo ships had been damaged.
Earlier, Defence Secretary Grant Shapps told Sky News: “We never thought that this would remove all of their facilities. That wasn’t the goal. The goal was to send a very clear message.”
An RAF Typhoon aircraft takes off to join the US-led air strikes in Yemen
Describing Houthi attacks on the key shipping lane as “thuggery”, Mr Shapps also said there was no planned escalation of the action, and the UK’s “intention” was not to go into Yemen.
But he insisted the government would “monitor the situation very carefully”.
A spokesman for the Yemeni armed forces in the Houthi-controlled north of the country said in a televised statement the bombardment would “not go unanswered and unpunished”.
And it linked the strikes with the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas, saying it would not deter their support for the Palestinians.
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‘UK would consider further action against Houthis if needed.’
On Sunday, Foreign Secretary Lord Cameron denied any link between the Yemen strikes and the war in Gaza to Sky News, saying the action was “completely separate”.
But experts warned those in Arab nations would be unlikely to see it in the same way.
Speaking to reporters on Monday, Mr Sunak said: “We faced an escalating series of attacks from the Houthis on commercial shipping, including an attack on a Royal Navy warship. That’s unacceptable.
“It’s right that we took proportionate, targeted action against military targets to send a strong message that that behaviour is unacceptable.
“It was a last resort, it came after the end of exhaustive diplomatic activity including a UN Security Council.”
The prime minister added: “Now, I think it is incumbent on the Houthis to recognise the international condemnation for what they are doing and desist.
“But we, of course, will not hesitate to protect our security where required.”
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Mr Sunak will make a statement on the military action in the Commons later on Monday, four days after the strikes.
He briefed Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer ahead of the strikes on Thursday, as well as the Speaker, Sir Lindsay Hoyle.
Speaking to reporters on Monday, Sir Keir said: “The action that the government took in conjunction with the US is action that we support.
“What we now need to hear from the prime minister is the scope, the basis, the full reasoning behind the decision that he took and of course the question of whether more action may be needed, and what processes will be put in place.”
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However, some MPs are angry ministers did not bring the issue to parliament before joining the US-led operation last week, with the Liberal Democrats demanding a retrospective vote on the issue.
Asked if he would support further strikes in Yemen, Sir Keir said: “If the government is proposing further action, then it should say so and set out the case and we’re going to have to consider that on a case by case basis on the merits.”
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Reform’s plan was meant to be detailed. Instead, there’s more confusion.
The party had grown weary of the longstanding criticism that their tough talk on immigration did not come with a full proposal for what they would do to tackle small boats if they came to power.
So, after six months of planning, yesterday they attempted to put flesh on to the bones of their flagship policy.
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At an expensive press conference in a vast airhanger in Oxford, the headline news was clear: Reform UK would deport anyone who comes here by small boat, arresting, detaining and then deporting up to 600,000 people in the first five years of governing.
They would leave international treaties and repeal the Human Rights Act to do it
But, one day later, that policy is clear as mud when it comes to who this would apply to.
Nigel Farage launched an airport-style departures board to illustrate how many illegal migrants have arrived in the UK. Pic: PA
I asked Farage at the time of the announcement whether this would apply to women and girls – an important question – as the basis for their extreme policy seemed to hinge on the safety of women and girls in the UK.
He was unequivocal: “Yes, women and children, everybody on arrival will be detained.
“And I’ve accepted already that how we deal with children is a much more complicated and difficult issue.”
But a day later, he appeared to row back on this stance at a press conference in Scotland, saying Reform is “not even discussing women and children at this stage”.
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He later clarified that if a single woman came by boat, then they could fall under the policy, but if “a woman comes with children, we will work out the best thing to do”.
A third clarification in the space of 24 hours on a flagship policy they worked on over six months seems like a pretty big gaffe, and it only feeds into the Labour criticism that these plans aren’t yet credible.
If they had hoped to pivot from rhetoric to rigour, this announcement showed serious pitfalls.
But party strategists probably will not be tearing out too much hair over this, with polling showing Reform UK still as the most trusted party on the issue of immigration overall.
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