The prime minister has told Britons in Lebanon to “leave immediately” as around 700 UK troops are deployed to Cyprus in case an emergency evacuation is needed.
Sir Keir Starmer said “we are ramping up the contingency plans… in light of the escalation”, with fears growing of all-out war between Israel and Hezbollah.
“It is important that we be really, really clear: now is the time to leave,” the PM said.
Defence Secretary John Healey – who chaired a meeting of the UK’s emergency COBRA committee earlier – also urged all Britons to leave Lebanon “now”.
Follow latest: Top Hezbollah commander ‘killed in Beirut’
Two British warships are already in the region and would be used if any evacuation operation is ordered. Royal Air Force planes and helicopters are also on standby.
A major UK military base in Cyprus – RAF Akrotiri – would be an important staging post.
The deployment of military personnel will happen in the coming hours. They will be supported by Border Force and Foreign Office officials.
The move marks a significant ramping up of UK efforts to prepare for a potential large-scale evacuation operation – a complex and dangerous move that has long been anticipated as a possibility given the volatility on the ground.
RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus would be an important staging post for an evacuation. File pic
A government statement described it as “the first phase of its contingency plans following significant escalation between Israel and Hezbollah in recent days”.
Thousands of British nationals are in Lebanon.
Sir Keir said he was “worried about the situation” in Lebanon, adding: “I think we need to be clear we need de-escalation, we need a ceasefire, we need to pull back from the brink.”
In a sign of growing concern, Mr Healey left the Labour Party conference early to chair the COBRA meeting of ministers as well as intelligence chiefs and diplomats.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Israel vows to continue attacks on Lebanon
“Events in the past hours and days have demonstrated how volatile this situation is, which is why our message is clear, British nationals should leave now,” the defence secretary said in a statement afterwards.
“We continue to urge all sides to step back from conflict to prevent further tragic loss of life. Our government is ensuring all preparations are in place to support British nationals should the situation deteriorate. I want to thank the British personnel who are deploying in the region for their commitment and professionalism.”
HMS Duncan, a Type 45 destroyer, and RFA Mounts Bay, a Royal Fleet Auxiliary ship, are already in the eastern Mediterranean ready to mobilise.
It is not the first time this year that the military has scrambled to prepare for a potential evacuation of British nationals from Lebanon.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Middle East: Latest from Sky News as conflict escalates
Just last month, more than 1,000 military personnel were on standby in Cyprus and the UK to mobilise as tensions soared. That level of readiness was subsequently eased but it is now being ramped back up, with the crisis far more grave.
In the past week, Israel has launched its biggest offensive against Hezbollah – which is backed by Iran – since the two sides went to war in 2006. Hezbollah’s military wing is considered a terrorist organisation by the UK government.
The operation began with the detonation of thousands of pagers and walkie-talkies used by the group – though Israel has not confirmed it was behind this covert hybrid attack.
It quickly evolved into overt warfare, with Israeli jets launching punishing waves of airstrikes. The Israel Defence Forces said they targeted Hezbollah weapons sites and killed a number of senior commanders. However hundreds of people have been killed and thousands injured, including women and children.
Tens of thousands of people have been forced to flee their homes in southern Lebanon.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
‘Lebanon will pay a big price if war escalates’
The Israeli government says the aim of its operation is to stop Hezbollah from being able to fire into northern Israel – something the militant group has done since a day after the October 7 Hamas attacks on Israel, which triggered the war in Gaza.
The Hezbollah strikes have forced tens of thousands of Israeli citizens to flee their homes in the north of Israel. The government says it wants to enable them to return home – a goal that Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of Hezbollah – has vowed to thwart.
The Israeli operation – which has dealt a punishing blow to Hezbollah – raises the possibility of Hezbollah using its arsenal of longer rage missiles to hit targets deeper inside Israeli territory – such a move would almost certainly trigger an Israeli ground attack.
Any court showdown between Apple and the Home Office over customer data must be held in public, MPs have demanded.
It comes after the tech giant announced last month that it would no longer offer UK customers its most advanced, end-to-end security encryption feature for cloud data storage following a row with the government.
The dispute was sparked when ministers reportedly decided to issue Apple with a Technical Capability Notice (TCN) demanding the right to see the user data.
Legally, neither of the parties can publicly confirm the existence of the order.
Politics latest: Cabinet minister apologises in Commons
However, ComputerWeekly and others have reported that Apple has launched an appeal against the TCN, with an initial hearing set to be heard on Friday before the Investigatory Powers Tribunal at the High Court in London.
A court listing document shows a behind-closed-doors application is due to be held before Lord Justice Singh and Mr Justice Johnson.
Veteran Tory MP and civil rights campaigner Sir David Davis told Sky News: “If the Home Office wants to have effectively unfettered access to the private data of the (innocent) general public, they should explain their case in front of the public.”
The notice shown to Apple users wanting to use Advanced Data Protection
Also speaking to Sky News, Liberal Democrat technology spokesperson Victoria Collins said: “The move by the government endangers people here in the UK and sets a dangerous precedent for authoritarian regimes across the globe…
“I’m proud to add my name to the call for the hearing on this crucial issue to be open to the public. People deserve to know what’s happening to their private personal information.”
Read more from Sky News:
Starmer ‘disappointed’ about Trump steel tariffs
Russian captain arrested over ship crash
Hostages killed after train hijacked
Reform UK chief whip Lee Anderson said: “If the government wishes to pry on its people, they can make that claim in public. This now puts the security and privacy of the British people at risk.
“The government should have as little involvement in our personal lives as possible. Not in our tweets, not in our text messages, and certainly not with full access to our phones.”
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Is your iPhone data less secure?
Prior to its removal in the UK, Apple‘s Advanced Data Protection service allowed users the ability to encrypt their data in such a way that no one, not even the tech company, would be able to access it.
Critics fear the use of end-to-end encryption – where third-party access is impossible – could help criminals like paedophiles hide their activity from authorities.
However, providing access to encrypted data, whether to a government or a company, provides potential pathways for third parties such as hackers to access information.
Successive governments have said they want to restrict the use of the function.
Apple has never commented on the TCN, but said in a previous statement: “Enhancing the security of cloud storage with end-to-end encryption is more urgent than ever before.
“Apple remains committed to offering our users the highest level of security for their personal data and are hopeful that we will be able to do so in the future in the United Kingdom.
“As we have said many times before, we have never built a backdoor or master key to any of our products or services and we never will.”
The Home Office declined to comment.
Rupert Lowe is consulting lawyers about taking possible libel action against Reform UK, Sky News understands.
The Great Yarmouth MP has accused the party of making “untrue and false allegations” about him after he criticised leader Nigel Farage in the media, sparking a bitter public row.
Politics Live: Starmer promises to ‘keep all options on the table’ after UK hit by Trump tariffs on steel
A day after the 67-year-old questioned whether Mr Farage could make it as prime minister, Reform UK announced on Friday it had referred him to police and suspended him, alleging he made “verbal threats” against chairman Zia Yousaf.
The Met has launched an investigation into these claims, which Mr Lowe has vehemently denied.
Reform has also claimed it has received complaints from two female employees about serious bullying in Mr Lowe’s constituency office.
The now independent MP has strenuously denied these claims as well, saying the allegations do not relate to him and were made by staff who themselves faced disciplinary action.
Mr Lowe believes he is the victim of a “witch hunt” after speaking out against the party’s leadership in an interview with the Daily Mail that was published last week, in which he challenged Mr Farage’s “messianic” tendencies.
He has not ruled out joining the Conservatives or another political party, while Mr Farage has said there is “no way back” for the suspended MP and accused him of being “out to cause maximum damage” to Reform UK.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Lowe suspension was ‘right judgement’
The feud could deepen still with Mr Lowe now mulling legal action over claims made about him during the ongoing war of words, it is understood.
The former Southampton FC chairman has accused Mr Farage of spreading “outright lies” after he told GB News that he “knows for a fact” Mr Lowe was informed of a parliamentary investigation into bullying allegations on 29 Feb and gave an interview with the Mail “shortly after that”.
According to the Mail, the interview was held on 25 February – days before Mr Lowe received a letter from Reform’s chief whip Lee Anderson informing him of concerns over his conduct.
The letter, seen by Sky News, was from Reform rather than parliament and says the parliamentary party has determined an independent investigation is the best course of action.
Read More:
Starmer ‘disappointed’ about Trump steel tariffs
Labour MPs criticise impending benefit cuts
Mr Lowe has urged Mr Farage to “apologise, retract and correct the record,” posting on X: “To suggest I used the interview to deflect from any investigation is factually untrue. I have heard absolutely nothing from parliament about any of this.”
Mr Lowe also denies claims made by Mr Anderson that he has not co-operated with the independent inquiry into his behaviour.
Last night, seven members of his team put their names on a statement coming to Mr Lowe’s defence, saying he is a “good, decent and honest man”, that they have never witnessed “violent or vicious” behaviour and allegations of bullying are “robustly denied by all of us”.
Sky News has contacted Reform UK for comment.
The row poses danger for a party that has its sights on entering government at the next election after a meteoric rise in the polls.
In his interview with the Mail, Mr Lowe said it was “too early to know” if Mr Farage will become prime minister and warned Reform remains a “protest party led by the Messiah” under the Clacton MP.
He also claimed that he was “barely six months into being an MP” himself and “in the betting to be the next prime minister”.
During Mr Farage’s online falling out with Elon Musk, in which he said Reform needed a new leader, Mr Lowe drew praise from the Space X billionaire.
In a move seen as a hint of a new splinter group, another ousted Reform UK politician, former deputy leader Ben Habib, told The Daily Telegraph that Mr Lowe was a “good friend” and he was “constantly in touch with” him.
European consumers have shown minimal interest in adopting a central bank digital currency (CBDC), raising concerns for the European Central Bank (ECB) as it prepares for a potential rollout of the digital euro.
An ECB working paper on “Consumer attitudes towards a central bank digital currency,” which surveyed about 19,000 respondents across 11 euro-area countries, highlighted significant communication challenges that are discouraging European households from adopting the digital euro.
When asked to hypothetically allocate 10,000 euros (roughly $10,800) across various assets, Europeans allocated only a small portion to the digital euro, having little impact on traditional liquid assets like cash, current accounts or savings accounts.
Reasons for not adopting a digital euro for retail payments. Source: European Central Bank
According to the March 12 ECB working paper, Europeans have a strong preference for existing payment methods and see no real benefit in a new type of payment system amid myriads of offline and online alternatives:
“This finding also suggests that convincing some users of the value added of a CBDC might pose a challenge for policymakers, and more research will certainly be needed in this area.”
The study suggested that while a digital euro could be introduced with minimal disruption to financial stability, its adoption faces significant hurdles due to consumer habits.
Additionally, it stressed the importance of targeted communication to address persistent consumer reluctance toward a digital euro.
Post-treatment attention checks conducted on European respondents. Source: ECB
The ECB paper found that European consumers were receptive to video-based education and training and concluded that educating the masses with CBDC-related video information could help with the widespread adoption of the digital euro:
“We find evidence that consumers who are shown a short video providing concise and clear communication about the key features of the digital euro are substantially more likely to update their beliefs about this new form of payment, which, in turn, increases their immediate likelihood of adopting it compared to an untreated control group.”
Related: European lawmakers silent on US Bitcoin reserve amid digital euro push
The study’s release comes as US lawmakers intensify their opposition to CBDCs. Speaking at the House Financial Services Committee hearing on March 11, Representative Tom Emmer said Congress should “prioritize pro-stablecoin legislation alongside anti-CBDC legislation.”
Emmer speaks during the House Financial Services Committee Hearing on CBDCs. Source: emmer.house.gov
Emmer said, “CBDC technology is inherently un-American” and unelected officials should not be allowed to issue it. Emmer also reintroduced the CBDC Anti-Surveillance State Act, which would prevent future US administrations from launching CBDCs.
Meanwhile, Deutsche Börse CEO Stephan Leithner recently called for the establishment of a permanent digital euro, among other reforms, to strengthen the region’s financial autonomy.
Magazine: Crypto fans are obsessed with longevity and biohacking: Here’s why
-
Sports2 years ago‘Storybook stuff’: Inside the night Bryce Harper sent the Phillies to the World Series
-
Sports11 months agoStory injured on diving stop, exits Red Sox game
-
Sports1 year agoGame 1 of WS least-watched in recorded history
-
Sports2 years agoMLB Rank 2023: Ranking baseball’s top 100 players
-
Sports3 years ago
Team Europe easily wins 4th straight Laver Cup
-
Environment2 years agoJapan and South Korea have a lot at stake in a free and open South China Sea
-
Environment2 years agoGame-changing Lectric XPedition launched as affordable electric cargo bike
-
Business2 years agoBank of England’s extraordinary response to government policy is almost unthinkable | Ed Conway