{"id":2576178,"date":"2026-03-04T18:18:01","date_gmt":"2026-03-04T23:18:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/starmer-defends-waffling-on-iran-fights-trump-criticism\/"},"modified":"2026-03-04T18:19:54","modified_gmt":"2026-03-04T23:19:54","slug":"starmer-defends-waffling-on-iran-fights-trump-criticism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/starmer-defends-waffling-on-iran-fights-trump-criticism\/","title":{"rendered":"Starmer defends waffling on Iran, fights Trump criticism"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">16<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fstarmer-defends-waffling-on-iran-fights-trump-criticism%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2576178&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>British Labor leader keir Starmer defended his Iran policy in Parliament, arguing that the US-UK \u201cspecial relationship\u201d is defined by cooperation and shared intelligence rather than simply following the latest words from President Trump. The article describes Trump\u2019s sharp critique of Starmer, including a claim that Starmer is not Churchill, and Starmer\u2019s rebuttal that Britain\u2019s actions\u2014such as allowing US use of UK bases and <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >sharing intelligence\u2014demonstrate<\/a> the partnership in practice and protect American lives. It notes that Britain is moving to support US operations against Iranian threats, with plans to deploy the warship HMS dragon to defend it&#8217;s Cypriot base, though the ship\u2019s departure was not immediate. Conservative and right-wing critics,including Kemi Badenoch and Nigel Farage,argued that Starmer has shown indecision and a lack of follow-through on defense,urging faster and stronger action. the piece frames the disagreement as a broader confrontation over leadership style and national-security priorities in the context of the Iran crisis and the so<a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/defence-economy-on-the-agenda-as-biden-makes-an-overdue-canada-visit\/\" title=\"Defence, Economy on the Agenda as Biden Makes an Overdue Canada Visit\">-called special relationship<\/a>.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-header-search-button-mob dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search\" aria-labelledby=\"td-header-search-button\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search-inner\">\n<form method=\"get\" class=\"tdb-search-form\" action=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\"><\/form>\n<div class=\"tdb-aj-search\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/#\" role=\"button\" aria-label=\"Search\" class=\"tdb-head-search-btn dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<h1 class=\"tdb-title-text\">Starmer defends waffling on Iran: &lsquo;Hanging on to President Trump&rsquo;s latest words&rsquo; is not &lsquo;special relationship in action&rsquo;<\/h1>\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-title-line\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div id=\"Brid_2521976\" class=\"tpd-featured-video bridtv\"><\/div>\n<p>British Prime Minister <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/keir-starmer\/\">Keir Starmer<\/a> came out swinging at Prime Minister&rsquo;s Questions this week, blasting his opponents for questioning his posture on unrest in the <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/middle-east\/\" type=\"post_tag\" id=\"102\">Middle East<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Fresh off the indignity of President <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/donald-trump\/\" type=\"post_tag\" id=\"4\">Donald Trump <\/a>dismissing him as &ldquo;<a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/white-house\/4478548\/trump-skewers-keir-starmer-iran-cooperation\/\">not Winston Churchill<\/a>,&rdquo; Starmer hammered home to members of Parliament that the &ldquo;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/trump-campaign-appeals-to-fec-over-labours-work-on-harris-campaign-washington-examiner\/\" title=\"... campaign ...peals to FEC over Labour&#039;s work on Harris campaign - Washington Examiner\">special relationship&#038;rdquo<\/a>; between the United States and Britain is one of cooperation, not strong-arming.<\/p>\n<div class=\"recommended-stories\">\n<h2>Recommended Stories<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/world\/4480913\/conservative-leader-keir-starmer-china-threat-parliament-spy\/\">Conservative British leader demands Starmer target China &#8216;threat&#8217; after Parliament member&#8217;s husband accused of spying<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/world\/4480530\/white-house-state-department-defend-evacuation-strategies-us-citizens\/\">White House and State Department defend evacuation strategies for US citizens<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/world\/4479949\/spain-trump-russian-roulette-iran\/\">Spain urges Trump not to &#8216;play Russian roulette&#8217; with &#8216;destiny of millions&rsquo; in Iran<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-paywall\">\n<p>&ldquo;British jets are shooting down drones and missiles to protect American lives in the Middle East on our joint bases. That is the special relationship in action. Sharing intelligence every day to keep our people safe. That is the special relationship in action,&rdquo; Starmer told the MPs. &ldquo;Hanging on to President Trump&rsquo;s latest words is not the special relationship in action.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">British Prime Minister Keir Starmer leaves 10 Downing Street to attend the weekly Prime Ministers&rsquo; Questions session in the Parliament in London, England, Wednesday, March 4, 2026. (AP Photo\/Kin Cheung)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Starmer on Sunday allowed the U.S. to utilize British bases in operations aiming to &ldquo;eliminate the urgent threat&rdquo; of <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/iran\/\" type=\"post_tag\" id=\"100\">Iranian<\/a> strikes in neighboring countries, including Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Israel, the United Arab Emirates, and more.<\/p>\n<p>Trump has loudly criticized Starmer for <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/world\/4477217\/keir-starmer-trump-iran-unlawful-action\/\">failing to approve<\/a> U.S. military use of British bases for &ldquo;Operation Epic Fury&rdquo; over the weekend quickly enough, accusing the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/uk-govt-lockdown-to-last-12-months-expect-repeated-vaccinations\/\" title=\"UK Govt: Lockdown to Last 12+ Months, Expect Repeated Vaccinations\">prime minister<\/a> of indecision and acting slowly.<\/p>\n<p>These criticisms have been echoed by his critics on the right-wing, who have decried the British government&rsquo;s response to Iranian counterattacks across the Middle East as sluggish and meandering.<\/p>\n<p>The British government is preparing to deploy a warship, the <em>HMS Dragon<\/em>, to defend its base in Cyprus &mdash; but that vessel is not expected to mobilize from its dock in Portsmouth until next week.<\/p>\n<p>Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch&nbsp;grilled the prime minister on Wednesday for his lack of follow-through in deploying the Royal Air Force, accusing him of &ldquo;catching arrows instead of stopping the archer&rdquo; despite the fact that British &ldquo;bases have already been attacked.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;He doesn&rsquo;t understand his [own] policy &mdash; he has a sea of orcs and goons who have no idea how anything is working at all,&rdquo; the Conservative leader complained, eliciting jeers from Labour.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">U.S. President Donald Trump, left, and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer look at each other as they shake hands during a press conference at Chequers near Aylesbury, England, Thursday, Sept. 18, 2025. Leon Neal\/Pool Photo via AP, File)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>&ldquo;The situation in Iran shows this prime minister has the wrong priorities,&rdquo; she asserted. &ldquo;When it comes to defense, it&rsquo;s someone else&rsquo;s job &mdash; when it comes to welfare, they find the money. When our bases are attacked, they call the lawyers. When our energy security  is under threat, they stop drilling in the North Sea.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p><strong><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/world\/4480530\/white-house-state-department-defend-evacuation-strategies-us-citizens\/\">WHITE HOUSE AND STATE DEPARTMENT DEFEND EVACUATION STRATEGIES FOR US CITIZENS<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/nigel-farage\/\">Nigel Farage<\/a>, the leader of Reform UK, has also taken shots at Starmer on social media and in media appearances since Operation Epic Fury &mdash; agreeing with Trump&rsquo;s criticisms.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;To say [Starmer] is no Churchill is quite an understatement really,&rdquo; Farage said on Wednesday. &ldquo;The man is dithered. He&rsquo;s all over the place. He&rsquo;s not a leader, he&rsquo;s a follower. His performance has been abject over the last few days &mdash; added to which, we haven&rsquo;t even got a Royal Navy that is serviceable anymore.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Starmer backs Iran stance; Trump&#8217;s words not in action<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3468,"featured_media":2576179,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/AP26063419711262.jpg?w=696","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[50462,57398,34755,40034,37154],"class_list":["post-2576178","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-foreign-policy-2","tag-iran-policy","tag-starmer","tag-trump-criticism","tag-uk-politics"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/AP26063419711262.jpg?w=696","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2576178","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3468"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2576178"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2576178\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2576182,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2576178\/revisions\/2576182"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2576179"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2576178"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2576178"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2576178"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}