{"id":2582956,"date":"2026-03-23T15:14:00","date_gmt":"2026-03-23T19:14:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/starmer-focuses-on-economic-threats-after-iran-targets-british-base\/"},"modified":"2026-03-23T15:15:56","modified_gmt":"2026-03-23T19:15:56","slug":"starmer-focuses-on-economic-threats-after-iran-targets-british-base","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/starmer-focuses-on-economic-threats-after-iran-targets-british-base\/","title":{"rendered":"Starmer focuses on economic threats after Iran targets British base"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">20<\/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-focuses-on-economic-threats-after-iran-targets-british-base%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=2582956&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 Prime Minister Keir Starmer convened an emergency COBRA meeting to focus on the economic threats arising from the Middle East conflict, particularly disrupted energy supplies and volatile global markets, rather than military considerations. The discussions followed reports that Iran fired two missiles at the U.K.-U.S. military base on Diego Garcia, wiht one missile allegedly failing and the other shot down; officials took more than 30 hours to confirm the incident, and Starmer stressed that assessments show the U.K. is not being targeted.<\/p>\n<p>The Diego Garcia incident would mark a important escalation in Iran\u2019s war strategy, though Israel has claimed Iran could threaten London, Paris, or Berlin. The British government maintained ther is no specific assessment of a direct threat to the U.K., while opposition and Conservative critics argued about the handling and timing of the government\u2019s acknowledgment.<\/p>\n<p>Iran denied involvement, suggesting the reports were a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/biden-fans-the-flames-labels-trump-supporters-domestic-terrorists-video\/\" title=\"Biden Fans the Flames, Labels ... Supporters \u201cDomestic Terrorists\u201d (VIDEO)\">false flag operation<\/a> by Israel, and Iran\u2019s Foreign Ministry spokesman cited uncertainty from NATO, signaling broader geopolitical tensions. The story also touches on domestic political dynamics, with Conservative leaders urging openness and opposition figures arguing for a clear link between defense and economic policy.<\/p>\n<p>Additionally, the Diego Garcia issue ties to the Chagos Islands-Mauritius dispute, as starmer advocates moving forward with a long-standing plan to lease the base, a concept opposed by U.S. President Donald Trump. The overall narrative highlights how international conflict is intersecting with UK cost-of-living concerns and domestic political debate.  <\/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 focuses on economic threats after Iranian missiles fail to reach British base on Diego Garcia<\/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_2541035\" class=\"tpd-featured-video bridtv\"><\/div>\n<p><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/keir-starmer\/\">British Prime Minister Keir Starmer<\/a> is calling an emergency Cabinet meeting following reports of Iranian strikes aimed at the U.S.-U.K. joint <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/world\/4471518\/uk-foreign-office-minister-confirms-britain-pausing-chagos-islands-deal\/\">military base on Diego Garcia<\/a>, but the British government will be examining &ldquo;cost of living&rdquo; concerns, not &ldquo;military considerations.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>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> is convening a Cabinet Office Briefing Rooms meeting on Monday, a type of crisis briefing for the British government. His officials will be briefed on the economic threats posed by a drawn-out war in the Middle East with an emphasis on concerns such as disrupted energy supplies and volatile global markets.<\/p>\n<div class=\"recommended-stories\">\n<h2>Recommended Stories<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/policy\/defense\/4500245\/us-iran-mojtaba-khamenei-condition-unverified-trump\/\">US still hasn&#8217;t seen or heard from Mojtaba Khamenei, Trump says<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/4500069\/war-in-iran-spirals-into-a-dangerous-new-escalatory-phase\/\">Threat and counterthreat: War in Iran spirals into a dangerous new escalatory phase<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/policy\/foreign-policy\/4499156\/russia-beneficiary-us-israel-iran-war-ukraine\/\">Russia has been an early beneficiary of the US-Iran war in the Middle East<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-paywall\">\n<p>&ldquo;Obviously COBRAs are usually used for military considerations, consular considerations, but I think with the Iran war, most people are very concerned now,&rdquo; Starmer <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/business\/2026\/mar\/23\/keir-starmer-rising-cost-of-living-uk-iran-conflict\">said<\/a> ahead of the meeting on Monday. &ldquo;Not only what they&rsquo;re seeing on their screens in relation to the conflict itself, but also that question of how is it going to affect me and my family?&rdquo;<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">In this image made from video, British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer appears before the Liaison Committee in the House of Commons, London, Monday, March 23, 2026. (PA via AP)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>He continued: &ldquo;So today we&rsquo;re looking at the economic impact, and I am asking for every lever that&rsquo;s available to the Government to deal with the cost of living to be discussed at COBRA. Hence, we&rsquo;ve got the Bank of England and others there.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Starmer&rsquo;s explicit note that the COBRA meeting will not touch on &ldquo;military considerations&rdquo; is raising eyebrows, considering the fact that two <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/chinas-nuclear-threat-against-japan-hybrid-warfare-and-the-end-of-minimum-deterrence\/\" title=\"China\u2019s Nuclear Threat Against Japan: Hybrid ...fare And The End Of Minimum Deterrence\">intermediate-range ballistic missiles<\/a> were reportedly fired by Tehran at the Diego Garcia base on Saturday, though one failed and the other was shot down.<\/p>\n<p>It took more than 30 hours for British officials to <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cnbc.com\/2026\/03\/22\/uk-confirms-iran-fired-two-missiles-at-british-american-base.html\">confirm the incident<\/a>, with Starmer then facing accusations of covering up the attack and questions of whether the homeland was a possible target.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;We carry &#8203;out assessments all the &#8203;time in order to keep &#8288;us safe, and there&rsquo;s &#8203;no assessment that we&rsquo;re being &#8203;targeted in that way,&rdquo; Starmer told the press on Monday.<\/p>\n<p>The reported Diego Garcia strikes &mdash; which allegedly occurred after the U.K. authorized the U.S. to use the base &mdash; would mark a major escalation in <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/iran\/\">Iran&rsquo;s<\/a> war strategy, demonstrating their capability of firing missiles with a 2,500-mile range.<\/p>\n<p>The Islamic regime has withheld from using such weapons thus far, ostensibly to signal its lack of interest in endangering countries outside its own region.<\/p>\n<p>Israel has <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk\/news\/article-15667165\/Iran-missiles-hit-Europe-experts-fear-Diego-Garcia.html\">asserted<\/a> that the incident proves Iran is a &ldquo;broader threat&rdquo; than previously thought &ldquo;with missiles that can reach London, Paris or Berlin.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>The British government maintains that this is inaccurate.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;There is no specific assessment that the Iranians are targeting the U.K. or even could if they wanted to,&rdquo; U.K. Housing Secretary Steve Reed <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cnbc.com\/2026\/03\/22\/uk-confirms-iran-fired-two-missiles-at-british-american-base.html\">told<\/a> BBC television on Sunday.<\/p>\n<p>The Conservative Party has lambasted Starmer&rsquo;s handling of the Iran troubles since the U.S. launched <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/policy\/foreign-policy\/4500079\/trump-iran-war-power-plants\/\">Operation Epic Fury<\/a> last month. The attacks on a British territory have only sharpened the Tories&rsquo; criticism as they assert the prime minister is hiding from a conflict already spilling onto the nation&rsquo;s soil.<\/p>\n<p>Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has voiced outrage at the delay between the Diego Garcia incident and the government&rsquo;s acknowledgement, urging officials to &ldquo;come clean&rdquo; on the details of the attack. <\/p>\n<p>Shadow Secretary of State for Housing James Cleverly told Sky News that &ldquo;defensive action&rdquo; becomes &ldquo;military action&rdquo; when &ldquo;British nationals are being targeted, when our military bases our being targeted.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Iran has denied involvement in the Diego Garcia incident, blaming the reports on an &ldquo;Israeli false flag&rdquo; operation meant to provoke the U.S. and U.K.<\/p>\n<p>Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei cited NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte&rsquo;s <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cbsnews.com\/news\/mark-rutte-nato-secretary-general-face-the-nation-transcript-03-22-2026\/\">comments to CBS News<\/a> on Sunday, in which he said that he &ldquo;cannot confirm&rdquo; the reports, as evidence of foul play.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;That even the NATO Secretary General (who is infamously pressing Alliance members to appease the U.S. and support their illegal war on Iran) declines to endorse Israel&rsquo;s most recent disinformation, speaks volumes,&rdquo; Baghaei said on Monday. &ldquo;The world has grown thoroughly exhausted with these tired and discredited &lsquo;false flag&rsquo; storylines.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p><strong><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/policy\/foreign-policy\/4500149\/trump-steve-witkoff-jared-kushner-iran-war-deal\/\">TRUMP SAYS US NEGOTIATORS MET WITH IRANIAN COUNTERPARTS NIGHT BEFORE STRIKES POSTPONED<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The attention on Diego Garcia is likely frustrating for 10 Downing Street, which has for months tried to  navigate a handover of the Chagos Islands to neighboring Mauritius. Diego Garcia is the largest island in the Chagos territory.<\/p>\n<p>That deal, which Starmer maintains is necessary following an order from the International Court of Justice, would require the joint U.S.-U.K. military base on Diego Garcia to be <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >leased moving forward &#038;mdash<\/a>; an arrangement President&nbsp;<a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/donald-trump\/\">Donald Trump<\/a>&nbsp;has firmly opposed on national security grounds.<\/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 prioritizes cost of living amid Iran-Diego<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3468,"featured_media":2582957,"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\/02\/AP26020296570188-e1770409534946.jpg?w=696","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[76390,34755,37154],"class_list":["post-2582956","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-economic-threats","tag-starmer","tag-uk-politics"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/AP26020296570188-e1770409534946.jpg?w=696","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2582956","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=2582956"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2582956\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2582960,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2582956\/revisions\/2582960"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2582957"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2582956"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2582956"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2582956"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}