Nigel Farage bemoaned the state of Britain’s military today as he warned against the UK getting involved in American and Israeli strikes on Iran.
The Reform UK leader suggested – even if Britain wanted to assist in Donald Trump‘s attacks on Tehran – it was unable ‘to offer anything of any value’ to the US President.
He spoke out amid a huge row over the Government’s response to the Middle East crisis, which has seen the Royal Navy without a major warship in the Mediterranean.
It was announced yesterday that HMS Dragon will head to Cyprus in the next 48 hours – but it is expected to take around five days for the Type 45 Destroyer to arrive.
‘We cannot get involved directly in another foreign war – we don’t have a navy, we can’t even defend our own military base in Cyprus,’ Mr Farage said.
He added that Britain had been left ‘humiliated’ by France, which is deploying about a dozen naval vessels to the region.
Mr Farage, speaking in Derbyshire, despaired at the UK’s military capabilities as he attempted to clear up his party’s position on Mr Trump’s strikes on Iran.
Some senior figures in Reform have suggested Britain should be doing more to assist the action against Iran – including RAF jets joining the strikes on Tehran.
However, Robert Jenrick – the party’s Treasury spokesman – has spoken out against ‘drawn-out wars in faraway places’ and said the UK shouldn’t take part in ‘offensive’ action.
Nigel Farage bemoaned the state of Britain’s military today as he warned against the UK getting involved in American and Israeli strikes on Iran
Mr Farage spoke at a press conference on Tuesday alongside Robert Jenrick as they pledged to reverse Labour’s planned fuel duty hike by scrapping ‘lunatic’ Net Zero levies
Mr Farage on Tuesday acknowledged there were ‘differing opinions’ within his party ‘as to whether we should physically join the attacks’ – but he argued the UK did not have the ‘capability’ to do so.
‘Given that we can’t even send a Royal Naval vessel to defend British sovereign territory and an RAF base, we certainly don’t have the capability to offer anything of any value to the Americans or the Israelis,’ he said.
‘President Macron is really, frankly, showing the humiliating state we’ve sunk to today with his very decisive actions and his intention to help clear the Strait of Hormuz.’
Mr Farage said Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer should ‘never, ever, ever have said no’ to an initial US request to use British bases – including Diego Garcia in the Chagos Islands – to launch offensive attacks on Iran.
Speaking about his party’s own position, he added: ‘There are differing opinions as to whether we should physically join the attacks.
‘I as leader am saying to you, if we can’t even defend Cyprus, let’s not get ourselves involved in another foreign war.’
He continued: ‘We cannot get involved directly in another foreign war – we don’t have a navy, we can’t even defend our own military base in Cyprus.’
Mr Farage spoke at a press conference on Tuesday alongside Mr Jenrick as they pledged to reverse Labour’s planned fuel duty hike by scrapping ‘lunatic’ Net Zero levies.
The duo announced the policy at a petrol station in Derbyshire where the price board was covered in their party’s branding with the lettering ‘Reform Refuel’ and ’25p off with Farage’, putting a litre of diesel at £1.43.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves has so far resisted calls to cancel a planned 5p increase in fuel duty in response to the oil price spike caused by the Iran conflict.
Responding to Reform’s announcement and Mr Farage’s comments, a Labour source said: ‘Nigel Farage and Reform spent the past week saying they would bomb Iran.
‘Now they’re backtracking as petrol prices rise, leaving their foreign policy in chaos. That’s not serious leadership, that’s panic.’
Mr Jenrick, Reform’s Treasury spokesman, had earlier taken a swipe at Mr Trump by criticising ‘drawn-out wars in faraway places’.
The former Tory minister, who defected to Reform in January, said the US President’s military assault on Iran will ‘damage’ Britain the longer it continues.
He also warned that RAF jets shouldn’t join in the ‘offensive’ action against Tehran, as he said it was ‘time to be realists and put Britain first’.
Mr Jenrick’s comments added to the confusion over Reform’s stance on the US and Israeli strikes on Iran.
Mr Farage has backed the decision by Mr Trump, his long-time friend, to take action against Tehran and initially suggested the UK military should do more to support America and Israel.
Meanwhile, Reform’s deputy leader Richard Tice said the party – if it had been in government – would have said ‘yes’ to any requests for help by the US or Israel.
Nadhim Zahawi, the former Tory chancellor who also joined Reform in January, said Britain ‘should join the bombing if needed’.
It came after Mr Jenrick, Reform’s Treasury spokesman, earlier took a swipe at Donald Trump by criticising ‘drawn-out wars in faraway places’
But Mr Jenrick offered a different view, writing in The Telegraph: ‘The fact is that the longer this war continues, the more damage it will cause to British households, businesses and manufacturers.
‘Reform’s position is simple: the Iranian regime is wicked, but this war needs to come to an end as soon as possible because it is making Britain poorer.
‘We are still reeling from the eye-wateringly high inflation triggered by the war in Ukraine and this is only going to prolong the pain.
‘That’s why Nigel Farage immediately ruled out suggestions that the UK might deploy boots on the ground.
‘Nor do we see why British aircraft should become involved in offensive action. We are a party for working people, not drawn-out wars in faraway places.
‘The liberal interventionists of the early 21st century failed our own people, leaving them poorer and more exposed to mass migration, not to mention the brave British men whose lives were lost.
‘The British people have had enough of them. It’s time to be realists and put Britain first.’
Mr Jenrick called for greater action against ‘malign Iranian influence’ on British soil, including by proscribing the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
But, arguing against UK involvement in military interventions abroad, he added: ‘At a time when our country is broken and in need of serious repair, we do not need distractions.
‘Our sole interest must always be in making the British people safer and more prosperous. There is no time to waste.’
