UK at ‘grave risk’ as Trump turns up heat on Iran, Bicester MP warns

The Liberal Democrat spokesman for forreign affairs has written to prime minister Sir Keir Starmer urging him to block Donald Trump from using UK air bases.

The American president, at the time of publication, has set a deadline of 8pm EST (1am BST time) for Iran to open up the Strait of Hurmuz.

If not, Mr Trump has threatened to bomb Iran “back to the Stone Age” and said the county will be “living in Hell”.

Mr Miller said in a letter signed by leader Sir Ed Davey that the USA’s threats if carried out would “be a clear breach of international law”.

Bicester and Woodstock’s new MP Calum Miller (Image: Calum Miller)

He said: “The war in the Middle East was launched by Benjamin Netanyahu and Donald Trump on 28 February. Their actions were unilateral and illegal.

“Iran’s retaliation was swift and reckless, also illegally targeting countries that had not been party to the initial attack.”

“Liberal Democrats supported your decisions not to allow UK bases to be used by the US in the initial attacks and to limit UK involvement to that required to defend our citizens, interests and allies in the face of illegal actions against them by Iran.”

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He added “A failure to instil restraint in the actions of combatants and to aver that there are enemy combatants (or civilians) who “deserve no mercy” also contravenes the First and Third Geneva Conventions.

“President Trump and Defense Secretary Hegseth stand at the pinnace of the US Chain of Command. We must take their remarks seriously.

“They have given us warning that they intend to give instructions that will breach international law.”

Mr Miller called on Sir Keir to “withdraw the access granted to US planes to use UK bases and to make a statement on how we will continue to work with our other allies” going forward.

Downing Street again said the UK’s focus was on “de-escalation” and a “negotiated settlement” for the region, but Mr Trump ratcheted up his rhetoric and the US-Israeli bombing campaign continued.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer (PA) (Image: PA)

With the countdown on 24 hours, Mr Trump said on social media: “A whole civilisation will die tonight, never to be brought back again.

“I don’t want that to happen, but it probably will.”

The UK has granted permission for the US to use British military bases to carry out limited defensive operations, only targeting Iran’s missile sites and facilities being used to target shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, a vital oil and gas route.