'Get a grip!' Keir Starmer blasted by Kemi Badenoch for 'relying on US' to defend UK in Iran war

In a press conference to the nation on Thursday, Sir Keir defended his speed in deploying assets to Cyprus after an attack on RAF Akrotiri.

Questioned by GB News on why HMS Dragon remains in Portsmouth, Sir Keir said: "We started redeploying in January and February assets to the region to make sure that we had the capability that we needed there.

"That wasn't an isolated set of decisions, that was done in conjunction with the US, in conjunction with our allies, and we're bolstering that again.

"And therefore, I can say we are doing everything and have done everything we can at speed to make sure that we are properly protecting our citizens, which was my number one concern. And that's why it's very important that I set out the pre-deployment measures that we took."

Criticising Sir Keir's handling of UK defences, Mrs Badenoch told GB News the Labour Government have been more interested in "welfare and breakfast clubs" than defending the nation.

She said: "I think it is a disgrace that HMS Dragon is still in Portsmouth, but that is because we have a Government that came in to do more welfare and breakfast clubs.

"They were not prepared for the international situation that we have today and they are running away from it, so they need to get a grip."

The Tory leader accused Sir Keir of being too "scared of his backbenchers" and "losing votes" to take action in the Middle East.

She stated: "We are a serious country, and we need to start acting like it. Keir Starmer needs to get a grip and stop looking so scared, atop being afraid of his backbenchers.

"They're worried about what the voters in places like Gorton and other places might think. They're worried about losing their seats. That's the thing that frightens me."

She declared: "They need to take decisions in the national interest, not just for the Labour Party's interests."

Taking issue with the level of action carried out by UK defences, Mrs Badenoch predicted that if we keep trying to "catch the arrows" and not "the archer", eventually "we will get hit".

She explained: "We're only taking defensive action. We're stopping the missiles and drones that are attacking our bases where we can, but we're not stopping the missile launch capability. We are catching arrows instead of stopping the archer.

"And if all you're doing is trying to catch the arrows, eventually you will get hit. You need to take out the missile launch capability. I'm not talking about us putting troops on the ground, I'm not talking about us being gung-ho, we have got to be serious.

"If we are looking like we will not do the right thing when we are under attack, do you think Russia is going to believe us when we talk about a coalition of the willing? I don't think so. They're not going to take us seriously."

Challenging Mrs Badenoch on the previous cuts to defence spending under the Tory Government, she dismissed suggestions the Tories are "partly to blame" and defended her newly announced pledge to spend an extra £1.6billion a year on defence.

She told the People's Channel: "Defence spending went down from 1989 until 2022, that is all the governments – Conservative, Labour, Lib Dem – because we felt we were living in an era of peace.

"When I got into cabinet from 2022 onwards, we were spending more on defence, so I'm really pleased that when I was there we were spending more, but we need to spend even more. We need to get to three per cent.

"We cannot rely on the US to do our defending for us, especially at a time when we've got a Government that is not even helping them out by allowing them to use their airbase until we've been attacked, it's not serious."

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