Keir Starmer accused of 'covering up' Iran's attack on Chagos Islands as PM told to 'come clean'

It emerged in American media on Saturday morning that the regime had attempted to attack Diego Garcia, but one missile was shot down by a US warship, while the other failed in flight.

Government sources confirmed the attack happened before it released a statement on Friday, in which it said it had allowed the US military to launch attacks on Iran from the base to help reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

It means the British public had not been informed immediately about the attack, and it has still not been confirmed exactly when the attempted strike took place.

Ms Badenoch said: “Keir Starmer has dithered and delayed on the Iran conflict from the outset.

"Now we find out, from the media and not the Prime Minister, that the British base on Diego Garcia has been the target of Iranian missile attacks.

"As we saw with Peter Mandelson, Starmer’s first instinct is always to cover up the truth. On Wednesday he attacked me at PMQs for calling for the proper defence of our bases, now we learn that as he did so our base in the Chagos Islands was being targeted by Iran.

“The Prime Minister needs to immediately come clean about the details of this latest attack on British troops and explain why the public weren’t informed sooner".

The Ministry of Defence earlier accused Iran of "reckless attacks" and "lashing out across the region", with HMS Dragon being deployed to the region to assist British allies under attack.

Iran was believed to have intermediate range ballistic missiles with a range of 1,250 miles, with doubts the regime has missiles capable of reaching Diego Garcia, about 2,350 miles from Iran.

At the start of the conflict earlier this month, the Prime Minister was criticised for his delayed response to authorise self-defence related activity to the US from the shared base.

He was met with the same criticism on Friday, after a prolonged decision to give the US permission to use both Diego Garcia and RAF Fairford to carry out raids on Iranian missile in the Strait of Hormuz.

Operating under the same legal basis of self-defence, but now striking new targets, the initiative is described as "US defensive operations", rather than an offensive move.

The agreement was cited as being "in the collective self-defence of the region" to degrade the missile sites and capabilities being used to attack ships in the Strait of Hormuz.

Today, No10 confirmed RAF Akrotiri, the British base in Cyprus previously struck by Iranian drones at the start of the conflict, will not be used by the US to target Iranian missile sites.

The news comes after the Prime Minister spoke to the president of the Republic of Cyprus, Nikos Christodoulides, this morning.

A Downing Street spokesman said: “The Prime Minister began by underscoring that as close partners and friends, Cyprus’s security was of utmost importance to the UK.

“The Prime Minister reiterated that RAF Akrotiri would not be involved in the UK’s continuation of its agreement with the US to use UK bases in collective self-defence of the region, including for the degrading of Iranian missile capabilities.

“Discussing the economic impact of the ongoing conflict, the leaders agreed that de-escalation in the region was the priority.

“The leaders agreed to stay in close touch".