The chancellor has told Sky News that UK military assets could “potentially” be used to help defend Israel, and the government is “not ruling anything out”.
Rachel Reeves said that while the UK is calling for de-escalation in the region, it is also sending military assets, including fighter jets, “to protect ourselves and also potentially to support our allies”.
The chancellor went further than the prime minister last night, who confirmed the movement of military assets, but refused to say if they could be used to help Israel.
She also warned about rising oil prices and disruption to key trade routes in the Middle East, which could see inflation in Britain.
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Speaking to Sky’s Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips, the chancellor said sending military assets to the Middle East “does not mean that we are at war”, and emphasised that “we have not been involved in these strikes or this conflict”.
“But we do have important assets in the region,” she continued. “And it is right that we send jets to protect them. And that’s what we’ve done. It’s a precautionary move, and at the same time, we are urging de-escalation.”
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Asked what the UK government would do if the Israelis requested the deployment of assets to support their operations, Ms Reeves reiterated that there has been no UK involvement so far and would not get in to “operational decisions for the future”.
She said: “This is a fast moving situation. Israel has every right to defend itself. We also are very concerned about Iran’s nuclear deterrent.”
She continued: “We have, in the past, supported Israel when there had been missiles coming in. I’m not going to comment on what might happen in the future. But so far we haven’t been involved. We’re sending in assets to protect ourselves and also potentially to support our allies.”
Pushed on the question of what the UK would do if Israel asked for support with its operations, the chancellor replied: “I’m not going to rule anything out at this stage. It’s a fast moving situation, a very volatile situation. But we don’t want to see escalation.”
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Asked if the UK would support a change of regime in Tehran, she replied: “I’ve got no time for the Iranian regime for the suppression and repression of their own people, and we have serious concerns, which we’ve expressed on a number of occasions, about the Iranian nuclear programme.
“But we want to see de-escalation at the moment. We are not trying to ramp up the rhetoric.”
Ms Reeves also warned of the consequences of the conflict in the UK, saying that oil and gas prices “have gone up by just over 10%” since the conflict started, and warning there is a risk that key trade routes through the Middle East could be disrupted.
