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00:00Live straight away to 10 Downing Street, where the UK Prime Minister is holding a press conference.
00:04Here we are.
00:05About the impact on our lives and our economy, and about the potential for even greater escalation.
00:15They can hardly believe that, yet again, we're seeing missiles and drones falling,
00:22and civilians in the firing line across the region.
00:25So I want to reassure the British public about the action that we're taking.
00:33While the region has been plunged into chaos, my focus is providing calm, level-headed leadership in the national interest.
00:44That means deploying our military and diplomatic strength to protect our people.
00:51And it means having the strength to stand firm by our values and our principles, no matter the pressure to
01:01do otherwise.
01:03The long-standing British position is that the best way forward for the regime and the world is a negotiated
01:12settlement with Iran,
01:14where they give up their nuclear ambitions.
01:18Now, that's why I took the decision that the UK would not join the initial strikes on Iran by the
01:26US and Israel.
01:28Now, that decision was deliberate.
01:31It was in the national interest.
01:34And I stand by it.
01:37But when Iran started attacking countries around the Gulf and the wider region, the situation changed.
01:46Iran has now fired drones and missiles at 10 countries that did not attack them.
01:52Iran, these are allies of the UK, where we have hundreds of thousands of British people, as well as British
02:01military personnel.
02:03Our number one priority is protecting our people.
02:09And that's why, long before the US and Israeli action last weekend, we had already deployed additional military capabilities to
02:18the region to defend our interests.
02:22And I want to pay tribute to our brilliant armed forces.
02:26Throughout January and February, we were moving defensive assets to Cyprus and Qatar.
02:34Fighter jets, air defence missiles, advanced radar, and systems to take down drones, to ensure we were in a heightened
02:44state of readiness in advance of any conflict beginning.
02:49When the strikes began on Saturday, we immediately put those jets into the sky, on a mission to protect our
02:59people and our allies in the region.
03:03And that is what they have done, flying over Cyprus and the wider region, shooting down multiple drones, at least
03:12one of which was heading towards a base housing British military personnel.
03:20Our jets were in the sky again last night, over Jordan, Qatar, and other partners, refuelling in the air to
03:30prolong their mission.
03:32And we're constantly resupplying our jets and our missile stores.
03:37And we are responding to requests from allies in the region for further help.
03:43I can announce today that we're sending four additional typhoon jets to join our squadron in Qatar, to strengthen our
03:53defensive operations in Qatar and across the region.
03:59Wildcat helicopters with anti-drone capabilities are arriving in Qatar, are arriving in Cyprus tomorrow.
04:07The Defence Secretary is on the ground in Cyprus right now, coordinating our work and meeting our brave servicemen and
04:16women.
04:17We're deploying HMS Dragon to the Mediterranean, and we have allowed the US to use British bases to conduct defensive
04:28operations to take out Iranian missiles before they're fired at our people and our allies.
04:37We will maintain this shield over British people in the region and our allies, we are working to strengthen it
04:45every day, and we're working as fast as possible to get our people out.
04:53As of today, over 140,000 individuals in the region have registered their presence, enabling us to get them the
05:03information and the support that they need.
05:06We have rapid deployment teams on the ground in Oman and Saudi Arabia, and our consular teams are helping hundreds
05:15of the most vulnerable individuals.
05:19Despite airspace closures, we're working around the clock with airlines, travel companies, and governments to open safe routes home.
05:30More than 4,000 people have now arrived back in the United Kingdom on commercial flights from the UAE, including
05:39vulnerable Brits identified by our teams.
05:43A further seven flights are due to the UAE for the UK today, and I can report that our first
05:51charter flight from Oman took off a few minutes ago.
05:56We will lay on additional charter flights in the coming days.
06:01British Airways is putting on daily flights from Oman, and we will keep working with all of our partners to
06:08increase the speed and capacity of this airlift.
06:13I want to be very clear.
06:16This is a huge undertaking.
06:20It's one of the biggest operations of its kind, many times bigger than the evacuation from Afghanistan.
06:29It's not going to happen overnight, but we will not stop until our people are safe.
06:38I also want to say a word about the economic impact.
06:42Iran is targeting oil and gas facilities in the Gulf and tankers in the Straits of Hormuz, trying to inflict
06:50economic pain around the world.
06:52So we will continue to work with the industries affected and our allies to respond to any impact.
07:02This is where the long-term changes that we're delivering for the British people are paying off.
07:08We have the right plan for defence, delivering the biggest increase in defence spending since the Cold War, to strengthen
07:16our armed forces and keep people safe.
07:20We have the right plan for our economy.
07:23As the Chancellor said on Tuesday, we're sticking to that plan so we can cut energy bills and help keeping
07:31families with the cost of living and helping them.
07:35We also have the right plan for our energy supplies, building up clean British energy like never before, decreasing our
07:44dependence on volatile international markets and creating the energy security and independence that we need.
07:54Faced with this new geopolitical crisis, the sad fact is that some will try to use it to divide us.
08:06That's why the government is reaching out to communities across the United Kingdom, Jewish and Muslim alike, making sure that
08:15communities and places of worship have appropriate protective security in place.
08:22But look, as a nation, we should come together in this moment.
08:31Those citizens that are stuck in the region, scared and in need of help, come from all backgrounds.
08:41The armed forces who protect them come from all backgrounds too.
08:46We are united by our common humanity and our love of this country.
08:54This conflict could continue for some time.
08:59So I want you to know that your government is resolute in our response, at home and abroad.
09:07We will do everything we can to protect British lives, uphold British values and safeguard the national interest.
09:18And now I'll take some questions.
09:23And I've got Chris, BBC first, please.
09:28Thank you, Prime Minister Chris Mason at BBC News.
09:30Can you address directly those at home and abroad who see your response and see indecision, prevarication and a lack
09:39of preparedness?
09:41Yes, let me address that, because, as I said a moment ago, we started pre-deploying to the region in
09:48January and February, particularly to Cyprus and Qatar.
09:52And that was fighter jets, air defence missiles, advanced radar and anti-drone systems.
10:01Now, we did that during the course of eight or so weeks.
10:05We did that in conjunction with the US and with our allies.
10:09And we continue to bolster the capability that we have there to keep our people safe.
10:15So there's been a lot of pre-planning gone into this, a lot of pre-deployment that's gone into this.
10:20And I'm satisfied that we can keep our people safe.
10:22And we're working very hard to make sure that wherever people have registered their presence, we can help them with
10:28the information that they need and the support they need and get them back to the United Kingdom as quickly
10:33and as safely as possible.
10:35Thank you, Chris.
10:36Robert Peston, ITV.
10:38Yeah, Robert Peston, ITV.
10:40Prime Minister, I was very struck by your choice of words.
10:42You said that you stand by what you called your initial decision not to join the offensive operations of Israel
10:51and America against Iran.
10:54Does that mean that decision is subject to review?
10:58You're concentrating at the moment on defensive military activity, but could it turn into offensive activity?
11:05Well, as you will understand, we're working with our allies and with the U.S. on this.
11:15We've been doing that for some time.
11:17The pre-deployment was done in conjunction and in discussion with our allies and with the U.S.
11:24And we have that capacity in the region that we pre-deployed to the region and we're bolstering that in
11:29the way that I've set out today.
11:32The U.S. are using the basis to do the strikes into Iran to take out the capability to launch
11:38the strikes in the first place.
11:39So that is the configuration.
11:41That is the understanding and arrangements that we've got in place.
11:45Thank you, Robert.
11:47Beth, can I come to you?
11:48Prime Minister, this escalating war is really frightening people that are watching today.
11:54President Trump says it will go on for four to five weeks.
11:57You've just said it will be some time.
11:59Do you have any sense of how long it could go on for?
12:03Do you agree with President Trump?
12:04What's your message to the British people worried about how it's going to affect their lives?
12:09Can you give them any reassurance that you'll help them on energy prices?
12:12And just secondly, on military operations, there's much unhappiness that military personnel and their families were left unprotected on the
12:22Cyprus air base that was struck at the weekend.
12:25What went wrong?
12:26And do you apologise to them?
12:29Well, Beth, let me set out my number one message, which is that our absolute priority is the safety of
12:37our citizens.
12:39And that is the focus for all the decisions that I have taken, including the decisions to pre-deploy in
12:46the way that I've described and the decisions we're taking every day in order to deal with the situation on
12:53the ground in the region,
12:55the consular work to get people safely back home, and also what we're doing within the country, obviously, in relation
13:03to the division that can arise in situations like this.
13:07In relation to Cyprus, we've obviously had an air base there for a very long time.
13:12There are protective measures in place, have always been in place.
13:14It's always been a protected air base.
13:16It's not something new to protect the air base.
13:19We've pre-deployed further assets to Cyprus in January and February for that purpose, and we're bolstering that.
13:27So I want to be really clear to everybody in Cyprus that we're taking every measure that is needed to
13:34protect them, to protect the air base, along with the other places in the region.
13:38Thank you very much, Beth.
13:39I don't think it will go on.
13:40Oh, I'm sorry.
13:41In relation to how long it will go on, I do know people are worried.
13:45They are going to be worried about any escalation.
13:48I think they can see what's unfolding on their television screens.
13:52That will cause them anxiety, understandably.
13:54They will be worried about the impact on their own lives that this could have, and those with family and
14:00friends in the region will be extremely worried about their family and friends in the region.
14:06I absolutely understand that.
14:07We are doing everything we can to de-escalate this.
14:12I can't give you a time base for this.
14:14I don't think anybody can.
14:16My strong view is that we need to de-escalate, and ultimately this will have to be a matter of
14:22negotiation when it comes to some of the core issues like nuclear capability.
14:27Thank you, Beth.
14:29Paul McNamara, Channel 4.
14:31Paul.
14:32After you, Prime Minister.
14:33There are reports that you walked into a meeting, the National Security Council, on Friday with one opinion, and had
14:40your mind changed by Ed Miliband and others in your cabinet.
14:44So is it true that you wanted on Friday to give Americans a precautionary permission in the event of Iranian
14:51reprisals to use British bases for defensive action, but had your mind changed by Ed Miliband and other members of
14:59your cabinet?
15:00Let me be really clear about this.
15:04No request from the U.S. came in the specific terms that we acceded until Saturday afternoon.
15:13That's not quite right.
15:14Saturday afternoon.
15:15Well, just hear me out.
15:16And therefore, on Friday, there was no concrete decision to be made.
15:21The decision had to be made when we had the request.
15:24That came in on Saturday during the course of the afternoon.
15:28We were already taking measures in relation to our own capability.
15:32That came in on Saturday afternoon, late in the afternoon.
15:36We then, as you would have expected, went through the details with the U.S. over the next day and
15:42ultimately reached a decision on Sunday, which I announced then on Sunday evening, about 8 or 9 o'clock in
15:48the evening.
15:49But actually, on Friday, we didn't have a request from the United States, and therefore, no decision fell to be
15:55made.
15:55The decision fell to be made when we had the request.
15:57That was Saturday afternoon.
15:59We then worked it through.
16:01Decision on Sunday, which was a decision of all ministers, unanimous, that we should take the action that I then
16:07announced.
16:08Thank you very much indeed.
16:10Catherine from GB News.
16:12Thank you, Catherine Forster, GB News.
16:14Prime Minister, Cyprus, Bahrain, United Arab Emirates and others are being critical of the speed of our response.
16:22Have we let our allies and our own people down in the Middle East?
16:26We've still got a warship sitting in Portsmouth.
16:29And also, you said yesterday how in Munich you said we need to go further and faster on defence spending.
16:35But getting to 3%, let alone 3.5%, seems to have been kicked way, way into the long grass.
16:43When is your rhetoric actually going to be matched by the reality of when you're putting money into defence?
16:48Thank you, Catherine.
16:49I know you'll have heard me say a moment ago, we started pre-deploying in January and February our assets
16:56to the region
16:56to make sure that we had the capability that we needed there.
17:00That wasn't an isolated set of decisions.
17:02It was done in conjunction with the US, in conjunction with our allies, and we're bolstering that again.
17:09And therefore, I can say we're doing everything and have done everything we can at speed
17:14to make sure that we are properly protecting our citizens, which was my number one concern.
17:19And that's why it's very important that I set out the pre-deployment measures that we took.
17:25And can I also say on defence spend, we've obviously already increased our defence spend,
17:31with the highest spending now on defence since the Cold War.
17:35And I've set out when I was at NATO summit last year and at Munich this year,
17:42that we need to go further and faster, and that's what we'll do.
17:46Thank you very much, Catherine.
17:47I've got Stephen from The Times.
17:49Stephen.
17:50Prime Minister, Donald Trump has suggested that you've ruined the special relationship,
17:55that you are no Churchill.
17:56On the special relationship, is he right on that?
17:58Have you ruined the special relationship?
18:00Look, the special relationship is in operation right now.
18:04We're working with the Americans in the deployment from our bases.
18:08We are working together in the region, the US and the British working together to protect both the US and
18:17the British
18:17in joint bases where we're jointly located, and we're sharing intelligence on 24-7 basis in the usual way.
18:25That is the special relationship.
18:27That is a special relationship in operation.
18:30And clearly, it's for the President to take decisions that he considers, in the natural interest, the right decisions for
18:38the US.
18:39I understand that.
18:40I respect that.
18:41But equally, it's for me, as the British Prime Minister, to take decisions that I consider to be in the
18:48best interest of the United Kingdom.
18:50There's nothing controversial about that.
18:53The special relationship is operating right here at an important point.
18:58Thank you very much, Stephen.
18:59Pippa from Guardian.
19:00Yes, Prime Minister.
19:02Obviously, you've said a lot of people are very concerned about this conflict escalating.
19:06Has Donald Trump given you any insight into what his plan is for what comes next after the initial bombing
19:14phase?
19:15And are you convinced he has a plan?
19:17And if I can just push on the defence spending point, because increasing in defence spending to 3% of
19:22GDP by 2030 would take up all real terms growth,
19:27unless, of course, you're raising money elsewhere to pay for it.
19:30Are you going to raise money to pay for it?
19:32Or are you going to make cuts elsewhere?
19:35Well, firstly, on the risk of escalation.
19:39Clearly, that is a concern for everybody.
19:41It will be a concern for everybody who is watching and across the country.
19:46And that's why we've been absolutely clear that we need to de-escalate.
19:51In relation to discussions with the Americans, obviously, they're happening at all levels.
19:55I've had discussions with President Trump, but all of my team are having discussions all the time with the Americans
20:00about the operation.
20:02In relation to defence spending, we've set out our plans for the increase that we've already put in place.
20:10I've made commitments at the NATO summit last year and at the Munich conference,
20:15and I was clear then that we will need to go further and faster.
20:19Thank you very much, Pippa.
20:21And Sophie from the Mirror.
20:22Sophie.
20:24So the current situation in the Middle East could potentially lead to the displacement of millions of people in the
20:30region.
20:30I'm expecting this to play out in more asylum claims, including small boat arrivals from the region.
20:36And I concern that cuts to the international aid budget could impact the UK's ability to handle situations exactly like
20:43this.
20:43And if I can also just ask, have you spoken to Donald Trump since his criticism of you?
20:47Well, in relation to the situation that's developed,
20:52Obviously, we don't yet know how long this will last.
20:57We don't know what the full impact will be.
21:00And therefore, we'll have to address those considerations as we get to them.
21:04And we will, because we are planning both the immediate day-to-day response, but also looking at the further
21:11scenarios into the future.
21:14In relation to Donald Trump, I spoke to him on Saturday evening this last weekend.
21:22Thank you all very much indeed.
21:29Well, that was, of course, the UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer talking there at Downing Street, giving a press conference.
21:37He is, of course, a Labour Prime Minister and acutely aware of the comparisons in this situation to the Iraq
21:46war,
21:47where Tony Blair, the previous Labour government prime minister before Keir Starmer, in between was Gordon Brown.
21:55He was the man who took Britain to war in Iraq.
21:58There are so many comparisons and Keir Starmer acutely aware of that in the decisions he has been taking over
22:05this war.
22:06And he was therefore answering questions from reporters.
22:09We are joined by our correspondent in London, Benedict Pevio.
22:14Hi, Benedict. Great to have you with us.
22:17What struck you most about what he had to say there?
22:22Well, first, the very fact that he has called a press conference only yesterday in Parliament.
22:28He was doing what is called PMQs, Prime Minister's questions, and answering an awful lot of questions on this very
22:36subject.
22:37So the fact that he has come and convened, a very last minute thing, this press conference in Downing Street,
22:44this was an exercise very clearly in not just updating journalists, the British media and the foreign media,
22:52but also reassuring the population both here and abroad.
22:58As he started, his introductory remarks were that he was going to tell us about the impact on UK lives,
23:07the impact on the UK economy and the potential, which he's just underlined there as well,
23:12for greater escalation, although he reiterated what he called the longstanding position of the United Kingdom,
23:20that what it wanted and this government, Starmer government wanted,
23:25was to help to de-escalate the situation and for Iran to be brought back to the negotiating table.
23:32So, again, that word, again and again, about the safety of UK nationals.
23:38There are some 300,000, he confirmed, British nationals in that region,
23:45and there has been quite a lot of criticism, it has to be said,
23:49both politically about the fact that the UK and the Starmer government
23:54did not approve the US request with the initial strikes by America and Israel on Saturday to target Iran,
24:06but, and then a delay, if you will, only on Monday, or Sunday night, actually, late Sunday night,
24:14to approve the use on a defensive, very heavy lifting by that word, not offensive,
24:20defensive action and use of British bases, one in Gloucestershire, in Fairfant, in Gloucestershire in the UK,
24:29and the other, what President Trump called that stupid, silly island,
24:34which is, he was in fact not naming at the time, is Diego Garcia in the Chagos Islands.
24:40So, this was a big exercise in reassuring the British public,
24:44and there is huge criticism as well here of very concerned families and people in the UAE,
24:52in Qatar, in Oman, in the many countries that have been targeted,
24:5510, according to Mr Starmer, the British Prime Minister,
24:59and on not being able to evacuate British nationals from those countries.
25:05So, we learnt that the UK is sending an additional four typhoon jets to Qatar.
25:12It's sending, in the next day or two, wildcat helicopters that will arrive in Cyprus tomorrow,
25:19and he underlined the fact that the Defence Secretary, John Healy, is today in Cyprus,
25:24very much, I would think, to reassure also the Cypriot authorities.
25:29As far as evacuation is concerned, we know that he confirmed 4,000 only.
25:35British nationals have arrived back from the UAE in the United Kingdom.
25:40A further seven flights, he said, will leave the UAE today.
25:44I'm speaking with some people who are due to be on those flights,
25:48and who are very much hoping that the unfortunate charter flight that did not leave earlier,
25:53because it had technical problems, that that will be resolved.
25:57And that the first charter flight had just left, minutes ago, Oman.
26:02As far as the economic impact, he clearly, Mr Starmer,
26:06clearly underlined that Iran was obviously very clearly targeting oil and gas supplies in the region.
26:13Of course, there is concern here, and petrol has already gone up.
26:16Gas is going up, and there are real concerns with cost of living here already,
26:21and that's just going to add to it.
26:22He talked about the fact that this is a new geopolitical crisis,
26:27and that some would try and divide us, he said.
26:31And that is why the British government is reaching out to Jewish and Muslim communities here.
26:37He said his message was that we must unite.
26:40You saw the gist of the questions that we carried live,
26:44and I think that first one from my colleague at the BBC talking about indecision,
26:49prevarication, lack of preparedness.
26:52That's why Mr Starmer, both in his initial statement and in answer to the questions,
26:57was at pains to continue reiterating that there had actually been a military pre-deployment in the Middle East,
27:05because he's keen to try and distance himself or get rid of that criticism that has been coming from,
27:11whether it's within his own party or obviously the opposition.
27:16And I think really what we're seeing is Mr Starmer reiterating that it was important
27:22and that he stood by British values, his values, this government's values, he said,
27:27of not joining initial US-Israeli strikes.
27:32And also the special relationship, just a word about that,
27:35and the fact that Mr Trump in the Oval Office with the German Chancellor sitting right by his side,
27:40not just violently criticising Spain, but criticising, although he didn't,
27:46it has to be pointed out, use Mr Starmer's name, everybody knew who he was referring to,
27:51when the American president said in the Oval Office that the UK had been very, very,
27:57he said it twice, very, very uncooperative, and that he said that Mr Starmer was no Churchill.
28:03Clearly, Mr Starmer not wanting to repeat that, but in PMQs yesterday,
28:08I think it's noteworthy to remind our viewers, for those who didn't get a chance to see that,
28:13and that exchange in the House of Commons, is Mr Starmer said that the special relationship
28:17was very much in operation yesterday, today,
28:22and that is through gathering of intelligence, sharing of intelligence,
28:27and all kinds of other things that he didn't specify.
28:31Really interesting.
28:32Thanks very much, Benedict, for that look at that press conference from Keir Starmer.
28:37Lots to take in there.
28:39Benedict Pavio speaking to us there from London.
28:42Thank you very much.
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