𝓤𝓷𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓝𝓮𝔀𝓼

Donald Trump has spoken to Sir Keir Starmer for the first time since the US president’s latest attack on the Prime Minister over his handling of the Middle East conflict.

Mr Trump criticised Sir Keir by accusing him of trying to “join wars after we’ve already won”. A spokeswoman for Downing Street said: “The leaders began by discussing the latest situation in the Middle East and the military co-operation between the UK and US through the use of RAF bases in support of the collective self-defence of partners in the region. The Prime Minister also shared his heartfelt condolences with President Trump and the American people following the deaths of six US soldiers. They looked forward to speaking again soon.”

Sir Keir’s decision not to grant permission for the first wave of military action prompted a raft of criticism from Mr Trump in recent days, including a personal attack that the Prime Minister was “not Winston Churchill”.

The Labour leader later granted permission for “defensive” US action against Iranian missile sites from UK bases.

After reports that the UK was preparing an aircraft carrier to go to the Middle East, the US president posted on Saturday that the UK was “finally giving thought” to sending two, but said, “we don’t need them any longer”.

He added: “But we will remember. We don’t need people that join wars after we’ve already won!”

Sir Keir has defended his decision not to permit the US to use British bases in the opening assault against the Tehran regime, suggesting it could have been unlawful.

The Ministry of Defence said it was increasing the preparedness of aircraft carrier HMS Prince of Wales and reducing the time it would take to set sail, but that no decisions had been taken to deploy the warship.

A Merlin helicopter is also being sent to the region to help with surveillance from the air and RAF Typhoon and F-35 jets are continuing air operations over Jordan, Qatar and Cyprus.

While questions linger over the UK potentially taking a more proactive role in the conflict, Britain has faced criticism from allies over the defence of Cyprus, where a UK base was struck by a drone earlier this week.

Air defence destroyer HMS Dragon is expected to sail to the eastern Mediterranean in the next few days, while France and Greece have already deployed military assets to defend the island.

The warship has started being restocked with air defence missiles at a facility in Portsmouth and will return to the berth for a logistics resupply before sailing.