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Britain’s terrifying lack of defence capability has been laid bare as the country faces a deteriorating security situation in the Middle East. Over the weekend it was claimed by Israel’s military that Iran had missiles capable of striking European cities such as London, Paris, and Berlin. It follows Iran’s failed attack on the British military base at Diego Garcia. The base is some 2,500 miles from Iran, far further than the previously-thought 1,200-mile range of Iran’s missiles.

Despite Iran’s failed attack, questions have been asked about how capable the UK is at defending itself from ballistic missiles. And the answer, according to defence experts, reads for grim reading. Speaking to the Telegraph, one military source said the situation was so dire that British military leaders would have to choose whether to defend cities or military bases.

They said: “If you defend everything with insufficient resources, you defend nothing, and we go down that route in peril. We need to decide what those difficult choices are…for example, you may have to say to yourself ‘We’ll never be able to defend Birmingham’.”

These thoughts have been echoed by Professor Michael Clarke, former director of the Royal United Services Institute.

He told the Independent: “Could Britain defend itself against ballistic missiles coming from anywhere, whether it’s Russia or Iran? The answer is absolutely no. We have nothing.”

Whilst Britain does not on its own have the ability to defend itself from ballistic missile strikes some of its European NATO allies do.

In a report about Britain’s vulnerablity RUSI’s director of military sciences Matthew Savill explained that NATO’s shield might be able capable of dealing with the threat, meaning the UK wasn’t entirely defenceless.

He wrote: “If launched towards the UK, this is what Nato’s BMD is designed for. The UK isn’t actually defenceless against a threat launched from Iran.”

Speaking to the Express, Dr Sidharth Kaushal added: “A missile fired over 4,000km likely has a pretty high circular error probable, which means you would need quite a few to strike anything specific.”

Dr Kaushal concluded that whilst it was “theoretically possible” for Iran to strike the UK, that it was a threat of “limited capability”.

Nevertheless, outside of the Sea Viper systems onboard the Royal Navy’s Type 45 destroyers, Britain’s defence weakness has put more pressure on the Labour government.

Speaking in defence of the government on Sunday, Housing Secretary Steve Reed tried to reassure the public the UK had enough defences to keep the public safe.

He told the BBC: “We are perfectly capable of protecting this country and keeping this country safe, whether it’s here at home, or whether it’s our assets and nationals across the region.”

Responding to the IDF’s claims directly, he added: “There is no assessment to substantiate what’s being said.”