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David Lammy insisted he was not embarrassed by Britain’s response to the Middle East crisis in a TV grilling. The UK has been criticised for failing to have air defence measures in place to sufficiently protect RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus, which was hit by a drone after the US and Israeli strikes on Iran last weekend.

Meanwhile, air defence destroyer HMS Dragon is not expected to sail to the eastern Mediterranean until next week, with the French humiliating Sir Keir Starmer into acting by sending a warship first. And US President Donald Trump has raised questions over the special relationship between Britain and the US, and has branded the Prime Minister as “no Winston Churchill”.

Asked if he was embarrassed, Mr Lammy told Sky News: “Absolutely not…. we have F-35s, Typhoons in the sky taking down missiles as we speak and that has happened over Jordan, it’s happened over Qatar and of course, we will support nationals in the region.

“It’s also right to say that we co-ordinate with allies, the French, the Germans. Cyprus is a Nato ally, so we coordinate also with other teams and other close allies on how we equip the area.

“HMS Dragon will be in the region in the coming weeks to further bolster and further support our air defences.”

The Prime Minister yesterday insisted that the special relationship is “in operation right now” following repeated criticism from Mr Trump over the UK’s response.

Sir Keir sparked fury from the MAGA chief after initially refusing to let the US use British military bases.

He later relented and said the joint UK-US Diego Garcia site in the Chagos Islands and RAF Fairford could be used by the Americans for “defensive” strikes to protect countries being targeted by Tehran.

He admitted at a press conference yesterday that he has not spoken to Mr Trump since last weekend in the wake of his stinging personal attacks.