Britons don't want any part of Trump's war fixation the sooner Labour realises that the better | Owen Jones

"British involvement in the Iran war is not a policy question on which reasonable people might disagree, like raising a tax here or spending a bit more money there. This is a grave crime. Yet all the pressure on Starmer seems to arrive from one direction. He should have backed America from the very beginning, declares Tony Blair, apparently eager for his successor to emulate his own record of dragging Britain into US-led catastrophes widely condemned as illegal."

"A state committing genocide—Israel—has joined forces with an ailing superpower led by an aspiring autocrat. Together they have launched a plainly illegal war, as defined by the UN charter, which prohibits the use of force unless a state faces an actual or imminent attack. More than 1,000 civilians have been confirmed killed in Iran, according to Human Rights Activists news agency—almost certainly a severe underestimate."

"Despite having dragged this country into one violent catastrophe after another, our political and media elites appear incapable of learning a single lesson. That this is not only politically permissible but a respectable mainstream position tells a grim story."

British political commentators criticize Prime Minister Keir Starmer's cautious positioning on potential British involvement in a US-led military action against Iran. However, the central issue extends beyond Starmer's political judgment. The conflict represents a grave violation of international law, as the UN Charter prohibits military force absent actual or imminent attack. Despite over 1,000 confirmed civilian deaths in Iran, including 168 killed in a school strike, pressure on Starmer comes exclusively from the right, demanding Britain support the operation. Tony Blair, Nigel Farage, Kemi Badenoch, and rightwing media all advocate backing America. This consensus reveals Britain's political and media establishment remains incapable of learning from previous illegal interventions, treating unconditional alignment with US military action as mainstream respectability.

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