Keir Starmer was last night accused of a cover–up after failing to tell the public about an Iranian missile attack on a British overseas territory.
The Government finally admitted that missiles had been fired at Diego Garcia more than 30 hours after the attempted strike – and only after it had been confirmed by US officials.
Kemi Badenoch accused the Prime Minister of overseeing a ‘culture of cover-ups’ as she urged the Government to explain why it didn’t inform the public earlier.
Writing for the Daily Mail, the Conservative leader said: ‘The secrecy from the Labour Government tells its own story. They would rather hide bad news than confront it.
‘Of course, matters of genuine national security concern should be kept secret. But beyond that, Parliament and the public must be informed about key developments.’
It came as:
- The Prime Minister was due to hold a Cobra meeting on the war’s economic fallout today;
- Donald Trump posted a Saturday Night Live UK comedy sketch mocking Sir Keir;
- The US President said he would ‘obliterate’ Iran’s power plants if the Strait of Hormuz was not reopened within 48 hours;
- Iran warned that energy infrastructure across the Gulf will be ‘irreversibly destroyed’ if their facilities are attacked;
- Tehran hit two cities near a nuclear plant in southern Israel in a ferocious warning shot that injured more than 160.
Iran launched two ballistic missiles at the US-UK Diego Garcia military base in the Chagos Islands between 11pm on Thursday and 2am on Friday.
Diego Garcia is 2,360 miles from Iran and neither missile found its target. One was shot down by a US warship while the other reportedly fell into the ocean after travelling 1,990 miles.
The first report of the attack appeared in the Wall Street Journal at 12.20am UK time on Saturday – about 24 hours after it happened. This was confirmed with further details by CNN at 2.15am UK time, with both outlets citing multiple US officials.
The Government finally confirmed the attempted attack on Saturday morning – more than 30 hours after it had happened.
Mrs Badenoch said it highlighted the ‘culture of cover-ups and problem with the truth’ within the Labour Government, adding: ‘The attempted strike… was reported in the States and confirmed by US officials well before our Government acknowledged it.’
But a Government source said: ‘This is more desperation from a Tory leader who has been consistently wrong at every stage of this crisis.’
The Government has still not confirmed exactly when the attack took place, only that it came before it gave permission for the US to launch strikes against Iran from Diego Garcia and RAF Fairford on Friday afternoon.
But there was no mention of the attempted attack alongside this announcement or in an update from the Ministry of Defence on Friday evening.
Nigel Farage accused Sir Keir of being ‘deceitful and dishonest’ and said that if news of the attack had not emerged in the media ‘the Government would not have told the public’.
The Reform UK leader told the Daily Mail: ‘If there has been any attempt by this Government to downplay or cover up an Iranian attack on the Chagos Islands, then frankly it is a national scandal.
‘This isn’t some minor administrative slip, this is about national security and the safety of British territory.’
Israel has been ramping up the threat to Britain following the strike, claiming it proved Iran ‘can reach London, Paris or Berlin’.
Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu seized on it to urge the UK and European allies to join their fight against Iran.
But yesterday Steve Reed suggested that Israel’s warnings about Iran developing long-range missiles capable of reaching Europe were exaggerated.
The Communities Secretary said the British military was ‘perfectly capable’ of protecting the country, but refused to reveal how close Tehran’s missiles came to reaching Diego Garcia.
There are also fears Iran could launch drones against military targets in Britain, with former defence minister Tobias Ellwood warning it was ‘a matter of time’ before Britain suffered its own ‘Pearl Harbor’.
He said Diego Garcia ‘is one of the most defended military garrisons in the world’, but most UK military bases ‘do not have the luxury of American capabilities’.
Britain has no equivalent to Israel’s Iron Dome defences and instead would rely on a fleet of six Type 45 destroyers. But much of the fleet is in port and would be ineffective against an immediate strike, while one, HMS Dragon, is still en route to Cyprus.
It means Britain would be heavily reliant on Nato allies, including Turkey’s THAAD system, the American Aegis Ashore systems in Romania and Poland, or Germany’s US-made Patriot systems.
A Government spokesman said: ‘This Government has been clear about the threat that Iran’s indiscriminate attacks pose to British nationals, British interests and our partners.
‘To suggest otherwise is completely false – and that’s why we have been conducting defensive operations in the Middle East since day one of this war.’
No 10 said last night that Sir Keir had spoken to Mr Trump about the need to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
A spokesman said: ‘The leaders discussed the current situation in the Middle East. They agreed that reopening the Strait of Hormuz was essential.’
