Foreign secretary David Lammy has refused to defend Donald Trump’s attack on Iran and confirm it was either legal or even “the right thing to do”.
In an awkward interview on BBC Radio 4’s Today Programme, Mr Lammy was asked four times if Donald Trump’s regime’s airstrikes on Iranian nuclear facilities was legal.
“We were not involved, it is for the Americans to discuss those legal issues,” he responded, avoiding the answer.
The questions followed reports that UK attorney general Lord Hermer has suggested it would not be legal for the UK to launch such attacks.
The issue is important because of fears that it undermines the case against Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine.
However, Mr Lammy was not even able to answer whether the attack by US B-2 stealth bombers was even “the right thing to do”.
BBC Radio 4 presenter Justin Webb asked him: “Was the (US) military action the right thing to do?”
Mr Lammy avoided the question, answering: “I’ve said that we weren’t involved in the military action.”
Webb asked again: “Was it the right thing to do?”
Lammy responded: “What I’ve said is that ultimately this can only be dealt with in diplomacy.”
The foreign secretary was not the only senior minister to refuse to answer difficult questions about the rapidly changing international crisis in the Middle East.
Earlier, armed forces minister Luke Pollard claimed it is “not for [him] to comment” on US action in the Middle East, refusing to say whether Britain is supportive of US strikes in Iran.
Asked whether the UK was disappointed or pleased about the military intervention, Luke Pollard told Sky News: “Well, it’s not for me to comment on the particular US action, but we’re assessing the battle damage at the moment to understand the true extent of the strikes.
“But our focus and the work that we are doing in conjunction with our US allies as well as those across Europe, is to put the pressure on the Iranian regime to get back to negotiating because a diplomatic solution is how we bring this crisis to an end.”
