Key events
In interviews this morning Yvette Cooper, the foreign secretary, declined to confirm reports that a Russian warship has been escorting two sanctioned Russian ships through the English channel.
Sanctioned Russian ships carry oil being sold to fund the war in Ukraine, and the UK government recently announced that the armed forces have been authorised to board these ships in British waters to stop them.
Asked about the story on LBC, Cooper said:
What I can tell you is that we have given permission now for action to be taken against the Russian shadow fleet. Operational decisions then have to be taken in the right way by the military.
There are indications of the way in which not just the Russian shadow fleet is operating, but also the way in which we are seeing increased Russian threats, not just to the UK, but across Europe as well.
We will be saying more about this shortly.
Four people die in Channel small-boat sinking
Two men and two women have died after a small boat sank in the Channel between France and Britain, French local authorities have said. Diane Taylor has the story.
Commenting on the deaths, a UK government spokesperson said:
We are deeply saddened to hear about the deaths in French waters today.
Every death in the Channel is a tragedy and a stark reminder of the dangers posed by criminal gangs exploiting vulnerable people for profit.
We will continue working relentlessly with the French and our partners overseas to prevent these perilous journeys.
The French authorities are leading the response to this incident and we are supporting their investigation.
Starmer holds talks in UAE with Gulf defence chiefs to discuss options for reopening strait of Hormuz
Keir Starmer has held a meeting in the UAE this morning with defence officials from so-called Dragon Group partners in the Middle East, No 10 has said.
He thanked them for what they had done to protect British nationals in the region during the Iran war and discussed plans for the future, stressing the need to make the ceasefire permanent and not allowing Iran to hold the strait of Hormuz “to ransom”.
The meeting in Abu Dhabi was chaired by Sir Richard Knighton, the UK’s chief of defence staff, and it included defence representatives from: the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Jordan, Qatar, Kuwait, Oman, Iraq and Egypt.
Starmer told them that the UK had been pushing for de-escalation all along and therefore welcomed the ceasefire.
Some of those attending had participated in the virtual military planning meeting chaired by Yvette Cooper on Tuesday for around 40 nations to discuss how the strait of Hormuz could be kept open after fighting is over.
Starmer told them that work was not starting on detailed plans to restore freedom of navigation.
Cooper says global trade relies ‘more than ever’ on freedom of navigation, as she insists on full reopening of strait of Hormuz
Yvette Cooper, the foreign secretary, will say more about the importance of keeping the strait of Hormuz open in her Mansion House speech in the City of London this evening.
According to an extract released in advance, she will say:
Fertiliser for Africa, liquid natural gas for Asia, jet fuel for the world; the trading route for Qatar, UAE, Bahrain, Kuwait, Iraq, Saudi Arabia and Oman, all hijacked by Iran so they can hold the global economy hostage.
No country can close these routes – it goes against the fundamental principles of the law of the sea. In Britain, the importance of this runs deep through our history, our interests and our values. We are an island nation. A maritime economy. 95% of our trade is carried by sea. Around 40% of our food is imported.
It was Victorian Britain that pioneered the freedom of the seas, maritime law, and made piracy a crime of universal jurisdiction. And today, we know more than ever that freedom of navigation is the underpinning of global trade. It matters for every sea, ocean and strait. Every country has a stake in this. Every industry is affected by it.
We should start immediately to get international shipping moving again by supporting the International Maritime Organisation’s proposals to move the ships trapped in the strait, and the 20,000 stranded seafarers – a humanitarian as well as an economic first step. And then the full and unconditional reopening of the strait must be a central part not just of the current ceasefire but of the long-term future for the region.
Trump’s threat to wipe out Iranian civilisation earlier this week ‘completely wrong’, Cooper says
Yvette Cooper has described Donald Trump’s threat to wipe out Iranian civilisation earlier this week as “completely wrong”.
Trump’s language about Iran became increasingly aggressive and barbaric ahead of the ceasefire, culminating with a Truth Social post on Tuesday saying “a whole civilisation will die tonight” if Iran did not comply with US demands.
While some opposition politicians, and backbench Labour MPs, denounced the president language very strongly, No 10 did not respond.
But, speaking to Sky News this morning, Cooper did condemn Trump’s comments. She said:
We take a different view from the US on issues, and it is possible for us to be strong, close partners on a whole range of issues, but also to take different decisions on issues.
I think that the rhetoric that we’ve seen used, I think, has been completely wrong. I think that sort of escalatory rhetoric can have escalatory consequences.
Cooper also said that it was important to distinguish between the oppressive Iranian regime and the Iranian people as a whole.
More significantly, we should always distinguish between this malign Iranian regime that we have seen threaten its neighbours over a long time, and the people of Iran, many of whom have been brutally repressed by this Iranian regime.
How Starmer described Saudi Arabia as ‘steadfast ally’ in talks with Mohammed bin Salman
Keir Starmer met Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the de facto ruler of Saudi Arabia, yesterday. Unlike, say, Donald Trump, MBS (as he is sometimes called) is not a man for press conferences. But No 10 did release a readout of the talks afterwards. It says Starmer declared Saudi Arabia to be a “steadfast ally”.
For the record, here is the full readout. A No 10 spokesperson said:
The prime minister began by welcoming the ceasefire and set out how efforts must now be focused on upholding it and turning it into a lasting peace.
He was clear that it was vital now to continue work to reopen the strait of Hormuz, and discussed the UK’s ongoing efforts to convene partners to agree and plan the practical steps required to give shipping the confidence to transit the strait.
Reflecting on the defensive operations which have taken place in the region since the conflict began, the prime minister thanked His Royal Highness for Saudi Arabia’s efforts to protect British nationals in the country.
The prime minister committed to continue to support Saudi Arabia as a steadfast ally including through the recent deployment of the Sky Sabre air defence system, having met UK personnel deployed to operate it earlier today.
The leaders then discussed how the UK and Saudi Arabia could further deepen their defence industrial cooperation to boost capability and mutual security for the long term, as well as continuing to grow their thriving trade and investment relationship.
The prime minister said he was pleased that the UK and Saudi Arabia would soon be marking 100 years of friendship under the Treaty of Jeddah and they looked forward to speaking again soon.
Cooper says she’s ‘deeply troubled’ by Israel’s escalating attacks in Lebanon
Yvette Cooper, the foreign secretary, told Sky News this morning that she was “deeply troubled” by Israel’s ongoing air strikes in Lebanon. She said:
I’m deeply troubled about the escalating attacks that we saw from Israel in Lebanon yesterday. We’ve seen the humanitarian consequences, the huge mass displacement of people in Lebanon.
Iran cannot ‘hijack’ strait of Hormuz with shipping tolls, says Yvette Cooper
Good morning. Keir Starmer is still in the Gulf, and Yvette Cooper, the foreign secretary, has been doing a round of interviews this morning, ahead of delivering a speech on foreign policy this evening.
As Jamie Grierson reports, Cooper has been arguing forcefully that Lebanon must be included in the US-Iran ceasefire.
But Cooper is also trying to quash suggestions that, as part of a permanent settlement, Iran might be allowed to carry on charging a $2m-a-ship toll for oil tankers wanting to pass through the strait of Hormuz. Rather alarminingly, Donald Trump has even suggested that the US might be part of this, as a “joint venture” with Iran.
In an interview on the Today programme, Cooper made it clear that charging a toll for passage through the strait would be unaccepable to the UK.
She said:
The starting point here is this is an international transit route. It’s international shipping that uses this. This is part of the international law of the sea. This is a a route between the high seas; it is a trading route.
When it was put to her that Iran takes the view that these are territorial waters, not international waters, Cooper said:
As part of the international maritime law, this is a transit route between the high seas.
And whether you talk about Dover or Gibraltar or other straits around the world, there may be territorial waters there, but there’s also an international shipping route and an international transit route, which means that freedom of navigation principles apply and that countries cannot simply hijack those kinds of international transit routes and unilaterally apply tolls. They cannot do that as part of the laws of the sea and the United Nations conventions.
Cooper said that protecting freedom of navigation throught the strait was “crucial for the global economy”.
I will post more from her interviews soon.
Here is the agenda for the day.
Morning: Keir Starmer is in the United Arab Emirates where he is expected to hold talks with the president, Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan. Later in the day he has another bilateral planned, and he is recording an interview with ITV’s Robert Peston.
10.30am: Zack Polanski, the Green leader, launches his party’s local elections campaign at an event in London.
11am: Rhun ap Iorwerth, the Plaid Cymru leader, launches his party’s manifesto for the Senedd election at an event in Wrexham.
Morning: Ed Davey, the Lib Dem leader, is doing a campaign visit in Greater Manchester.
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