Cabinet ministers said to have opposed US use of British bases for military operation against Iran – UK politics live

<p>A number of ministers voiced their strong opposition to Donald Trump using British airbases to attack Iran’s missile capability, according to a report</p><p><strong>Kemi Badenoch has said the UK should take offensive action against Iran after UK bases were attacked.</strong></p><p>“We need to do what we can to stop the ability for these attacks to take place,” the Tory leader told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.</p><p>If your principle is, we will only wait until we are attacked rather than dealing with imminent threats properly, then we will be in a lot of trouble.</p><p>Being realistic is not gung ho. I don’t want a wider war.</p><p>But sometimes the best way to de-escalate a situation is to try and finish it quickly, rather than let it drag out because you don’t want to get involved.</p><p><strong>John Healey has flown to Cyprus to calm the diplomatic fallout over a drone that evaded detection and hit an RAF base, which has prompted fury from local ministers.</strong> UK officials believe a drone that hit an RAF base in <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/cyprus">Cyprus</a> evaded detection by flying low and slow when it was launched by pro-Iranian militia in Lebanon or western Iraq.</p><p><strong>Up to 21,000 asylum seekers who have waited for a year for their claims to be processed could be allowed to enter the jobs market so they can support themselves, the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/politics/home-office">Home Office</a> has said, as part of a package of measures to be announced on Thursday.</strong> As the government seeks to empty asylum hotels, claimants who break the law, work illegally or are found to have enough assets to live without support will from June be ejected and lose their support payments.</p><p><strong>One of the three men arrested on suspicion of spying for China is David Taylor, the husband of a Labour MP.</strong> Joani Reid, MP for East Kilbride and Strathaven, told Sky News in a statement: “I have never seen anything to make me suspect my husband has broken any law. I am not part of my husband’s business activities, and neither I nor my children are part of this investigation, and we should not be treated by media organisations as though we are.</p><p><strong>Andy Burnham has reignited hostilities with Keir Starmer’s Labour leadership, criticising what he described as the “bankruptcy” of the party’s approach to campaigning, a week after it lost the previously safe seat of Gorton and Denton.</strong> The mayor of <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk/greater-manchester">Greater Manchester</a> and former MP, regarded as a rival to Starmer, said Labour’s campaigning style prevented it from connecting with non-Labour voters and other progressive parties, as he evoked the system of clipboard-wielding canvassers going door to door with records of previous Labour supporters.</p><p><strong>The <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/media/bbc">BBC</a> is to call for an end to political appointments to its board as part of sweeping changes designed to protect its independence.</strong> The corporation will also demand that its royal charter be put on a permanent footing in an attempt to end the existential threat posed by having to negotiate with ministers over its future every 10 years.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/politics/live/2026/mar/05/cabinet-ministers-blocked-starmer-from-letting-us-use-british-bases-for-military-operation-against-iran-on-friday-uk-politics-live">Continue reading...</a>

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