You would have had to have been living under a rock this year not to take a punt that Donald Trump would attack Iran.

From when the US President reassured Iranian protesters that “help is coming” in the middle of January to the arrival of the 1,092-feet-long USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier to the region two weeks ago, the clues were there.

On the evening of 17 February, Sir Keir Starmer spoke to Trump about Iran. The possibility of the US using British airbases for strikes in Iran was raised by Trump.

Following Starmer’s refusal, Trump posted an angry message the next day. He complained that the UK had made “a big mistake” by transferring sovereignty of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius, which houses the Diego Garcia airbase. “It may be necessary for the United States to use Diego Garcia” to attack Iran, Trump said.

So we know Trump told Starmer of his intentions. Is it feasible that Starmer didn’t suspect the US President would try again and push the UK to commit to as much involvement as possible? Why didn’t he get the political and legal ball rolling sooner?

And now Starmer finds himself on the back foot, forced to call a news conference to address head-on criticism that the UK Government has been slow in its response. “We are and we have done everything we can at speed,” he said.

For all this pushback, the........

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