UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has declared for war on Iran after already endorsing Israel’s invasion and missile strikes on Lebanon.

On Tuesday evening, Royal Air Force (RAF) warplanes took part alongside US forces in efforts to shoot down around 185 missiles launched by Iran against military sites and Mossad’s headquarters in Israel.

In a televised speech in Downing Street a few hours later, Starmer turned reality on its head, declaring that Iran was the aggressor in the Middle East and was threatening the world with carnage. This on the eve of the first anniversary of Israel’s genocide in Gaza and the West Bank, in which Tel Aviv has killed around 186,000 men, women and children, according to what the Lancet said in July was a conservative estimate.

Starmer lied in saying that Iran had launched missiles at civilian targets in Israel. He added, “I utterly condemn this attempt by the Iranian regime to harm innocent Israelis, to escalate this incredibly dangerous situation, and push the region ever closer to the brink.”

The self-declared Zionist said, “We stand with Israel and we recognize her right to self-defence in the face of this aggression.” He demanded Iran halt military operations, stating, “Iran must stop these attacks. Together with its proxies like Hezbollah, Iran has menaced the Middle East for far too long; chaos and destruction brought not just to Israel, but to the people they live amongst in Lebanon and beyond.” Everyone must “recognise in clear terms Israel’s right to security and to defend herself”.

Defence Secretary John Healey confirmed in a later statement that Britain was involved in shooting down Iranian missiles, saying, “British forces have this evening played their part in attempts to prevent further escalation in the Middle East… The UK stands fully behind Israel’s right to defend its country and its people against threats”.

Starmer’s fairytale of Iran terrorising the region is meant to sanction Britain’s involvement as Washington’s junior partner, and main provocateur, on multiple war fronts.

Iran’s missile strikes took place the day after Israel launched a ground offensive in Lebanon, following days of escalating air bombardments that left thousands dead.

Iran’s military action was inevitable following Israel’s invasion of Lebanon and its assassination of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah. Iran’s retaliation began while Starmer was on the phone to Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu. Starmer said his call pledging total support for Israel’s aggression was made after earlier speaking “to the King of Jordan, [French] President Macron and [German] Chancellor Scholz.”

Priming Britain’s military action, Starmer chaired a ministerial meeting early Tuesday afternoon, attended by Foreign Secretary David Lammy, Defence Secretary John Healey, Chancellor Rachel Reeves and Attorney General Richard Hermer.

This followed Foreign Secretary David Lammy chairing a COBRA meeting over Lebanon/Iran for the third time on Monday. Named after the Cabinet Office Briefing Room A in Downing Street, the committee gathers in times of national crisis. Confirming that Washington is orchestrating Israel’s war behind the scenes, Lammy had already held a 40-minute call with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

Under the guise of professing concern for British citizens in Lebanon, Britain has ramped up its military forces on nearby Cyprus—the location of two key UK military bases. Last week it was reported that 700 troops are being sent to RAF Akrotiri, joining several hundred troops already stationed on Cyprus, under the pretext of aiding any required emergency evacuation in Lebanon.

The Akrotiri base has played a key role in Israel’s genocide, enabling the transport of arms to support the Israeli army’s military operations in the Gaza Strip, as well as reconnaissance missions vital to Tel Aviv. The UK Defence Journal reported in June: “Recent data compiled by Steffan Watkins, a Canadian research consultant who tracks planes and ships, reveals that the Royal Air Force has conducted over 250 Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR) sorties near Gaza since December 3, 2023.”

After announcing British military involvement against Iran, Healey flew to Cyprus where he met his Cypriot counterpart, before meeting UK service personnel at Bloodhound Camp in Limassol, and aboard HMS Duncan in the eastern Mediterranean.

Starmer, Lammy and Healey operate as a triumvirate coordinating British imperialism’s support for US-led wars in Ukraine against Russia and the Middle East. Ever since taking office in July, the three have been on a constant round of visits to the Ukrainian and Gazan war fronts, held regular calls with senior Biden administration figures and made visits to Washington to get their orders from the White House as to the next phase of military escalation.

This is why a Labour government was backed by the ruling elite in Britain and the US, as a more reliable prosecutor of war than a crisis-ridden and hated Conservative government. Starmer was eased into Downing Street without a single hostile article against him in Britain’s venal right-wing media—something even Tony Blair didn’t achieve when he came to power in a landslide in 1997 after 18 years of Tory rule.

The US administration and its war machine knew what they were getting with the Labour leader, who is not simply the representative of Britain’s imperialist interests but functions as the point man for the Pentagon and the CIA. Prior to coming to office Starmer established the closest ties to Washington’s main players in his role from 2008-2013 as Britain’s Director of Public Prosecutions—the head of the Crown Prosecution Service. This required him to make at least four trips to Washington as part of the 14-year detention and persecution in London of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.

These ties were solidified during the covert efforts to remove Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn—utilising bogus allegations that he enabled a flourishing of antisemitism.

Starmer replaced Corbyn as Labour leader in April 2020, declaring Labour to be the “the party of NATO” and national security. His militarist general election manifesto boasted, “Our commitment to the UK’s nuclear deterrent is absolute. It is a vital safeguard for the UK and our NATO allies. As the party that founded NATO, we maintain our unshakeable commitment to the alliance, and we will apply a NATO test to major defence programmes to ensure we meet our obligations in full.”

The Labour government’s pre-occupation with war necessitates the austerity agenda it has embarked on with a savage cut to the incomes of 10 million pensioners (saving £1.4 billion for the Treasury)—a down payment on plans to slash tens of billions of pounds in public spending in order to divert further billions to the military.

This week the Guardian reported that ahead of an October 30 austerity budget, Chancellor Rachael Reeves has asked ministers “to draw up billions of pounds in cuts to infrastructure projects over the next 18 months.

“Members of the cabinet have been asked to model cuts to their investment plans of up to 10% of their annual capital spending as part of this month’s spending review, government sources said.

“The demands would mean big projects such as hospital improvements, road building and defence projects being slowed down or stopped altogether as the government looks for ways to repair what they say is a £22bn black hole in the public finances.”