Fear of the Domestic Mujahideen Is Suffocating Britain’s Foreign Policy
4th March 2026
Whatever one’s view of the so-called ‘special relationship’ between the United Kingdom and the United States (and I, for one, think it’s non-existent and embarrassing), the UK’s refusal to support American action against Iran marks a troubling moment in British foreign policy. The decision to prevent the United States from using joint UK-U.S. bases while simultaneously (and endlessly) stressing Britain’s non-involvement signals a government more concerned with internal community relations than strategic reality.
Close Commonwealth allies such as Australia and Canada, not natural bedfellows of the Trump administration, recognised the necessity of confronting Iran’s aggression. Britain and its Labour government, yet again, chose hesitation. The government has suggested that legal constraints made participation impossible. That claim does not withstand scrutiny.
Lord Wolfson, the shadow attorney general, has outlined a clear legal basis for action. He stated that the right of self-defence exists against an imminent threat from a hostile state with a consistent record of aggression. Also, there have been Iran’s sustained campaigns against British interests, including assassination plots, cyber-attacks, and threats to UK forces—not least the six-year insurgency against the British military in southern Iraq by Iran-backed Shia militias. There is also the moral obligation to assist allies acting in self-defence, particularly where Iran’s nuclear ambitions pose an existential threat to Israel.