Yemen airstrikes latest: Starmer backs Yemen action as he and Cameron say ‘doing nothing’ not an option

Lord Cameron raised the prospect of further UK strikes against rebel Houthis in Yemen, warning that it is “incredibly important that they understand” Britain will follow words with action.

As Sir Keir Starmer doubled down on his backing for the government’s action over the Red Sea crisis, the foreign secretary opened the door to further attacks.

Using $2m missiles to fend off $15,000 drones is not an economically viable long-term strategy, writes Mark Almond. But nevertheless, world trade must be secured somehow.

Read Mark’s full piece here:

Former head of MI6 Sir Richard Dearlove said the UK was “absolutely” right to launch strikes on the Houthis.

He told Sky News Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips: “I don’t think that the Government has any choice and I’m rather disappointed to see that both France and Italy had been reluctant to associate themselves with this offensive.”

Asked about the links between the Houthis and Iran, Sir Richard said the relationship between the two is “incredibly important”.

He also said: “There are three proxy organisations – there’s Hezbollah, there’s Hamas, there’s Houthi.

“I think Hezbollah and Hamas are much much more controlled and closer to Iran. The Houthis let’s say are two-thirds controlled.”

Huge explosions were seen in Yemeni cities including Sana’a and Hodeidah in the early hours of Friday, with the US military saying 60 strikes were launched against 16 sites linked to the Houthis’ military operations.

Below, The Independent looks at how the attacks unfolded and what weapons were used in the strikes:

The Iran-backed Lebanese group Hezbollah said on Sunday that the United States was wrong if it thought the Houthis of Yemen would stop confronting Israel in the Red Sea, saying US actions there would harm the security of all maritime navigation.

Describing US and British strikes on Yemen as an act of stupidity, Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said the Houthis would continue targeting ships belonging to Israel and going to its ports.

“The more dangerous thing is what the Americans did in the Red Sea will harm the security of all maritime navigation, even the ships that are not going to Palestine, even the ships which are not Israeli, even the ships that have nothing to do with the matter, because the sea has become a theatre of fighting, missiles, drones and war ships,” he said.

Egypt and China are closely following developments in the Red Sea, focusing on the priority of ensuring the safety and security of navigation, the two countries said in a joint statement on Sunday.

Both expressed concern over the expansion of the conflict in the region, emphasizing the importance of efforts to stop attacks on Gaza, the statement added.

China’s foreign minister Wang Yi, speaking at a press conference in Cairo after a meeting with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, called for an end to the attacks on civilian vessels in the Red Sea, though he did not mention the Iran-backed Houthi militia responsible for those attacks.

“The situation in the Red Sea has escalated sharply recently, and China is deeply concerned about this,” Wang said.

“China calls for a halt to the harassment and attacks on civilian ships and for the maintenance of the smooth flow of global industrial and supply chains and the international trade order.”

“The adding of fuel to the fire of tensions in the Red Sea should be avoided and an increase in the overall security risk of the region should be prevented,” Wang said, without naming the United States and Britain.

Wang added that while it was necessary for all parties to jointly maintain the safety of the Red Sea waterways in the accordance with the law, the sovereignty and territorial integrity of countries on both sides of the Red Sea, including Yemen, must be respected.

The Iran-backed Lebanese group Hezbollah said on Sunday that the United States was wrong if it thought the Houthis of Yemen would stop confronting Israel in the Red Sea, saying U.S. actions there had endangered all maritime navigation.

Describing U.S. and British strikes on Yemen as an act of stupidity, Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said the Houthis would continue targeting ships belonging to Israel and going to its ports.

“The more dangerous thing is what the Americans did in the Red Sea will harm all maritime navigation, even the ships that are not going to Palestine, even the ships which are not Israeli, even the ships that have nothing to do with the matter, because the sea has become a theatre of fighting, missiles, drones and war ships,” he said.

“Security has been disrupted.”

The shadow cabinet is more deeply divided than it appears. Labour is still subject to less media scrutiny than the Conservatives, despite the widespread assumption that Keir Starmer will become prime minister this year.

Most Labour MPs are also more disciplined than most Tory MPs because they can feel election victory within their grasp, whereas the Tories are either fed up or have given up, and so are happier to be rude about each other in private and in public.

As ever in politics, Labour’s divisions are a mixture of the personal and the ideological, and foreign policy is one of the hidden fractures threatening the foundations of an incoming government.