Keir Starmer talking now in the House of Commons - he says that our bases in Cyprus are not being used by US bombers.
In addition, the drone strike on RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus was NOT in response to any decision that we have taken. In our assessment the drone was launched prior to our announcement. Iran's aggression to Britain and our interests is longstanding.
Our Gulf partners are outraged by Iran's acts, particularly as they played no part in any strikes and they have asked us to do more to defend them.
It is not possible to shoot down every Iranian missile and every drone after they have been launched. The only way to to stop the threat is to destroy the missiles at source, in their storage depots or at the launchers. The US requested permission to use British bases for that specific & limited defensive purpose because they have the capabilities to do so. Yesterday evening we took the decision to accept that new request in order to prevent Iran firing missiles across the region, killing innocent civilians, putting British lives at risk and hitting countries that have not been involved.
To be clear, the use of British bases is limited to the agreed defensive purposes, we are not joining the US & Israeli offensive strikes. The basis for our decision is the collective self defence of long standing friends & allies and protecting British lives. It is in accordance with international law and we have produced a summary of our legal advice which clearly sets this out.
France and Germany are also prepared to enable US actions to destroy Iran's capabilities to fire missiles and drones from source.
The regime in Iran is absolutely abhorrent. In January, they murdered thousands of their own people, the full horror of which is still hidden from the world. For decades they have sought to destabilise the region and export terror around the world. Their proxies in Yemen have targeted British ships in the red sea, they facilitated Russia's attacks in Ukraine, the regime's tentacles have even reached these shores, posing a direct threat to Iranian dissidents and to the Jewish community. Over the last year alone, Iran has backed more than 20 potentially lethal attacks on UK soil, each of which we have foiled. So it's clear, the Iranian regime must never be allowed to get their hands on nuclear weapons. That remains the primary aim of the UK and their allies, including the US and ultimately, this will have to be achieved at the negotiating table.