Tories warn Starmer not to ‘hide’ behind legal advice amid claims Attorney General has been ‘restraining’ UK from backing Israel

Tories warned Keir Starmer not to ‘hide’ behind legal advice today amid claims Attorney General Lord Hermer has been ‘restraining’ the UK from backing Israel. 

Shadow foreign secretary Priti Patel urged the PM to take the right decision for ‘national security’ as the Middle East crisis threatens to escalate. 

Donald Trump is keeping the world guessing about whether he will join Israeli attacks on Tehran’s nuclear facilities.

Sir Keir has been urging ‘de-escalation’ and so far UK forces are not thought to have played a direct part in defending Israel from retaliation.

However, the premier might be forced to choose amid speculation that B-2 stealth bombers would use the Chagos Islands airbase if they are brought in to target an enrichment plant deep under a mountain.

Attorney General Lord Hermer is said to have advised that the UK can only act to defend its allies in the Middle East 

Keir Starmer could have to give the green light for US bombers to use the Diego Garcia military base for strikes on Iran

Donald Trump is keeping the world guessing about whether he will join Israeli attacks on Tehran’s nuclear facilities

There are concerns that would leave UK assets and personnel facing reprisals, with RAF Akrotiri on Cyprus a potential target. More jets have been moved into the region to bolster security.  

With the situation on a knife edge, David Lammy will hold talks with the US secretary of state Marco Rubio in Washington later.

Lord Hermer, a human rights barrister, is said to have been making the case that the UK should not play a role apart from ‘defending our allies’. 

Despite the UK previously coming to the aid of its ally, Lord Hermer is said to have warned against intervention in the latest conflict, which began on Friday with Israel bombing its long-time enemy.

In October, the RAF helped shoot down Iranian missiles fired at Israel in a previous attack.

But there has been no British military involvement so far this time.

One Whitehall official told The Spectator magazine Lord Hermer, a human rights barrister and stickler for international law, was ‘acting as a restraining force’.

They said: ‘The Attorney General has concerns about the UK playing any role in this except for defending our allies.’ 

There is a long-standing convention that the government does not comment on the legal advice it seeks or receives. The Mail has not been able to corroborate the claims. 

Asked about the alleged advice from Lord Hermer on Times Radio this morning, Dame Priti said: ‘Quite frankly, I don’t think we can hide behind legal advice at a time of crisis and national security.’

A fire blazes in the oil depots of Shahran, northwest of Tehran, on June 15 

The Iron Dome, the Israeli air defense system, intercepts missiles fired from Iran, over Tel Aviv on June 18 

After seeing Mr Trump at a G7 summit in Canada earlier this week, Sir Keir insisted that he did not think the US was on the verge of joining the operations against Iran.

But the premier convened an emergency Cobra meeting yesterday to take stock of diplomatic efforts and UK support for British nationals in the region.

There are claims that Attorney General Lord Hermer has been advising that the UK can only legally take part in military actions to defend allies.  

Mr Trump told reporters outside the White House he was considering strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities.

He said: ‘I may do it. I may not do it. I mean, nobody knows what I’m going to do.’

Israel and Iran have been exchanging fire for days after Benjamin Netanyahu announced a campaign to prevent Tehran from developing a nuclear weapon.

Iranian officials insist the country’s nuclear programme is peaceful, and claim Israel has caused hundreds of civilian casualties. A previous deal to limit Iran’s enrichment of uranium was torn up by Mr Trump during his first presidency because he regarded it as too weak. 

The Israeli military has urged residents to evacuate the area around the Arak heavy water reactor, about 155 miles south west of the capital.

Iranian state television said the reactor had been attacked, but had been evacuated and there was ‘no radiation danger whatsoever’.

The Soroka Medical Centre in Beer Sheba, the main hospital in southern Israel, received ‘extensive damage’ after being hit by an Iranian missile, according to a spokesperson for the hospital.

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has rejected Mr Trump’s call for surrender and warned American military involvement would result in ‘irreparable damage’.