Saudi deployment paired with push to wind down Iran conflict with Trump
UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham said on his flight to New York for the United Nations General Assembly that he has agreed to a Saudi request for Royal Air Force air-to-air refuelling support, his first military move since entering office. He framed the deployment as defensive and tied to keeping Gulf oil flowing and easing pressure on British households.
Burnham told reporters that the UK has agreed to provide defensive air support to Saudi Arabia to help counter Houthi fighters and restore stability in the Middle East while driving down the cost of living at home, ahead of his first meeting with Donald Trump. The prime minister said he had agreed to a request for air-to-air refuelling of Saudi jets to defend energy infrastructure against the Iran-backed rebels and help keep oil flowing from the Gulf to ease global economic turmoil. Burnham also revealed he will use his first meeting with Trump on Tuesday to urge the US president to de-escalate the conflict in Iran, warning that “dark clouds of global instability” are directly affecting people’s lives all over the world.
“We have received a request from Saudi Arabia for military support and … I agreed to that request for defensive air-to-air refuelling. On cost of living pressures and acting to secure the interests of Britain, the wider region … we need to keep those pathways open,” Burnham said.
The Guardian reported that Houthi forces have advanced to areas adjacent to the strategically important Bab al-Mandab strait, which Saudi Arabia uses as an alternative route for oil exports bypassing disruption in the Strait of Hormuz. An RAF Voyager air-to-air refuelling aircraft of the type that will help refuel Saudi jets will be deployed for several weeks, in Burnham’s first military deployment since taking power. The RAF operational support is in addition to the UK Sky Sabre air defence system already operating in the region.
Burnham framed the deployment against a domestic economic backdrop that the Guardian described as marked by intense inflationary pressure. The turmoil in the Middle East has pushed up global energy prices, placed the UK economy under intense inflationary pressure and driven government borrowing costs to multi-year highs just weeks before the new government’s first budget.
On the flight, Burnham said his predecessor was “right to say it’s about how we deliver back at home and the situation in the Middle East is a very clear example of that. It is a very big driver of the cost of living pressures that we’re currently facing.” The Guardian reported that Burnham has focused on domestic issues since his arrival in No 10, despite Starmer warning that it would be impossible to separate them from global affairs, given how the Ukraine war is weighing heavily on UK security and the Iran conflict on the economy.
The Saudi deployment comes ahead of Burnham’s first face-to-face meeting with Trump on Tuesday. The Guardian reported that Trump is still said to be angry over the UK’s refusal to support his military action in Iran, with ongoing tensions between the two governments over levels of defence spending. Burnham said he would raise the Iran issue with Trump: “Of course the message is that we want to see an end to the conflict as quickly as possible and we stand ready to play our part.”
Government sources told the Guardian that Burnham would try to pursue a “third way” in his relationship with the US president, neither as adversarial as the Canadian prime minister, Mark Carney, nor as publicly fawning as Starmer’s early approach, and relying on the strength of his personality. Asked whether he felt he could trust Trump, Burnham said: “Yes, of course, we trust our allies. Of course, we do.” Pressed whether this applied to the US president personally, he repeated: “Yes.”
Burnham is expected to use the meeting to highlight US–UK security cooperation, pointing to the joint launch last week of a heavyweight torpedo, designed to sink ships and deep-diving submarines, fired in British waters from a Plymouth-made drone named Excalibur. Government insiders said they were taking some solace from Trump’s low-key response to UK sanctions on trade with Israeli settlements in the West Bank following weeks of diplomacy with the White House.
The prime minister is expected to signal to Trump that he is in favour of more drilling in the North Sea, including the Jackdaw gasfield that is likely to get the green light within weeks. Analysts believe the balance of risk for the bilateral relationship has shifted since Keir Starmer was in office, given the Republicans face a difficult set of midterm elections and the US president’s personal ratings are plummeting.
The Guardian reported that Trump is likely to be more focused on his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping and his own UN address, which comes shortly before the talks on Tuesday.
Burnham’s UN speech is expected to focus on harnessing the power of artificial intelligence, amid concerns at home over the safety of the rapidly advancing technology. He is travelling with his AI minister, Kanishka Narayan. Before the trip, Burnham’s official spokesperson said: “The British people at home are at the forefront of the prime minister’s mission in New York this week. Because to deliver at home, we must ensure we are leading international efforts to brighten a darkening global picture … To give people the breathing space they need, he is clear we must work with our international partners to face up to the biggest challenges of our generation. So this week at [the UN general assembly] he will be leading the charge on the global issues that impact people’s lives at home.” Downing Street said the prime minister wanted to use his UN meetings — which will also include European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen — to “drive opportunity and deliver hope” and to make progress on areas with the potential to deliver for people at home.
Other items on the agenda include the war in Ukraine. European leaders have warned that Russia could launch a drone or missile attack on NATO territory within months to test the strength of the alliance, the Guardian reported. Burnham will also tell world leaders the UK will focus on AI and climate change when it hosts the G20 in Manchester next year — a choice that could create friction with Trump, who has previously criticised the UK’s stance on global warming, though the host city was chosen under the previous government.
Burnham is travelling with his wife, Marie-France van Heel, who Downing Street said will meet her international counterparts. Burnham’s father, Roy, died last week.