Saudi Arabia had confirmed that Yemen’s Houthi rebels tried to attack its capital with a ballistic missile, the first targeting of Riyadh since the escalation in fighting with the Tehran-backed rebels
Andy Burnham has green lit the UK’s plans to help Saudi Arabia(Image: House of Commons/AFP via Getty Images)
The UK has agreed to provide military support to Saudi Arabia in countering strikes from Houthi rebels.
Andy Burnham revealed tonight that he had green lit plans to help the Saudis with aerial refuelling for defensive action as they come under attack from the Iran-backed militia.
It is understood that an A400M voyager plane will be deployed from RAF Akrotiri within days to offer air-to-air refuelling for plans such as shooting down drones.
Speaking to reporters as he travelled to the US, the Prime Minister said: “We have received a request from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for military support, and on the advice of the Defence Secretary and the Foreign Secretary, last night (SUN) I agreed to that request for defensive air to air refuelling, and that’s the agreement that we’ve given.”
The move is one of the most significant military decisions Mr Burnham has made since he became PM, and marks his first deployment of the RAF into a new conflict zone. The support will be time limited, and is expected to last for several weeks.
Mr Burnham pointed to the impact of conflict in the Middle East on household finances at home as he explained the move. He said: “I go back to the point I made about cost of living pressures and acting to secure the interests of Britain and the wider region, because of course Saudi Arabia has been experiencing attack, is looking at potential further disruption, and we need to keep those pathways open.”
The Prime Minister made the remarks as he heads to New York yoday for talks with Donald Trump. Mr Burnham boarded his plane at Stansted to travel to the United Nations General Assembly.
At the UN on Tuesday, he will hold his first face-to-face talks with the US president and deliver a keynote speech. The visit comes with world leaders grappling with the economic impacts of Mr Trump’s war against Iran, the Israel-Palestine conflict, the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the implications of the rapid development of artificial intelligence. It will be Mr Burnham’s first meeting with the US president although the pair have spoken by telephone since the Prime Minister took office in July. Mr Trump’s unpredictability, his recent comments about Irish unification and his hostility to UK immigration and clean energy policies make it a potentially awkward challenge for the Prime Minister. Mr Burnham has been critical of the US president in the past including saying – as rioters stormed the US Capitol in 2021 – that “any UK politician who gave Trump the time of day should be ashamed right now”.
