Best way forward for Iran would be negotiated settlement, says Starmer
Keir Starmer has said the conflict engulfing the Middle East could continue “for some time” as he insisted the best way forward in the longer term was a negotiated settlement with Iran,The prime minister said the UK was doing “everything we can” to de-escalate the situation, a clear contrast to the US president, who is focused on regime change and has said it was “too late” for Tehran to negotiate,He defended his decision to block initial offensive strikes by the US and Israel at the weekend, saying he stood by his judgment and denying it had damaged the special relationship,Starmer has faced some criticism from Gulf states and Cyprus for not doing enough to protect regional allies and British citizens there from Iranian strikes,He has also been subject to personal attacks from Trump, including that he was “not Winston Churchill”.
But the prime minister has urged the US president to de-escalate the conflict and negotiate with Iran to abandon its nuclear programme.Trump, meanwhile, has said he needs to be personally involved in selecting Iran’s next leader.Starmer insisted that “all ministers” on the national security council had supported the UK position on the use of British bases, rejecting reports he had faced cabinet opposition led by the energy secretary, Ed Miliband.The Guardian understands, however, that all options were discussed at the NSC meeting on Friday.In response to claims his response had been characterised by “indecision, prevarication and under-preparation”, the prime minister told reporters the UK would use “military and diplomatic strength” to protect British citizens, and would deploy four more Typhoon fighter jets and two anti-missile helicopters to Cyprus on Thursday.
But in a firm reprimand to his critics at home and abroad, the prime minister said: “It means having the strength to stand firm by our values and our principles, no matter the pressure to do otherwise.“The longstanding British position is that the best way forward for the regime and the world is a negotiated settlement with Iran where they give up their nuclear ambition.“That’s why I took the decision that the UK would not join the initial strikes on Iran by the US and Israel.That decision was deliberate.It was in the national interest, and I stand by it.
”Starmer, who attended his second Cobra meeting about the conflict on Thursday, insisted the UK would “maintain the shield” over British people in the region, as well as allies.The defence secretary, John Healey, who was in Cyprus on Thursday to calm the diplomatic fallout over a drone that evaded detection and hit RAF Akrotiri, accused opposition politicians of deliberately undermining the UK’s relationship with Donald Trump.He said it was unpatriotic for MPs to seek to turn the US against Starmer.The prime minister rejected Trump’s claims that he had damaged bilateral relations, saying the special relationship was “in operation right now” at UK bases where forces were working with their US counterparts.“That is the special relationship.
That is a special relationship in operation, and clearly, it’s for the president to take decisions that he considers in the national interest the right decisions for the US,” he said.“I understand that, I respect that, but equally, it’s for me as the British prime minister to take decisions that I consider to be in the best interest of the UK.There’s nothing controversial about that.The special relationship is operating right here at an important point.”More than 4,000 people have arrived back in UK on commercial flights from the UAE, and a further seven such flights were expected to take off on Thursday.
The first government charter flight from Oman took off on Thursday and more flights expected.Starmer sounded a note of caution, however, for hundreds of thousands of Britons still stuck in the region.“This is a huge undertaking.It is one of the biggest operations of its kind … Many times bigger than the evacuation from Afghanistan.It is not going to happen overnight.
But we will not stop until our people are safe,” he said.Starmer did not deny that he had raised the question of allowing the US to carry out defensive strikes from British bases but faced opposition from some of his cabinet on Friday.Instead, he said there was no formal request from the US until Saturday.“Let me be really clear about this: no request from the US came in the specific terms that we acceded until Saturday afternoon.Therefore on Friday, there was no concrete decision to be made,” he said.
“We then, as you would have expected, went through the details with the US over the next day … The decision on Sunday was a decision of all ministers among us, that we should take the action that I then announced.”The British public appears to back his position for now.YouGov polling shows that 46% think the UK military stance should be purely defensive, tasked with shooting down drones and defending civilian areas and UK military facilities.A quarter (26%) say the UK position should be retaliatory only, targeting missile sites that have launched attacks against civilians and British military bases, but otherwise not getting involved.Only 8% of Britons think the UK should actively join the US and Israeli-led attacks on Iran.
North Korean agents using AI to trick western firms into hiring them, Microsoft says
Fake IT workers deployed by North Korea are using AI technology, including voice-changing tools, to trick western companies into hiring them, Microsoft has said.The US tech firm said a signature Pyongyang money-raising ruse is being enhanced by AI, which is helping create fake names and alter stolen IDs to increase the credibility of false applicants for IT and software development jobs.The scam typically involves state-backed fraudsters applying for remote IT work in the west, using fake identities and the help of “facilitators” in the country where the company targeted is based. Once hired, they send their wages back to Kim Jong-un’s state and have even been known to threaten to release sensitive company data after being fired.According to a blogpost from Microsoft’s threat intelligence unit, Pyongyang is using AI to bolster the effectiveness of its ploy
Brent crude hits $90 as Kuwait ‘starts cutting oil production’; shock as US economy loses 92,000 jobs in February – as it happened
The UK stock market has recorded its biggest weekly fall in eleven months, as the Middle East crisis has hit shares.The FTSE 100 share index has closed 129 points lower today at 10,284, a drop of 1.24% during today’s session.That means it has lost 5.75% of its value since the start of this week, its worst performance since the week to 4 April 2025, when Donald Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariffs rocked markets
UK arts must not be sacrificed for speculative AI gains, peers say
The UK’s creative industries must not be sacrificed in the pursuit of speculative gains in AI technology, a House of Lords committee has warned, as the government prepares to reveal the economic cost of proposals to change copyright rules.A report by peers has urged ministers to develop a licensing regime for the use of creative works in AI products and abandon proposals to let tech firms use the work of novelists, artists, writers and journalists without permission.The call from the House of Lords communications and digital committee comes as the government prepares to release an economic impact assessment of proposed changes to copyright law, as well as a progress update on a consultation about the legal overhaul, by a deadline of 18 March.Barbara Keeley, a Labour peer and committee chair, said the UK’s creative industries faced a “clear and present danger” from AI firms using their work without credit or payment.“AI may contribute to our future economic growth, but the UK creative industries create jobs and economic value now,” she said
Mark Zuckerberg says criminal behavior on Facebook inevitable
Harms to children, such as sexual exploitation and detriments to mental health, are inevitable on Meta’s platforms, the company’s CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Instagram leader Adam Mosseri said in taped depositions played at a trial in New Mexico on Tuesday and Wednesday.“I just think if you’re serving billions of people, the unfortunate reality is that some very small percent of them are going to be criminals, and we should work as hard as we can to stop that activity from happening,” said Zuckerberg. “I don’t think that the standard for our platforms would be that you should assume that it will ever be perfect.”Meta’s apps, which include Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, are among the most popular in the world, each with 3 billion monthly active users.The trial has set the social media giant against New Mexico’s attorney general, who alleges that Meta’s platforms put profits and user engagement over child safety
‘Idiot’ to inspiration: Harry Brook’s England leave World Cup with reasons for optimism
If the first months of Harry Brook’s captaincy of England’s white-ball teams have taught us anything, it is that Joe Root knows him well. Looking back now at the teams’ progress since he took over, the run to the T20 World Cup semi-finals, and also at the scandal caused by his notorious drunken escapade in Wellington, the words of Brook’s Yorkshire teammate soon after his appointment seem more astute than ever.“He’s still an idiot, that’s not changed,” Root said. “But as much as he’s an idiot, and I can say that because I’ve known him forever, he’s very cricket intelligent. He might not always be the most intelligent away from cricket, but he understands the game exceptionally well and that’s why he’s so consistent as a batter, and I think that’s what will make him a really good leader
Tiger Woods’ wavering over captaincy undermines US Ryder Cup ambitions
Chatter on the Bay Hill range this week has suggested the prospect of Tiger Woods making a return to competitive action at next month’s Masters may actually be more than a tale of fantasy. There is even the suggestion Woods could test his competitive ability at a stop on the senior Champions Tour between now and Augusta National. If nothing else, the mere discussion keeps sponsors happy.One never really knows with Woods, whose schedule was always mysterious by design, but his addition to the Masters field would naturally turn heads. Having not played a mainstream tournament since the Open of 2024 – and with an injury record as long as the Trans-Siberian railway – Woods will presumably at some point have to prove he can either remain a relevant part of majors or succumb to the kind of sad, hard-to-watch existence that has befallen scores of sportspeople before him
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