Keir Starmer sought to repair fractured relations with Donald Trump over the war with Iran on Sunday, as a Labour backlash gathered pace over Tony Blair’s assertion the UK should have supported the US’s initial airstrikes on Iran.The prime minister spoke to the US president on Sunday afternoon after a barrage of criticism from Trump, who told his UK ally on Saturday that his help was not needed, even as the US continued to use UK bases for strikes against Iran.After a breakdown in relations between Trump and Starmer, which led the US president to declare on social media that “We don’t need people that join wars after we’ve already won”, the two world leaders spoke on Sunday to discuss their nations’ military cooperation.A Downing Street spokesperson said the leaders “began by discussing the latest situation in the Middle East and the military cooperation between the UK and US through the use of RAF bases in support of the collective self-defence of partners in the region”.The call came after warnings that Starmer’s initial refusal to allow the US military aircraft to use British airbases had “ruined” the special relationship between the two countries.

Former head of the army Lord Richard Dannatt told GB News: “They need us,We need them,And Keir Starmer standing on a narrow legal point has ruined that relationship,”A government minister rejected Dannatt’s assertion, saying it was also critical to support EU allies and Ukraine and adding that the special relationship would endure beyond the current leaders of the US and UK,They said: “If you’re going to put our people in harm’s way, you need a legal mandate, and a well thought-through plan all the way to the end – it’s quite difficult to see those things [in the US’s position on Iran] right now.

People can commentate, snipe and seek personal or political advantage from the sidelines, but I believe we will be on the right side of history on this one.”The prime minister was also criticised, in comments first reported by the Mail on Sunday, by his predecessor Blair – who told a private Jewish News event on Friday that Starmer “should have backed America from the very beginning” and let the Trump administration use British airbases.Blair, a member of the executive board of Trump’s “board of peace” – viewed as the US president’s alternative to the United Nations – said: “If they are your ally and they are an indispensable cornerstone for your security … you had better show up when they want you to.”A spokesperson for the former prime minister said they were made at a private event and were not intended to be made public.The UK foreign secretary, Yvette Cooper, rejected the former prime minister’s comments, and said that Britain had to “learn the lessons” of mistakes made in Iraq.

“I don’t think either of those positions is in the UK national interest, and it is the responsibility for Keir Starmer to act in the UK’s national interest for British citizens,” she told Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips on Sky News,She added: “I think the point is to make sure that, actually, we learn the lessons from some of the things that went wrong in Iraq, and I think that is exactly what Keir Starmer has done,”On Sunday afternoon, two US air force transportation planes landed at RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire,The planes’ arrival follows that of four US bombers on Saturday,The B-1 Lancer bombers are intended for “specific defensive operations” to stop Iran firing missiles into the Middle East, according to the Ministry of Defence.

While some oppose any role for UK facilities in US operations in Iran, Labour MPs rallied around Starmer on Sunday over Blair’s comments.Emily Thornberry, the Labour chair of the foreign affairs select committee, said Starmer had taken the right approach, which was backed by Labour MPs and the public.A YouGov poll of 6,285 adults in Britain published this week found that Britons oppose the initial US-Israel attacks on Iran by 49% to 28%, while nearly half (46%) believe the UK military position should be purely defensive.A Labour MP while Blair was prime minister, Thornberry compared Starmer’s position with that of Robin Cook, who resigned from government over Blair’s stance on the war.“I would say that Keir is much more Robin Cook than he is Tony Blair, and I’m really pleased about that,” she said.

Calvin Bailey, a former wing commander who served in Iraq and is now the Labour MP for Leyton and Wanstead, said Blair should have read the Chilcot inquiry, which examined the mistakes made before the invasion of Iraq.“I have one thing to say to Tony Blair,” said Bailey.“Dear Tony, read Chilcot, love Calvin.”The sentiments were echoed by backbencher Karl Turner.“I suspect that Tony Blair is doing the bidding of Trump in a similar way to Farage,” he said.

“Is anybody going to listen to Tony Blair on the progressive side of politics? The answer is absolutely, categorically, no.Tony was an incredible leader of the Labour party [who] got us three election victories, but his reputation on Iraq is terrible, frankly.”Starmer continued to face criticism from the Conservatives.The shadow home secretary, Chris Philp, called it a “dereliction of duty” not to move warships to Cyprus or the Middle East sooner and accused Starmer of showing “no foresight whatsoever”.Meanwhile the Tory leader Kemi Badenoch – who has been fiercely criticised by Labour MPs for her pugilistic stance during a period of military conflict – said in a social media post that Starmer lacked the “backbone” for the current moment, while his party were “political pygmies playing student union politics”.

Iain Duncan Smith, who was leader of the Conservative party during the invasion of Iraq, defended Badenoch.He said she had a “licence to be aggressive” about what he called a lack of preparation in the Middle East, and failing to earlier deploy the Royal Navy destroyer HMS Dragon, which is in Portsmouth, where it is expected to remain until at least next week.“I think Blair was right, and I suspect Starmer knows it,” he said.While HMS Dragon may only arrive to help defend Cyprus two weeks after its deployment was announced, the BBC reported that Britain was preparing HMS Prince of Wales – one of the country’s two aircraft carriers – to be sent to the region.