Ed Wilson

Iran relied on Russian-made air defense systems.

Those expectations placed on Russian weapons ultimately proved unjustified. Most Russian air defense units have been disabled or suppressed by electronic warfare capabilities.

The United States and Israel now control the skies over Iran.

Trump would probably love a deal if it came within his impatient time requirements, but the foreign minister is reported to have gone (first) to Vance, who is reported to be more anti-war. And Trump is also capable of (if not very fond of) spinning more than one line at a time.

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Text from the linked report Sir Edward Leigh (Gainsborough) (Con) Although many of us believe that we should be guided by the law of national self-interest, rather than so-called international law, does the Prime Minister agree that we are right to be cautious in this matter? The British public will warmly support him in defending British people and bases, but they are very sceptical about being dragged into the cesspit of middle east politics. They remember Iraq, which some of us voted against, and all the arguments about weapons of mass destruction. What evidence is there that Iran was on the cusp of acquiring nuclear weapons? Since when has regime change from the skies ever changed a regime? The Prime Minister I thank the right hon. Gentleman for his question. This Government do not believe in regime change from the skies. The lessons of history have taught us that when we make decisions such as this, it is important that we establish that there is a lawful basis for what the United Kingdom is doing—that is one of the lessons from Iraq—and that there is a viable, thought-through plan with an objective that has a viable prospect of being achieved. Those are the principles that I applied to the decisions that I made over the weekend. They are the principles that I applied to the decision not to get involved in the offensive strikes by the US and Israel. They are the principles that I applied separately to the separate decision on a separate request from the US to be able to take defensive action to hit the launchers for the missiles that are currently going into allies’ countries in the region and threatening our citizens and service personnel. I stand by both decisions. I repeat: I am not prepared to commit our military servicepeople to action unless I am sure that what they are doing is lawful and has a viable basis. We can discuss what the law is on another occasion, but the law is what it is, and they deserve to know that their Prime Minister cares and pay

hansard.parliament.uk/commons/2026...

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Netanyahu, Trump began planning for joint strike on Iran in December — report * * *

www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_ent...

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Starmer's heavy implication was that the attack on Iran was unlawful.

What do we know about the school in Manib, Evan Davis?

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Starmer said more than once this afternoon that military action must be lawful and it must have a plan. Both of those things are matters of principle.

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No. It just interests me sometimes which way some people go. I know very little about her really, so I was just vaguely interested.

An oath, not an affirmation

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Who knows?

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US-Israel attacks on Iran: Death toll and injuries live tracker

www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/3/...

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Neither of those things informed Hegseth's statement.

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I went briefly in 1982. It was a bit rough.

Contributions from the Curtice family for breakfast and teatime.

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Bombing and dispersing a stockpile of 60%-enriched Uranium doesn't sound exactly positive.

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As far as I know the US Department of Defense has not yet been renamed the Department of War, but Trump and Hegseth are happy to use nicknames.

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What defensive actions does the US propose to conduct from RAF Fairford and Diego Garcia which it can't do from its many other bases and resources much closer to Iran?

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It appears to.

UK will defend its allies But only if they were not previously involved in the Iran conflict

UK will defend its allies

But only if they were not previously involved in the Iran conflict

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At a speech today, Badenoch is doubling down on this view. She says: “Britain’s interests, both economically and militarily, are being put under threat by rising separatism in this country.”

The idea that British Muslim voters are greatly motivated by the survival of the Iranian regime feels quite curious. It's also fair to say that worries about the UK being potentially drawn into a wider, goal-less Middle East conflict are traditionally shared well beyond that group.

Kemi Badenoch has accused Keir Starmer of not supporting the initial strikes in Iran for fear of upsetting Muslim voters “whose political loyalties are swayed by conflicts in the Middle East, not the British national interest.”

That’s quite the claim, and pretty inflammatory.

Ben Judah: We have an America problem. Our closest ally, around which we have built our whole security, has become profoundly erratic and turbulent... It is not clear, even now, what the objective is of this war... We also have a Europe problem...