Reform UK leader Nigel Farage has said it would be a “huge mistake” to deploy British troops on the ground in Iran.
Mr Farage, who described Sir Keir Starmer’s response to the conflict in the Middle East as “pathetic”, issued his warning after voicing his support for US-Israeli strikes on Iran.
Despite accusing the Prime Minister of being a “follower” rather than a “leader” over the use of UK military bases, the Reform UK leader suggested Sir Keir must do more to support regime change in the region.
When asked if such support included troops on the ground, Mr Farage said: “I don’t want to do that. I think that would be a huge mistake.”
He added: “We couldn’t put boots on the ground, we have barely got an army left.
“Even if we wanted to do it, we don’t have the operational capacity to attempt anything on that scale that would be meaningful at all.
“I don’t want us to get dragged into it, but there is a heck of a lot what we can do to help and support our allies on this.
“If not boots on the ground, it is Royal Air Force, it is Royal Navy and it is intelligence.”
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage has said it would be a ‘huge mistake’ to deploy British troops on the ground in Iran
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PA
Mr Farage made a similar argument after Sir Keir signed up to a Ukraine pact which would see British troops stationed in the ex-Soviet state.
He said: “We neither have the manpower nor the equipment to go into an operation that clearly has no ending timeline.”
However, the Reform UK leader suggested he would support a situation where eight to 12 nations rotate battalions in Ukraine.
Sir Keir is now considering making a significant increase in defence spending amid growing fears about national security.
Sir Keir Starmer is now considering making a significant increase in defence spending amid growing fears about national security
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REUTERS
The Prime Minister promised last year to spend 2.5 per cent of Britain’s gross domestic product (GDP) on core defence spending by April 2027.
But Sir Keir also admitted it was his “ambition” to increase that spending to three per cent of GDP in the next Parliament.
The Ministry of Defence counts the total size of the UK Armed Forces at just 182,060, including just 137,100 regulars.
Current data suggests the overall figure is at its lowest level since 1900, with Britain’s inter-war numbers standing at around 320,000.
The British Army is also at its smallest size since the Napoleonic Wars, with 237,000 men enlisted in 1814.
The UK now ranks 41st in the world for the size of its armed forces.
India can count on three million troops, with China in second on 2.5 million.
Meanwhile, Russia and the United States totalled more than 1.4 million in their ranks.
During his press conference earlier today, Mr Farage warned Sir Keir is risking the special relationship with his action on Iran.
US President Donald Trump voiced his “disappointment” with the Prime Minister after the UK refused to let US forces launch strikes on Iran from joint military bases.
The Reform UK leader said: “I do believe that Starmer’s actions don’t just threaten the special relationship, but probably he has posed or did pose a major threat to Nato.”
However, a Labour source responded by saying: “The British politician who has most undermined Nato is Nigel Farage himself.
“Farage is the one who has justified Putin’s horrific invasion of Ukraine by falsely stating that somehow Nato had ‘provoked it’.”