Brexitbuddy

@LindseyGrahamSC First of all he is threating to blow up a whole country, then the sweary post. The man is deranged and needs to be removed from office as soon as possible.

As I have been saying for the last several days, President Trump is intent on restoring freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz. He is deadly serious when it comes to his ultimatum to Iran to open the Strait of Hormuz or face a massive military response against vital infrastructure. It is still my hope Strait of Hormuz can be reopened and the enriched uranium can be secured through diplomacy. That would be the best outcome for the region and the world. To say the window on diplomacy is closing would be an understatement. To Iran, chose wisely and chose quickly.

@rachelvscott Threatening to blow up a whole country then the sweary post. The man has lost it completely. He needs to be removed from office as soon as possible.

Spoke with President Trump. He told me the conflict should be over in days, not weeks but if no deal is made he’s blowing up the whole country with “very little” off the table. "If happens, it happens. And if it doesn't, we're blowing up the whole country,” he said. I asked if there’s anything off limits. “Very little,” he said.

@PressSec All your President has done is cause chaos around the world. Flip flopping all over the place. Does he really know what he is doing. And really what has been the point of all this. New regime looks like younger and more hard line and they are still firing missiles. Iran 1 Usa 0

TUNE IN: Tomorrow night at 9PM ET, President Trump will give an Address to the Nation to provide an important update on Iran.

@HFalconerMP What are you going to do ? Send them a stongly worded letter. Or maybe send one of our toy destroyers over to help. Plenty of words but no action.

Deeply concerned by Israel's announcement stating intention to expand its ground operations in Lebanon, where over 1m people have already been forcibly displaced. Israel must avoid further exacerbation of the conflict, and refrain from any action to seize Lebanese territory.

@SecRubio TACO again. Does President actually know what he is doing. He keeps banging on about Iran being degraded but they are still able to fire drones and missiles and control the straites. He seems to be in his only little world and cannot admit that Iran is not kow towing to him.

Heading to France for the G7 Foreign Affairs Ministerial to meet with world leaders about the security concerns we share around the world and opportunities to address the situation in the Middle East and the Russia-Ukraine war.

@Scutty TACO again. Does Trump really know what he is doing. ?

Brent almost back to where it was before the latest TACO. Been the cleanest measure of risk for a while now. Doubt that's changed.

@JavierBlas TACO !!! The Fars news agency are reporting that there have been no direct or indirect talks with the USA by Iran. Trump has blinked first. Iran 1 USA 0. What a mess.

BREAKING: Trump postpones attacks on Iranian electricity network for five days; says that Tehran and Washington are having “good and productive” discussions about a “complete and total resolution of our hostilities.” Oil and natural gas prices fall sharply.

@PippaCrerar TACO !!! again. The Fars news agency have reported that Iran are not in any direct or indirect talks with the USA. Trump has blinked first. Iran 1 USA 0. And what does Israel think of this. What a mess.

BREAKING Donald Trump postpones all airstrikes on Iranian power plants and energy infrastructure for a five day period. US president said that, over last two days, Washington and Tehran had “very good and productive conversations regarding a complete and total resolution of our hostilities in the Middle East”. Trump had said on Saturday he was giving Iran 48 hours – until 11.44 GMT tonight – to open strait of Hormuz or US would “obliterate” energy sites. Iran had threatened to “completely destroy” essential infrastructure across Middle East in retaliation. A significant de-escalation but unclear whether it leads to proper off-ramp.

@Keir_Starmer Why haven't you condemed Israel for their attack on the South Pars gas field. And which started all of this. And who cares what you think anyway.

I condemn in the strongest terms the overnight Iranian strike on a Qatari gas facility. We are working towards a swift resolution to the situation in the Middle East, in the best interests of the British people – because there is no question that ending the war is the quickest way to reduce the cost of living.

@RachelReevesMP Don't know how you are still Chancellor. Hopefully the Labour MP's will see sense after May and gets rid of this PM and take you with him. Labour certainly won't be getting my vote again. I voted for your party at the last election but never again. I will be voting Reform in May.

This government will make the UK the best place in the world for quantum and AI companies to start, scale and stay. In a changing world, our economic plan is the right one. bbc.co.uk/news/articles/…

@Peston Well that was as clear as mud. Does this cover England, Wales,Northern Ireland and Scotland. And how will it actually work to get these rebates back to the households affected ?

Starmer: there will £53m subsidy for those “most exposed” to heating oil price rises and legal action against those suppliers engaged in price gouging

@BethRigby Well that was as clear as mud. Does this help cover England,Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland ? And how will it work and how much will each household receive ?

Asked PM if he’s going to target support for energy bills post June, as Reeves suggested over weekend. PM says all under review and not ruling anything out

@PippaCrerar Well that was as clear as mud. Does it cover England,Wales,Northern Ireland and Scotland. And how is it actually going to work ? And how much is each household going to receive ?

Keir Starmer announces that £53m will go to poorest households using heating oil for help with bills, after costs surged since outbreak of Iran conflict. PM adds that suppliers engaged in price gouging will face legal action - and future market regulation.

Keir Starmer says that while UK will take "necessary action" to defend UK and allies "we will not be drawn into the wider war". Donald Trump's call for allies to send ships to Strait of Hormuz to protect commercial shipping vessels & unblock global oil supplies has been met with a muted response so far. "I want to see an end to this war as quickly as possible, because the longer it goes on, the more dangerous the situation becomes, and the worse it is for the cost of living back here at home," PM says. Starmer adds that UK is working with European allies on a "viable collective plan" to restore navigation as quickly as possible, easing economic impacts.

@BethRigby The PM is still clinging onto the door of no. 10. Looks like the voters are going to have to do the job for the Labour MP's and evict him. Labour won't be getting my vote in May whist this man is PM. I would rather give it to the Monster Raving loony party.

ANALYSIS: No smoking gun but eye watering sums of money and the spectacle of seeing in black & white the red flags raised: The first drop of the Mandelson files news.sky.com/story/no-smoki…

@ChrisMurphyCT From the UK point of view what was the point of it all if the regime isn't going to change, they can keep their nuclear options and can re-arm when the bombing stops. Your president seems to say one thing one minute and changes his mind the next. It doesn't look good.

I was in a 2 hour briefing today on the Iran War. All the briefings are closed, because Trump can't defend this war in public. I obviously can't disclose classified info, but you deserve to know how incoherent and incomplete these war plans are. 1/ Here's what I can share:

@Peston That's not what he is now saying at the speech to the Republicans. He is saying there is still a way to go and the Americans and Israel are going to finish it.

Taco time, already. Or so markets believe. Oil back below $90 and shares up because “I think the war is very complete, pretty much” and the military operation is “very far” ahead of its initial four-to-five week timeframe [Trump to CBS News on the phone]. “They [Iran] have no navy, no communications, they’ve got no Air Force”

@Keir_Starmer Is this not illegal under International law or the United Nations charter ? Are you now not by your actions aiding and abetting the USA and Israel. And putting our citizens in more danger ? Or is it a case of how high President Trump is telling you to jump.

My update on the situation in the Middle East.

@Peston Was it actually legal under intetnational law and the United Nations charter to aid and abet the USA & Israel ?

The government has given permission to the US military to use British bases for air strikes on Iran, in response to a request from Washington. Starmer’s government says this is lawful as a defensive action to protect regional allies. It has informed the UN. This is the official legal statement: “the UK has responded to a US request which will facilitate specific and limited defensive action against missile facilities in Iran which were involved in launching strikes at regional allies.” The PM said: “we will not join offensive action now. But Iran is pursuing a scorched earth strategy. So we are supporting the collective self-defence of our allies and our people in the region – because that is our duty to the British people”. And this a joint statement from Starmer, France’s president Macron and Germany’s chancellor Merz: “E3 leaders are appalled by the indiscriminate and disproportionate missile attacks launched by Iran against countries in the region, including those who were not involved in initial US and Israeli military operations. Iran’s reckless attacks have targeted our close allies and are threatening our service personnel and our civilians across the region. We call on Iran to stop these reckless attacks immediately. We will take steps to defend our interests and those of our allies in the region, potentially through enabling necessary and proportionate defensive action to destroy Iran’s capability to fire missiles and drones at their source. We have agreed to work together with the US and allies in the region on this matter.”

@BethRigby Was it actually legal under international law and the United Nations charter to aid and abet the USA & Israel ?

PM stressing UK involvement limited to defensive action of preventing missile strikes & UK will ‘not join offensive action now’ as he agrees US request to use UK bases in a ‘limited & specific way’ Stresses acting in International law & has published a summary of that advice Govt also released an E3 statement “E3 leaders are appalled by the indiscriminate and disproportionate missile attacks launched by Iran against countries in the region, including those who were not involved in initial US and Israeli military operations. Iran’s reckless attacks have targeted our close allies and are threatening our service personnel and our civilians across the region. We call on Iran to stop these reckless attacks immediately. We will take steps to defend our interests and those of our allies in the region, potentially through enabling necessary and proportionate defensive action to destroy Iran’s capability to fire missiles and drones at their source. We have agreed to work together with the US and allies in the region on this matter”

@PippaCrerar Is this actually legal if we are aiding and abetting the USA and Israel. Has it been confirmed that what they did under international law and the United Nations charter was in fact legal ?

BREAKING: Keir Starmer has given US permission to use UK bases at RAF Fairford and Diego Garcia to launch “defensive” airstrikes against Iran - and destroy its missiles “at source” to prevent them firing across region. PM: “Our partners in the Gulf have asked us to do more to defend them… And it’s my duty to protect British lives. “We have British jets in the air as part of coordinated defensive operations which have already successfully intercepted Iranian strikes. “But the only way to stop the threat is to destroy the missiles at source - in their storage depots or the launchers which are used to fire the missiles. “The US has requested permission to use British bases for that specific and limited defensive purpose. “We have taken the decision to accept this request to prevent Iran firing missiles across the region - killing innocent civilians, putting British lives at risk and hitting countries that have not been involved.”