Keir Starmer responds to US national security leak
Sky News temporarily halted its broadcast this morning to report the UK Prime Minister’s response to leaked discussions about potential US airstrikes on Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis. This comes after a shocking security breach involving top US officials led to heightened concerns about the UK’s intelligence security.
Journalist Gareth Barlow announced: “Just some breaking news to bring you now, this is from the Prime Minister’s spokesperson, this is in reference to those security breaches in the United States.” Barlow went on to let viewers know that the Prime Minister’s spokesperson had reassured the public, stating: “The UK will continue to build defence and security relations with the United States, and the PM is confident that UK intelligence is secure.”
Gareth Barlow has provided an update on UK intelligence security (Image: Sky News)
The spokesperson’s statement also reaffirmed the UK’s commitment to regional security in the Middle East. Unfortunately, not many Brits were put at ease by the PM’s promises.
Taking to social media, one person wrote: “It’s a c**k-up… It happens, and Britain is prone to it also. This is just media baiting the public.”
Another added: “What utter b*****ks! This is actually worse than Trump denying any knowledge of it, this line isn’t going to hold past tea time.”
A third sarcastically asked: “Did you check with him UK intelligence don’t try to pull their trousers on over their heads too?”
The controversy began when The Atlantic’s editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg was accidentally added to a Signal groupchat called Houthi PC small group on March 13.
The group included high ranking US officials such as Vice President JD Vance, Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth, National Security Adviser Mike Waltz, and Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard.
Goldberg later provided an account of the conversation in an article titled The Trump Administration Accidentally Texted Me Its War Plans.
The initial aim of the groupchat was to form a core team to coordinate military action against the Houthis. Members chose representatives from their respective departments and assigned them to the job.
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Keir Starmer has tried to reassure Brits that there will be no breach in British security (Image: Getty)
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As the discussion continued, some officials voiced concerns about the political and economic consequences of taking this military action.
Vance advocated for delaying the strikes to communicate more information about them to the American public, warning: “There is a real risk that the public doesn’t understand this or why it’s necessary.”
However, the Defence Secretary disagreed, saying that postponing the attack could make the US look indecisive or allow other geopolitical events to interfere with their plans. Hegseth stated: “We are prepared to execute, and if I had final go or no-go vote, I believe we should.”
Later on, members of the chat criticised Europe’s military capabilities. Waltz complained: “Whether it’s now or several weeks from now, it will have to be the United States that reopens these shipping lanes.”
Vance added: “I just hate bailing Europe out again.”