Labour Leader Backs Houthi Strikes As Party’s Hard Left Protest ‘Reckless Act’

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer told the BBC he was “fully supportive” of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s decision to bomb Houthi positions in Yemen, as former party leader Jeremy Corbyn and his supporters protested the action.

The bombing took place on Friday morning as a joint US-UK operation, targeting dozens of sites in a bid to deter rebel Houthi groups from continuing to target trade ships moving through the Red Sea. Houthi groups claim that they are preventing ships affiliated with Israel from using the route in resistance to the country’s ongoing campaign in Gaza.

Starmer told BBC Breakfast that “it was clear” that Houthi attacks have endangered lives and caused significant disruption to international trade. He said that he was “fully supportive of the action needed.”

The Labour leader emphasised his party’s unyielding support for further military actions to prevent further attacks. Starmer urged the Prime Minister to address the nation and called for a statement to be made to the House of Commons, which is anticipated to occur on Monday.

Meanwhile, on the party’s hard left, including those loyal to Corbyn, followed his lead in protesting the strikes. Corbyn took to X to criticise the strikes as “a reckless act of escalation that will only cause more death and suffering” that occured without parliamentary consent.

Other sitting party members, including MP Kim Johnson and MP Claudia Webbe, joined in:

Corbyn’s former Shadow Home Secretary, MP Diane Abbott, ran criticism of Starmer’s position.

Left-leaning commentator Paul Mason, however, dismissed Corbyn’s protests as “rubbish,” arguing that Houthi attacks on “civilian ships” endangered the lives of “working class seafarers.”