Strait of Hormuz: Merchant Shipping

Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle Excerpts

Monday 20th July 2026 Lords Chamber

[Lord Coaker (Lab)]

The noble Lord makes an interesting and important point. The commitment to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea is an important restatement of the fundamental principle, not only in the Middle East but across the world, of the freedom of navigation. It is an extremely important point and the noble Lord is right to remind us of it. That remains our policy objective with respect to the Strait of Hormuz. It is an international waterway; it should be free and the freedom of navigation should operate there. On the noble Lord’s other point about nuclear, I reread the memorandum of understanding between Iran and the United States, and, for me, that could have been followed through to start addressing many issues, including the nuclear issue that he referred to.

[Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (GP)]

My Lords, my question follows on from that of the noble and learned Baroness, Lady Butler-Sloss. I stress that I am asking not for any operational information but for a general statement. Are UK bases and UK military assets being used by US forces in the continuing attacks on Iran. Specifically, were they used in the attack on the nuclear power plant under construction at Darkhovin?

[Lord Coaker (Lab)]

I do not often do this, but let me read the advice that I have had about UK bases involved in recent strikes, because I need to be clear that I am getting it right. The noble Baroness said in her opening remark why I would do this, so let me read the points. Our position on this has been consistent. The Government took a decision in Britain’s national interest not to get involved in the initial phase. We have acted in defence of our allies, including by approving the US to use our bases for the specific defensive and limited purposes of destroying Iran’s missiles at source. We remain in close communication with the US, including on our efforts to support the restoration of freedom of navigation through the strait, through our independent and defensive mission.