Red Sea

Grant Shapps Excerpts

Monday 8th January 2024 Written Statements

[The Secretary of State for Defence (Grant Shapps)]

On 19 December, I updated the House on the maritime security situation in the Red sea. The situation remains extremely serious, and I would like to provide a further update.

The United Kingdom and our international partners condemn the illegal and unjustified attacks on commercial vessels in the Red sea by Houthi militants. These attacks, which increased 500% from November to December, risk innocent lives, exacerbate the humanitarian suffering in Yemen, threaten regional security and harm the global economy.

Our message is clear: we call for the Iranian-backed Houthi to immediately cease these illegal attacks.

The UK has joined the United States and other partners on Operation Prosperity Guardian to ensure the freedom of navigation in the Red sea and gulf of Aden. On Friday, Royal Navy frigate HMS Richmond set sail from Plymouth to provide resilience to the UK’s presence in the gulf.

We are working with allies and partners to protect freedom of navigation and remain committed to holding malign actors accountable for unlawful seizures and attacks. The Houthis will bear the responsibility of the consequences should they continue to threaten lives and commercial shipping in these critical waterways.

As you would expect, while planning is under way for a range of scenarios, no decisions have been made and we continue to pursue all diplomatic routes.

Together with our allies and partners, we call for the immediate end of these illegal attacks and the release of unlawfully detained vessels and crews. The UK will not hesitate to take further action should the Houthis continue to ignore our warnings.

[HCWS167]