As the sun set last night, HMS Dragon has finally sailed to the eastern Mediterranean to help protect the RAF base in Cyprus as the war with Iran continues to reshape the Middle East.

Listen to this article

Hours later, the Home Secretary announced she would ban the Al-Quds March in support of the Iranian Regime – following the advice of the Met Police, and a cross-party letter which received the backing of all the Reform UK Parliamentary Party.

So after ten days of flip-flopping, weeks of ill-preparedness, and years of budget mismanagement, one may think that, finally, the UK is beginning to face the Iranian threat – a threat that is not just thousands of miles away but walking our very streets. Yet, sadly, the view in the Middle East, as at home, is that this is just too little too late.

Nigel Farage accurately pointed out the obvious: by the time Britain deploys meaningful military assets, the conflict has already moved on. The boat, quite literally, has already sailed.

HMS Dragon is a capable air defence destroyer. Its presence near Cyprus will help protect British personnel and assets. But sending it now, after days of escalating attacks across the region, reinforces a worrying pattern in British foreign policy. The United Kingdom increasingly appears reactive rather than decisive, cautious when clarity is required, and hesitant at moments when allies expect resolve.

This matters not only because Britain once prided itself on global leadership. It matters because events in the Middle East do not stay in the Middle East.

Iran’s regime has spent decades exporting instability. Its strategy is simple and well-documented. Through the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and its network of proxies, Tehran spreads influence through militias, terror groups, and ideological allies across the region and beyond.

For too long, Britain has treated this as a distant problem.

Over the past few days alone, British authorities have disrupted suspected Iranian-linked activity inside the United Kingdom. Individuals have been arrested on suspicion of spying and targeting Jewish community sites, including synagogues. Intelligence services have repeatedly warned that Iranian state actors and their proxies are actively operating on British soil.

This should be a national alarm bell.

Instead, the public conversation often remains stuck in the theatre of foreign policy symbolism. Ships are dispatched after the fact. Statements are issued once events have already unfolded. Political leaders debate the nuances of distant conflicts while failing to address the very real networks of extremism operating inside Britain itself.

If Britain truly wants to respond to the Iranian threat, it should start at home.

First, the government should follow up on the banning of the Al-Quds March and finally move to proscribe the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in its entirety. For years, ministers have spoken about doing so. For years, the decision has been delayed. Yet the IRGC is not merely a military branch of a foreign state. It is the central engine behind Iran’s global terror network.

Europe, the United States and many others have designated it a terrorist organisation. Britain should do the same.

Second, the government must confront the wider ecosystem of ideological movements that incubate hostility toward the West and toward Jewish communities. Groups inspired by or linked to the Muslim Brotherhood have operated in Britain for decades, often under the cover of community activism or political campaigning. While many claim peaceful intentions, the ideology itself has repeatedly served as a gateway to radicalisation and violent extremism.

Britain cannot continue pretending that these movements exist in a vacuum.

Third, the government should take far more seriously the domestic consequences of the Iranian regime’s propaganda machine. Allowing such activity to flourish not only emboldens those who see Britain as weak. Universities and others openly praising Tehran or its proxies are not harmless expressions of opinion when the same regime is actively threatening British interests and targeting communities within Britain, none more so than the Jewish community. History teaches us well: what begins with the Jews, never ends with the Jews, and the outright antisemitic rhetoric we see now in the UK, online, on campus, and on the streets, is not just a stain on our democracy, but should serve as a screeching alarm call for it.

None of this means abandoning Britain’s role abroad. Far from it. A confident foreign policy requires strength both externally and internally. Supporting allies, protecting shipping routes, and maintaining a credible military presence remain essential responsibilities for a global power.

But credibility is not built by arriving after the crisis. By the time HMS Dragon reaches its operational position near Cyprus, the strategic picture may already have shifted again. The war will continue to evolve with or without Britain’s involvement.

That reality should prompt a moment of clarity in Westminster.

Nigel Farage’s criticism resonates precisely because it reflects a broader frustration. Britain often appears to hover on the margins of events that directly affect its own security. It reacts rather than leads. More directly, Prime Minister Starmer seems to have spent more time in the last week defending himself against criticism from our supposed allies than he has defending the British people in Cyprus or elsewhere.

Britain may have missed the boat in this particular conflict. But it must not miss the far more important challenge now facing the country: confronting the influence of the Iranian regime and the networks of extremism it nurtures within Britain itself.

If the government truly wants to protect British interests, the first battlefield is not the eastern Mediterranean. It is Britain’s own streets.

Jason Pearlman is a former advisor to two Israeli presidents and the Founding Director of Reform Friends of Israel, which works to promote understanding of Israel and the UK-Israel relationship among Reform Party members.

LBC Opinion provides a platform for diverse opinions on current affairs and matters of public interest.

The views expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official LBC position.

To contact us email opinion@lbc.co.uk

© LBC