Rishi Sunak is set to launch airstrikes against Houthi rebels whose continued attacks are disrupting trade in the Red Sea. The Prime Minister convened his cabinet to discuss what action would be taken. It is believed such a mission would be undertaken alongside the US.
The National Security Council met earlier on Thursday, and an emergency meeting of Cobra was convened. The Leader of the Opposition and the Speaker of the House of Commons have been briefed. It’s understood that Sunak will not recall parliament on Friday to discuss the intervention. Already the Liberal Democrats have called on the Prime Minister to hold a vote if strikes are to take place before parliament’s return on Monday.
Military action would not be a surprise. Defence Secretary Grant Shapps on Wednesday told the Houthis to ‘watch this space’, and the Wall Street Journal reported that the Houthis are anticipating an attack. Airstrikes will likely be focused on missile facilities, rather than a major assault on Houthi bases and personnel.
Between 12 and 15 per cent of global trade moves through the Red Sea. The Houthi rebels, based in Yemen and aligned with Iran, have been disrupting that trade for two months by firing cheap drones at ships purportedly linked to Israel (many have not been). British and American warships have been using much more expensive missiles to shoot down these drones. As a consequence, 20 per cent of the world’s container ships are avoiding the Red Sea and are going around the south of Africa instead. The number of companies using the Suez route is down 90 per cent on this time last year.
The Houthis have been warned. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Wednesday that ‘if this continues… there will be consequences’. The Houthi response was to launch an unmanned surface vessel into the Red Sea that was packed with explosives.
The Houthis have been warned
The concern in the West is that disruption in trade will cause inflation to rise. A drought in the Panama canal – another crucial passage – is compounding those worries. Despite the Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey saying that the Red Sea crisis had not been as inflationary as feared, US inflation was this morning revealed to have been 3.4 per cent annually in December, up from 3.1 per cent the month before.
Shapps has seemed more concerned with Iran than with inflation. The Defence Secretary has said: ‘Be in no doubt at all, Iran is guiding what is happening there in the Red Sea.’
The Times reports that ‘limited’ attacks will involve British aircraft such as Typhoons, based in Cyprus. Britain’s warships HMS Diamond, HMS Lancaster and HMS Richmond are in or near the region, but have limited range (the Telegraph reported last week that the Royal Navy has so few sailors that it is having to decommission warships). However, Britain has greater capacity in the Middle East than it did a decade ago, in part due to David Cameron’s decision as prime minister to reopen British bases ‘east of Suez’, such as in Oman and Bahrain.
London and Washington will hope that limited strikes will be enough to unsettle the Houthis without provoking escalation. As Rishi Sunak and Joe Biden prepare for elections, they will want their voters to feel well off and safe. Higher inflation and an emboldened Iran: what hay their enemies could make with that.
Britain set to launch military action against Houthis
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12.01.2024
Rishi Sunak is set to launch airstrikes against Houthi rebels whose continued attacks are disrupting trade in the Red Sea. The Prime Minister convened his cabinet to discuss what action would be taken. It is believed such a mission would be undertaken alongside the US.
The National Security Council met earlier on Thursday, and an emergency meeting of Cobra was convened. The Leader of the Opposition and the Speaker of the House of Commons have been briefed. It’s understood that Sunak will not recall parliament on Friday to discuss the intervention. Already the Liberal Democrats have called on the Prime Minister to hold a vote if strikes are to take place before parliament’s return on Monday.
Military action would not be a surprise. Defence Secretary Grant Shapps on Wednesday told the Houthis to ‘watch this space’, and the Wall Street........
© The Spectator
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