UK prime minister Rishi Sunak unilaterally authorised a series of airstrikes against the Houthi in Yemen, in tandem with the United States, to protect Israeli trade that has been threatened by attacks on shipping in the Red Sea.

He said it was a “retaliatory” strike but some of us have been sceptical:

Sunak said the Royal Air Force carried out targeted strikes against military facilities used by the Houthis. The Defense Ministry said four fighter jets based in Cyprus took part in the strikes.

Noting the militants have carried out a series of dangerous attacks on shipping, he added, “This cannot stand.” He said the U.K. took “limited, necessary and proportionate action in self-defense, alongside the United States with non-operational support from the Netherlands, Canada and Bahrain against targets tied to these attacks, to degrade Houthi military capabilities and protect global shipping.”

In another report, Sunak warned that Houthi attacks on shipping in the Red Sea threaten the economy and have a “damaging impact on people’s shopping”.

The attack goes against the wishes of many people in the UK – some of whom raised strong points against it:

The first the public knew about it was on Thursday evening (January 11):

Commentators on ‘X’ (formerly Twitter) were not impressed:

Sunak chose not to recall Parliament for a vote…

Some of us questioned where Sunak found the cash to splash on an expensive airstrike:

Also informed of the airstrikes were Commons Speaker Lindsay Hoyle and Labour leader Keir Starmer, who once insisted that Parliament should debate and vote before any military action is allowed to take place.

He announced yet another hypocritical about-turn in his own personal policy on the BBC’s Breakfast show:

Embarrassingly for Starmer, after he said his entire Parliamentary party was behind the military action, this happened:

His claim was further undermined by an alleged message sent out to Labour MPs, below:

The action has received a mostly negative reception from commentators on the social media.

Some have apologised directly to the people of Yemen, saying the UK government is out of control and acting without the consent of the UK’s electorate:

And some have suggested that the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions campaign against Israel should be extended to the UK and United States:

The Houthis in Yemen have already announced that they will retaliate, meaning that – instead of calming the crisis in the Red Sea, Sunak has escalated it.

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