The UK is once again bombing Yemen.
The government has joined the United States in launching airstrikes against Houthi-controlled sites, claiming to protect international shipping in the Red Sea.
The strikes were framed as a matter of national security — targeted, necessary, and aimed at stopping “terrorist” threats to global trade. Few questions were asked. Fewer still were answered.
But I find myself deeply unsettled — not just by the strikes themselves, but by what they reveal about our selective memory.
Only a few years ago, I was writing articles about Saudi Arabia’s brutal war on Yemen — a war the UK enabled through arms sales, intelligence, and diplomatic cover.
You may wish to refresh your memory here and here.
Help fund great articles! We’re aiming for £50 to cover research and reporting time this week.
Can you chip in £3 today?
👉 https://ko-fi.com/voxpolitical
That war killed tens of thousands, destroyed essential infrastructure, and drove millions into hunger.
It was condemned around the world, with mounting evidence pointing to Saudi war crimes.
Back then, the Houthis — the group now being bombed by the UK — were the targets of that overwhelming force.
We saw them as insurgents, yes, but also as victims of disproportionate violence and international complicity.
So what’s changed?
How did we go from condemning the bombing of Yemen to carrying it out ourselves?
Has the situation truly shifted, or have our interests simply become harder to justify?
And if history teaches us anything, it’s this: the destruction we rain down today will not stay neatly confined to another country.
As we destabilize Yemen further, we may find that the next wave of desperate people crossing the Channel in flimsy boats are fleeing not just civil war — but UK-made missiles.
Buy Cruel Britannia in print here. Buy the Cruel Britannia ebook here. Or just click on the image!
A war we helped worsen
To understand the present, we have to return to the Saudi-led intervention in Yemen, which began in 2015.
After the Houthis took control of the capital, Sana’a, and overthrew the internationally recognised (and deeply unpopular) government of President Hadi, Saudi Arabia assembled a coalition of states — with UK and US support — to restore him to power by force.
That war quickly escalated into one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.
Airstrikes decimated schools, hospitals, markets, and homes.
A Saudi-led blockade strangled the flow of food and medicine.
Cholera outbreaks and famine followed.
Human rights groups documented repeated violations of international law.
The United Nations estimated hundreds of thousands of deaths, directly and indirectly.
Britain was never a bystander.
UK arms manufacturers profited handsomely from the war, and British personnel were embedded in Saudi control rooms, assisting in the targeting process.
Despite widespread public outcry and legal challenges, the UK government insisted that its involvement was “lawful” and “proportionate.”
In short: we helped destroy Yemen.
And we did so quietly, hoping no one would pay attention for long enough to care.
Get my free guide: “10 Political Lies You Were Sold This Decade” — just subscribe to our email list here:
👉 https://voxpoliticalonline.com
The Houthis: rebels, victims, and now “terrorists” again
The Houthis are not saints.
Their rule in northern Yemen has been marked by repression, religious intolerance, and forced recruitment.
But they are also not the caricature of irrational extremists that Western governments prefer to project.
They are a well-organised political and military force with deep roots in Yemeni society and a long-standing opposition to foreign interference.
So why are we bombing them now?
In late 2023, the Houthis began attacking commercial and military ships in the Red Sea — specifically targeting vessels linked to Israel or its allies — in what they described as military solidarity with Gaza.
Their strikes were timed with Israel’s ongoing assault on the Palestinian enclave, which has killed tens of thousands and displaced over a million people.
This act of solidarity was, unsurprisingly, not well received by Western powers.
Suddenly, the Houthis — once the rebels being bombed by our allies — became the direct target of UK and US military power.
Gaza: the quiet catalyst no one will admit
Let’s not pretend otherwise: this latest bombing campaign has everything to do with Gaza.
In a region where Arab regimes have largely issued cautious statements or offered limited humanitarian aid, the Houthis have gone further.
Their attacks on shipping may be disruptive, but they are also symbolic: a show of force against Israel and its backers.
The UK government won’t admit that Gaza has anything to do with its strikes.
It couches its actions in the language of “freedom of navigation” and “regional stability.”
But the subtext is obvious: a group that materially opposes Israel’s assault on Gaza must be punished — not praised.
It’s worth asking: would the UK be bombing the Houthis right now if they had remained quiet on Palestine?
The language of “security” — and its convenient double standards
When the Houthis bomb ships, it’s “terrorism.”
When Israel flattens apartment blocks in Gaza, it’s “self-defence.”
When Saudi Arabia killed children in Yemen with British bombs, we called it “a necessary intervention.”
The word “security” has become a catch-all excuse for whatever the UK wants to justify — no matter the civilian cost.
We invoke it selectively, weaponise it politically, and rarely apply it to those on the receiving end of our violence.
Let’s not pretend this is about Red Sea trade routes.
This is about disciplining those who resist the Western order, and preserving the illusion that our alliances are moral — even when they are drenched in blood.
Consequences we will import
If there’s one thing we should have learned from the last decade, it’s that war does not stay confined to borders.
When we bomb Yemen, we are not just striking military infrastructure.
We are contributing to political collapse, economic desperation, and humanitarian disaster.
And where do those effects go?
They arrive on our shores — in the faces of exhausted, terrified people crossing the Channel in search of safety.
Many in Britain ask, “Why are they coming here?”
The answer, increasingly, may be: because we went there.
The next refugee crisis may not come from Syria or Sudan. It may come, once again, from Yemen — a country we helped destroy, and now seem determined to punish further.
Help fund great articles! We’re aiming for £50 to cover research and reporting time this week.
Can you chip in £3 today?
👉 https://ko-fi.com/voxpolitical
Are we on the wrong side — again?
In 2015, we backed a coalition that bombed Yemen to ruin. Today, we bomb it directly.
The slogans have changed, the justifications updated, but the result is the same: destruction disguised as strategy.
If we were on the wrong side then — and history suggests we were — what makes us so sure we’re on the right side now?
The British public deserves answers. We deserve a government that acts in our name with transparency and accountability — not one that stokes chaos abroad while pretending to defend peace at home.
Until then, we must keep asking: who benefits from these bombs — and who pays the price?
Vox Political needs your help!
If you want to support this site
(but don’t want to give your money to advertisers)
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And do share with your family and friends – so they don’t miss out!
If you have appreciated this article, don’t forget to share it using the buttons at the bottom of this page. Politics is about everybody – so let’s try to get everybody involved!
Buy Vox Political books so we can continue
fighting for the facts.
Cruel Britannia is available
in either print or eBook format here:
The Livingstone Presumption is available
in either print or eBook format here:
Health Warning: Government! is now available
in either print or eBook format here:
The first collection, Strong Words and Hard Times,
is still available in either print or eBook format here:
Has the UK ever been on the right side in Yemen?
The UK is once again bombing Yemen.
The government has joined the United States in launching airstrikes against Houthi-controlled sites, claiming to protect international shipping in the Red Sea.
The strikes were framed as a matter of national security — targeted, necessary, and aimed at stopping “terrorist” threats to global trade. Few questions were asked. Fewer still were answered.
But I find myself deeply unsettled — not just by the strikes themselves, but by what they reveal about our selective memory.
Only a few years ago, I was writing articles about Saudi Arabia’s brutal war on Yemen — a war the UK enabled through arms sales, intelligence, and diplomatic cover.
You may wish to refresh your memory here and here.
Help fund great articles! We’re aiming for £50 to cover research and reporting time this week.
Can you chip in £3 today?
👉 https://ko-fi.com/voxpolitical
That war killed tens of thousands, destroyed essential infrastructure, and drove millions into hunger.
It was condemned around the world, with mounting evidence pointing to Saudi war crimes.
Back then, the Houthis — the group now being bombed by the UK — were the targets of that overwhelming force.
We saw them as insurgents, yes, but also as victims of disproportionate violence and international complicity.
So what’s changed?
How did we go from condemning the bombing of Yemen to carrying it out ourselves?
Has the situation truly shifted, or have our interests simply become harder to justify?
And if history teaches us anything, it’s this: the destruction we rain down today will not stay neatly confined to another country.
As we destabilize Yemen further, we may find that the next wave of desperate people crossing the Channel in flimsy boats are fleeing not just civil war — but UK-made missiles.
Buy Cruel Britannia in print here. Buy the Cruel Britannia ebook here. Or just click on the image!
A war we helped worsen
To understand the present, we have to return to the Saudi-led intervention in Yemen, which began in 2015.
After the Houthis took control of the capital, Sana’a, and overthrew the internationally recognised (and deeply unpopular) government of President Hadi, Saudi Arabia assembled a coalition of states — with UK and US support — to restore him to power by force.
That war quickly escalated into one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.
Airstrikes decimated schools, hospitals, markets, and homes.
A Saudi-led blockade strangled the flow of food and medicine.
Cholera outbreaks and famine followed.
Human rights groups documented repeated violations of international law.
The United Nations estimated hundreds of thousands of deaths, directly and indirectly.
Britain was never a bystander.
UK arms manufacturers profited handsomely from the war, and British personnel were embedded in Saudi control rooms, assisting in the targeting process.
Despite widespread public outcry and legal challenges, the UK government insisted that its involvement was “lawful” and “proportionate.”
In short: we helped destroy Yemen.
And we did so quietly, hoping no one would pay attention for long enough to care.
Get my free guide: “10 Political Lies You Were Sold This Decade” — just subscribe to our email list here:
👉 https://voxpoliticalonline.com
The Houthis: rebels, victims, and now “terrorists” again
The Houthis are not saints.
Their rule in northern Yemen has been marked by repression, religious intolerance, and forced recruitment.
But they are also not the caricature of irrational extremists that Western governments prefer to project.
They are a well-organised political and military force with deep roots in Yemeni society and a long-standing opposition to foreign interference.
So why are we bombing them now?
In late 2023, the Houthis began attacking commercial and military ships in the Red Sea — specifically targeting vessels linked to Israel or its allies — in what they described as military solidarity with Gaza.
Their strikes were timed with Israel’s ongoing assault on the Palestinian enclave, which has killed tens of thousands and displaced over a million people.
This act of solidarity was, unsurprisingly, not well received by Western powers.
Suddenly, the Houthis — once the rebels being bombed by our allies — became the direct target of UK and US military power.
Gaza: the quiet catalyst no one will admit
Let’s not pretend otherwise: this latest bombing campaign has everything to do with Gaza.
In a region where Arab regimes have largely issued cautious statements or offered limited humanitarian aid, the Houthis have gone further.
Their attacks on shipping may be disruptive, but they are also symbolic: a show of force against Israel and its backers.
The UK government won’t admit that Gaza has anything to do with its strikes.
It couches its actions in the language of “freedom of navigation” and “regional stability.”
But the subtext is obvious: a group that materially opposes Israel’s assault on Gaza must be punished — not praised.
It’s worth asking: would the UK be bombing the Houthis right now if they had remained quiet on Palestine?
The language of “security” — and its convenient double standards
When the Houthis bomb ships, it’s “terrorism.”
When Israel flattens apartment blocks in Gaza, it’s “self-defence.”
When Saudi Arabia killed children in Yemen with British bombs, we called it “a necessary intervention.”
The word “security” has become a catch-all excuse for whatever the UK wants to justify — no matter the civilian cost.
We invoke it selectively, weaponise it politically, and rarely apply it to those on the receiving end of our violence.
Let’s not pretend this is about Red Sea trade routes.
This is about disciplining those who resist the Western order, and preserving the illusion that our alliances are moral — even when they are drenched in blood.
Consequences we will import
If there’s one thing we should have learned from the last decade, it’s that war does not stay confined to borders.
When we bomb Yemen, we are not just striking military infrastructure.
We are contributing to political collapse, economic desperation, and humanitarian disaster.
And where do those effects go?
They arrive on our shores — in the faces of exhausted, terrified people crossing the Channel in search of safety.
Many in Britain ask, “Why are they coming here?”
The answer, increasingly, may be: because we went there.
The next refugee crisis may not come from Syria or Sudan. It may come, once again, from Yemen — a country we helped destroy, and now seem determined to punish further.
Help fund great articles! We’re aiming for £50 to cover research and reporting time this week.
Can you chip in £3 today?
👉 https://ko-fi.com/voxpolitical
Are we on the wrong side — again?
In 2015, we backed a coalition that bombed Yemen to ruin. Today, we bomb it directly.
The slogans have changed, the justifications updated, but the result is the same: destruction disguised as strategy.
If we were on the wrong side then — and history suggests we were — what makes us so sure we’re on the right side now?
The British public deserves answers. We deserve a government that acts in our name with transparency and accountability — not one that stokes chaos abroad while pretending to defend peace at home.
Until then, we must keep asking: who benefits from these bombs — and who pays the price?
Vox Political needs your help!
If you want to support this site
(but don’t want to give your money to advertisers)
you can make a one-off donation here:
Be among the first to know what’s going on! Here are the ways to manage it:
1) Register with us by clicking on ‘Subscribe’ (bottom right of the home page). You can then receive notifications of every new article that is posted here.
2) Follow VP on Twitter @VoxPolitical
3) Like the Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/VoxPolitical/
Join the Vox Political Facebook page.
4) You could even make Vox Political your homepage at http://voxpoliticalonline.com
5) Follow Vox Political writer Mike Sivier on BlueSky
6) Join the MeWe page at https://mewe.com/p-front/voxpolitical
7) Feel free to comment!
And do share with your family and friends – so they don’t miss out!
If you have appreciated this article, don’t forget to share it using the buttons at the bottom of this page. Politics is about everybody – so let’s try to get everybody involved!
Buy Vox Political books so we can continue
fighting for the facts.
Cruel Britannia is available
in either print or eBook format here:
The Livingstone Presumption is available
in either print or eBook format here:
Health Warning: Government! is now available
in either print or eBook format here:
The first collection, Strong Words and Hard Times,
is still available in either print or eBook format here:
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