The UK was unable to protect its allies in the Gulf when fighting with Iran initially broke out earlier this year because, while it held bases across the region, it had few if any ships in them, a peer has told the House of Lords, the UK Defence Journal understands.
The claim was made by the Ulster Unionist peer Lord Empey during an oral question on whether the government intends to establish a permanent military presence in the Gulf to protect allies and ensure freedom of navigation, answered by the Minister of State for Defence, Lord Coaker, on 4 June 2026.
Lord Empey argued that the events at the start of the year had exposed a hollow presence. “Even though we may have bases, largely there are certainly no vessels within them,” he said. “We were not capable of providing protection to our allies in that area; indeed, we were not even capable of properly protecting our own bases in Cyprus.” He asked whether this was not “illustrative of a long-term, decades-long decline in our capabilities”, and what the long-term consequences would be for the UK’s standing in the region when it had been unable to come to the aid of close and long-standing allies.
In response, Lord Coaker did not dispute the picture of limited naval presence, instead setting out the support the UK had provided by other means. He said he had met the ambassadors or defence attachés of Middle East countries almost every week to discuss their needs. “As a consequence of their answers, we have provided further fighter jets, drone capabilities, radar and anti-air defensive capabilities, so we have done a significant amount of work already,” he said, adding that there were 1,000 British service personnel across the region and that those countries had been very appreciative of the support.
Pressed later by the Liberal Democrat Baroness Smith of Newnham on whether he could tell allies categorically that the UK had the naval capabilities to give them reassurance, or whether the Treasury needed to be pushed to move further and faster, Lord Coaker said discussions with the Treasury continued.
Nice of Lord Empey to finally wake up, this has been the order of play for decades, so no harm in as much publicity as possible in exposing the decline in our conventional forces, so I applaud him for that.
But, I also ask why it is beholden on us to “protect them” some of these nations have bigger armed forces now than we do?
While the Lords belief is true, as is the decline in our forces, I also suspect by his wording that he does not understand how our armed forces work, and seems to want our bases crammed with Frigates ready to come out and fight. A Bay, 4 MCMV, and a regionally based elderly T23 had been our lot for some time. The Armilla Patrol of at least 3 Escorts is long, long gone, courtesy of successive governments.
The bases we have in the Middle East are also not the sorts we will home port RN vessels, bar the Naval Support Facility, they are training areas, logistic sites and intelligence sites, there to enable expeditionary assets to deploy if needed, not to be permanently stationed.
Duqm, Oman: Is the UK Joint Logistic Support Base. It can take a QEC if needed, but I have never heard of any plans to base assets there.
UK Naval Support Facility, Bahrain: Also called HMS Juffair by some.
Ras Madrakah, Oman: A training area, part of what the MoD are now spinning as “Global Hub Oman.”
Then you have RAF sites, no ships in those, on the facilities of the host nations, not “our” bases.
Al Udeid, Qatar: HQ of 83 EAG, and 901 EAW.
RAFO Musannah, Oman: 902 EAW.
Al Minhad, UAE: 906 EAW.
These EAW are Framework organisations with no planes of their own, but have deployed ones as needed. Al Minhad has a recently built facility called “Donnelly Lines.”
GCHQ also has at least 3 sites in the region.
Well we did hit net zero…..zero ready to deploy naval response……
One of the reasons people buy weapons from the UK is that we have gold standard tech and have historically provided an umbrella to our allies. Increasingly we cannot afford to buy the best of what we sell and when we buy it that is in tiny numbers. so it is something of an ironic joke now.
A lot of people have not really believed how bad the RN situation was. RN PR was very much supported by ’82 and cold war achievements. It was masked by statements along the lines of we would deploy XY assets if it was time of war. That has been exposed for the sham that it is by actual events where we had one fully serviceable and one almost serviceable T45 for the roles.
Most foreign defence experts are agog at the level of cuts with constant scrapping and jam tomorrow.
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I suppose “our bit” might have been the provision of the bases.
A proper English breakfast to start the day.
Failures of Britain’s conventional deterrent 2014, 2022, 2026
Result: sky high oil, gas, electricity prices. Expensive and belated military deployments, potential general war in Europe by 2030, the alienation of our key ally across the Atlantic and other key allies in the Gulf; a general loss of international prestige making the re-establishment of our conventional deterrent a great more expensive if it is to have any credibility whatsoever.
What a complete and utter shambles; a national disgrace. Why we have not been asked to give up our permanent seat on the U.N. Security Council forthwith is completely beyond me…
There was nobody to protect
Much of our ‘soft power’ standing in the world is a result of the hard power we can (could) bring to bear with a global reach, given the expeditionary set-up of our armed forces (which I agree with, largely – choose to fight the enemy where and when they’d prefer not to, often in their own back yard, and stop them getting anywhere near your homeland, rather than sitting with a static force waiting on them coming).
But our ability to project such power has been seriously undermined, especially in the past 2-3 years, with the cuts we’ve seen to the Royal Navy, which is our primary means of providing such power. The lack of willingness to deploy what little forces we have to help our gulf allies, which provide the lifeblood of the world economy, has also been hugely detrimental to our soft power in that region particularly, but also more widely.
This government has wreaked long lasting harm on the UK’s soft and hard power around the world. Hopefully the DIP reverses some of that when it is finally realeased (the DIP delay itself has been observed by many allies unfavourably, and reduced our soft power itself).
And the weaker your soft power is, the more likely you’re going to need to use your hard power. I don’t think they know, because they certainly don’t seem to care.
The Tories were no better.
But I agree with the expeditionary posture.
Agreed. They cut our forces to the bone. This government has started to cut through the bone itself.
at out brake of hostility’s in Gulf. Wouldn’t the RN have of dispersed any RN ships along side in Port out of Gulf into Gulf of Oman to protect them from damage from Iranian forces. 14 years of Tory Government Cuts & Austerity to UK military. UK ship yards full of RN New ships being built or fitting out & faster than usual. The RN just needs more frontline Ships and Submarines. Aircraft etc. UK Shipyards being modernised with new kit fast to build RN Ships. UK is exporting new warships too. Harland & Wolff is one ship yard that is being modernised & brought into 21st century, They are building Royal Fleet Auxiliary ships & want more RN orders. All on Labours 2 years in office.
Far too one sided.
“UK ship yards full of RN New ships being built or fitting out & faster than usual” All ordered by the Tories. Labour last ordered a Frigate in the late 70s.
“UK Shipyards being modernised with new kit fast to build RN Ships.” Started by the Tories.
“All on Labours 2 years in office.” All?! Shall I list what they’ve cut, deferred, delayed, and not done since they came into office?
“14 years of Tory Government Cuts & Austerity to UK military.”
I always love these posts for their one sidedness. Here we go again….a few facts.
1997 to 2010. Escort force reduced from 35 THIRTY FIVE to 23.
Timeline – 1997, 3 T22 cut, ( 32 ) then another ( 31 )
– 2004, T42’s replaced by only 8 T45, T22s being cut, 3 T23 cut, ( 31 reduces to 25 )
– 2008, T45, only 6 will be bought, GCS “sped up” ( biggest laugh of all time ) ( ships thus down to 23 )
SSN force from 12 to 7.
Fast Jet Squadrons from 23 to 12. Sea Harriers all cut, 2 Squadrons. Harrier GR5/GR7, most of the force cut before the Tories came to power.
3 Squadrons of Jaguar cut. Tornado F3 and GR4, forces with several Squadrons each, salami sliced repeatedly from 97 to 2010, easy cuts to make.
Go and look at the facts.
That the Tories came to power in 2010 and carried on the cutting DOES NOT somehow magically excuse Labour from joint responsibility. And who was in the Treasury at the time? Our Defence Secretary, Healey.
Labour cut plenty of ships and planes with no justification, the only reason the Army survived was due to it being in Helmand and Afghanistan, and even then from the md 2000s Labour were cutting Tanks, AS90,and other heavy kit. Who cut most of the UK’s GBAD capabilities? Labour, around 2004. Go and look at the facts.
Oh, they delayed the Aircraft Carriers too, costing over a billion. One only hears about the musical chairs post 2010 between Cats and Traps and F35B.
BOTH parties are complicit, the uni party Conservative and Labour who have caused so much damage.
Amen, Daniele. They don’t like it up’ em!
Tony Blair came to power in 1997, and by next year, 30 years will have passed.
Assuming no change of government by then… Labour would have been in power 16 of those 30 years – yet all we hear is 14 years of austerity, conveniently forgetting the facts pointed out by Daniele above.
April 1979 was the date of the last two frigates ordered by a Labour Government. HMS Boxer and HMS Beaver, both Batch 2 Type 22s. Since that date, the Tories have ordered 37 frigates.
But neither can we forget the 2010 Coalition cuts either from Philip Hammond and George Osborne – unforgiveable.
There was nobody to protect
Iran has the cards we have no cards and actually America has few cards in the straits
If the UK wants ships in its Gulf bases and the Indo-Pacific it might need to get extra T31s as five doesn’t sound like its anywhere enough.