Pete Hegseth takes brutal swipe at UK as he rages at Starmer over Iran war

US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth launched a veiled attack on the UK over the war in Iran. Speaking at a briefing on the war at the Pentagon, he thanked Israel for being “a brave, capable and willing ally”, before suggesting the US’s Western allies should follow suit.

Though the defence secretary did not specifically name Britain in his remarks, he aimed them at “the rest of the world” and “our so-called allies”. He said: “The rest of the world and the rest of our so-called allies saw what real capabilities look like. They should take some notes.”

Donald Trump and his administration have been vocal critics of the UK’s response to the war over what they see as a lack of action and refusal to help.

Mr Hegseth previously made sarcastic comments against the capabilities and readiness of the Royal Navy, jokingly calling it the “big, bad Royal Navy”.

About a month after the war began and while he was asking Britain to help in reopening the Strait of Hormuz, the defence secretary said the navy “ought to be prepared to step up”.

He said: “There are countries around the world who ought be prepared to step up on this critical waterway as well. Last time I checked, there was supposed to be a big, bad Royal Navy that could be prepared to do things like that as well.”

The US President also compared the Royal Navy’s aircraft carriers to “toys” and told Sir Keir Starmer not to bother sending any vessels to the Gulf.

MORE UPDATES TO FOLLOW…