Exclusive:Royal Navy 'ready' to protect Strait of Hormuz, minister says, despite ex-Nato chief's criticism

Luke Pollard, the Defence Readiness Minister, told The Yorkshire Post that Britain’s military was ready to safeguard the region if required, pointing to “an increased defence budget and a real desire by this Government to renew our forces”.

It comes as Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron are set to co-host a summit in Paris this Friday to try and concoct a plan to ensure the Strait of Hormuz can remain open to shipping after the Middle East war ends.

Sir Keir told MPs on Monday the UK-French initiative would involve “military planning to provide assurance to shipping” as well as diplomatic efforts.

Mr Macron has previously said the countries participating in the initiative would work on a “strictly defensive mission, separate from the warring parties to the conflict” which “is intended to be deployed as soon as circumstances permit”.

He said the summit would bring together countries “prepared to contribute alongside us” to the “peaceful multinational mission”.

However, yesterday Sir Keir was hit with a broadside, as former Nato chief Lord George Robertson said the UK is underprepared for war due to the “ever-expanding welfare budget” and “corrosive complacency” from the Government.

The former Labour defence secretary, who led the Government’s Strategic Defence Review (SDW), accused ministers of being unwilling to make the necessary investment.

He will use a lecture this evening to say the Iran war must be a “rude wake-up call” to ministers to act.

In the speech, he said: “We are underprepared. We are underinsured. We are under attack. We are not safe… Britain’s national security and safety is in peril.”

The 10-year defence investment plan which was meant to be published in autumn last year to deliver the SDR’s plans has still not been produced.

Lord Robertson told the Financial Times there was a gap between the Prime Minister’s rhetoric on defence and the action he had delivered, saying Sir Keir was “not willing to make the necessary investment”.

He will accuse “non-military experts in the Treasury” of “vandalism”, according to extracts of his speech published by the newspaper.

Mr Pollard was speaking at the University of Sheffield, before Lord Robertson’s intervention, to announce a new Defence Growth Deal for South Yorkshire.

He was asked by this paper whether the Royal Navy is ready to protect the Strait of Hormuz if the British and French armed forces are deployed.

The Ministry of Defence faced criticism after it took some three weeks to move the Type-45 Destroyer HMS Dragon to the eastern Mediterranean after Hezbollah strikes on RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus.

Mr Pollard said: “Yes - we have seen the hollowing out and underfunding of our Armed Forces in the last Government, and that has ended with an increased defence budget, £5bn extra in our budget this year.

“We have seen an increased defence budget and a real desire by this Government to renew our forces.

“That means retiring old kit and bringing on the latest technology. That increases our lethality and our deterrents and that is a key part of how we’re renewing our Armed Forces.”

He added: “The teams are working flat out to deliver the Defence Investment Plan, but that work hasn’t stopped us from making announcements.”

This comes after Donald Trump announced a blockade of Iranian ports in response to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ (IRGC) continued toll on ships in the Strait.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves said families and businesses across Britain are bearing the cost of instability caused by Mr Trump’s “folly” in the Middle East.

She told the Mirror: “This is a war that we did not start. It was a war that we did not want.

“I feel very frustrated and angry that the US went into this war without a clear exit plan, without a clear idea of what they were trying to achieve.”