https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/media-gaslighting-public-starmer-and-iran

The media present Starmer as staying out of Trump’s war — but we’re already deeply involved in a conflict that sees the US and Israel kill civilians on a huge scale, argues IAN SINCLAIR

WE are all being taken for mugs.

Over the last couple of weeks the mainstream liberal media has been gaslighting the British public about Prime Minister Keir Starmer and the war on Iran.

…

Starmer has given permission for the US, which is involved in an ongoing illegal, aggressive attack on Iran, to use British bases to bomb Iran — which is certainly a strange way of opposing the war.

As the media has shown little interest in seriously investigating the legality of the Starmer government’s position, it’s worth highlighting the analyses of several scholars of international law.

For example, Alexander Orakhelashvili, Professor of International Law at the University of Birmingham, describes the British government’s position of targeting missile facilities in Iran “which were involved” in attacks on Britain’s regional allies as “plainly beyond what the right to self-defence allows any state to do in such circumstances.”

He describes it as “more akin to collective reprisal,” and therefore not in line with the United Nations Charter or “customary international law.”

Writing on March 11, Thomas Obel Hansen, a senior research fellow with the School of Law at Ulster University, argues that “by permitting US heavy bombers to use its bases to launch strikes on Iran, the UK would not only make a significant contribution to the military campaign against Iran, but also one that is essentially offensive” making Britain “a party that actively supports a war of aggression on Iran.”

Adil Haque, Distinguished Professor of Law at Rutgers Law School, concurs, noting the British agreement with the US “would appear to be unlawful.” Why? “The United States is committing an unlawful act of aggression, and the United Kingdom cannot aid or assist in its commission. Air strikes against missile facilities in Iran have been, and will continue to be, an important component of the composite act of aggression. It is not possible to facilitate such air strikes without facilitating the act of aggression of which they are a part of.”

…

A March 9 YouGov survey found 59 per cent of respondents opposed the military action that the United States has taken against Iran, with 25 per cent in support (polls done by Survation and Opinium have had similar results). On Starmer’s specific decision to allow the US to use British air bases specifically to launch attacks against missile bases in Iran, a March 2 YouGov poll found 50 per cent of respondents were opposed, with 32 per cent in support.

It seems one can only think Starmer is “with public opinion” if you ignore the not unimportant fact that Starmer is actively helping the US to bomb Iran.

As investigative journalist Matt Kennard recently noted on X about the media’s inversion of reality: the “level of obedience and servitude within elite UK journalist circles — with no gulags — is genuinely incredible.”

…

See the original article at https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/media-gaslighting-public-starmer-and-iran