London, Thanasis Gavos

The British prime minister had authorized the strike by British jets on Thursday, calling it “limited, necessary and proportionate action”, without seeking MPs’ approval, which has drawn criticism from minority opposition parties.

The Labor leader of the official opposition Sir Keir Starmer, who had been briefed by the Prime Minister about the attacks, told the BBC on Sunday that he supported Mr Sunak’s decision, but noted that there must now be a detailed debate in the House of Commons.

Asked about his earlier pledge that any decision on British involvement in war should be subject to a vote in Parliament, Mr Starmer said there was a “huge distinction” between a limited operation like the one against the Houthis and a protracted military engagement “which usually it entails soldiers on the ground’.

On the same BBC Sunday show and also in an article in the Sunday Telegraph Foreign Secretary Lord David Cameron hinted that Britain would not hesitate to resume attacks on the Houthis if they did not stop their own attacks on ships in the Red Sea.

“We will work with allies. We will always defend freedom of navigation. And – crucially – we will be prepared to back our words with action,” Lord Cameron wrote.

Meanwhile, in a breakfast speech in London, Defense Secretary Grant Shapps will announce that 20,000 members of the British armed forces will be deployed to various European countries as part of the biggest deployment of NATO forces since the end of the Cold War.

“The battle lines are being redrawn. We must be prepared to deter our enemies”, Mr Sapps is expected to say, adding that the “peace dividend” enjoyed by the old continent after the Cold War is being lost.