Dear Editor

HARLOW MP Chris Vince appears to have nothing to say about the fact that Keir Starmer decided that the United Kingdom would give support to the US-Israeli bombardment of Iran. By allowing the armed forces of the USA to use British bases to launch attacks upon Iran, Keir Starmer has made the United Kingdom a co-belligerent in this war.

That the UK is now a co-belligerent puts the people of this country in danger of becoming victims of retaliation by the military forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Keir Starmer has put our lives at risk without consulting us. To act without the approval of elected Members of Parliament is autocratic. 

Keir Starmer’s action is also a violation of international law. This is a war of aggression, a war of a type prohibited by treaties to which the UK is a party.

I am sure that Mr Vince has seen the ghastly images of the body bags containing the remains of dozens of Iranian primary school children, and I hope that his dismay at such images will prompt him to speak out against this unjust war.

The Labour Party Rule Book 2026 states that the Labour Party is committed to “co-operating in European institutions, the United Nations, the Commonwealth and other international bodies to secure peace” (Chapter 1, Clause IV (Part3)). The actions of Keir Starmer in relation to the current war against Iran are contrary to these principles. I hope that Chris Vince, as a Labour MP, will act to try to bring about the realisation of these principles.

I am sure that Mr Vince is in favour of democracy and the upholding of international law. I hope that he can reassure us that he will be calling for an emergency debate in the House of Commons on this issue, with a view to overturning the Prime Minister’s unilateral decision to involve the United Kingdom in an illegal war. 

I know that I would not be alone in regarding a failure by Chris Vince to speak out on this issue as an indication of an absence of a moral compass.

Yours sincerely

John Wake