10:30AM
Cyprus ‘disappointed’ in Starmer’s failure to protect island
The people of Cyprus are “disappointed” by Sir Keir Starmer, the Mediterranean island’s high commissioner to the UK has said.
The Prime Minister announced he will send a warship to Cyprus after Iranian drones attacked RAF Akrotiri, a key British air base on the island, on Sunday.
However, HMS Dragon, a Type 45 guided-missile destroyer, was only deployed two days after the attack and it will not reach the territory for potentially two weeks.
Kyriacos Kouros, the Cypriot high commissioner to the UK, was asked on the BBC’s Newsnight programme whether the people of the island felt “protected” by Britain.
After pausing for five seconds to consider his reply, he said: “It’s not an easy question to ask a diplomat who represents a country and the host is Britain. So let’s say that the people are disappointed, the people are scared, the people could expect more.”