Defence Secretary arrives in Cyprus amid tensions over drone attacks

Defence Secretary John Healey has arrived in Cyprus amid tensions about Britain’s response to drone attacks on the island triggered by the US’s war with Iran.

Mr Healey’s arrival comes as Britain has been facing criticism for failing to have enough military assets in the Middle East after RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus was hit by a drone.

Cyprus’s high commissioner to the UK said a British military presence to defend the island was “the least we expect”, in a criticism of the UK’s approach to managing the conflict.

Mr Healey met with his Cypriot counterpart on Thursday to offer “further support for our shared security in that region”, Commons Leader Sir Alan Campbell told MPs.

Overnight on Monday, a hangar at RAF Akrotiri was hit by an Iranian-made Shahed drone, which was launched from Beirut in Lebanon, according to Cypriot officials.

Two further drones detected on Monday were shot down by British warplanes, which took off from Akrotiri.

RAF Typhoon jets flew more missions on Wednesday night to defend Qatar, Foreign Office minister Hamish Falconer told MPs on Thursday.

He said F35s were also deployed to defend allies in the Middle East.

Britain has deployed air defence destroyer HMS Dragon to help protect Cyprus, but the Type 45 warship is not expected to sail until next week.

Wildcat helicopters with anti-drone capabilities have also been dispatched to the island and are expected to arrive there sooner.

Kyriacos Kouros, the Cypriot high commissioner to the UK, said the deployment of HMS Dragon was welcome but noted it would take “more than a week” to arrive.

Asked if he thought the UK had acted with sufficient urgency to protect people living in and around the bases, he told Sky News: “Already we have the presence of Greek forces on the island. Two frigates arrived, four aircraft arrived, all of them with abilities to combat drones.

“The French are coming. So… the least we expect is the Britons to also be present since, as I said, we are not only defending Cypriots on the island.”

Italy, the Netherlands and Spain are also reportedly sending naval assets to protect Cyprus.

More than 4,000 people have now been evacuated from the Middle East, according to Mr Falconer.

The minister told the Commons that half of those arrived from the United Arab Emirates.

More flights are expected on Thursday.

Mr Falconer said planes had arrived from five different countries in the region, and said the support being provided was on a scale “not seen since Covid”.

Home Office minister Alex Norris had earlier said another repatriation flight, the first from Oman to Britain, remained grounded.

Problems with “getting passengers on board” prevented the Government-chartered plane from taking off from Muscat, the minister said.

The plane is expected to leave Oman at noon UK time on Thursday.

Mr Norris insisted the Government was taking the war “exceptionally seriously” following the criticism.

He also told BBC Breakfast: “This is a very significant situation, one that has profound implications for our nation.

“Here, we’ve moved quickly. We will continue to work with our partners in the region in our collective self-defence.”

Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch, meanwhile, said Britain “will be in a lot of trouble” if it does not join bombing raids on Iran after UK bases in Bahrain and Cyprus were attacked.

The Tory leader argued the RAF must take offensive action to destroy Iranian missile sites and prevent further such attacks, as she warned allies in the region “think that we’re abandoning them”.

Mrs Badenoch told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “Once our bases had been attacked, I think we became part of this, whether we liked it or not.

“I don’t want to see an escalation. But I think it is very important that where we have put bases in other people’s countries and they are being attacked, we do what we can to stop those attacks from taking place.”