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Britain has scrapped contingency plans to send the aircraft carrier HMS Prince of Wales to the Middle East following Donald Trump’s mocking of Sir Keir Starmer for supposedly wanting to join the war with Iran after it had already been “won”.

British officials said that the carrier, currently in Portsmouth, was not being prepared for Iran-related activity and Downing Street said there was “no decision to deploy her”.

The news came after the Ministry of Defence put the ship and its crew in a state of high readiness to set sail within five days, a move confirmed in a statement on Saturday in relation to Britain’s military build-up in the Middle East.

“HMS Prince of Wales has always been on very high readiness and we are increasing the preparedness of the carrier, reducing the time it would take to set sail for any deployment,” the MoD said on Saturday.

Some British officials now claimed there was never any plan to send the carrier to the Middle East and that it is instead being prepared for Nato operations, with a deployment to the Arctic scheduled.

But other UK officials maintained that the sudden change in readiness was ordered last week to give the government an option to deploy the warship to the eastern Mediterranean or beyond, towards the Middle East.

Trump mocked the idea in a social media post on Saturday, writing: “The United Kingdom, our once Great Ally, maybe the Greatest of them all, is finally giving serious thought to sending two aircraft carriers to the Middle East.

“That’s OK, Prime Minister Starmer, we don’t need them any longer — But we will remember. We don’t need people that join Wars after we’ve already won!”

Britain’s other carrier, HMS Queen Elizabeth, is currently being refitted and is therefore unable to be deployed.

Starmer’s aides denied that the US president played any role in changing plans for the deployment of HMS Prince of Wales and insisted that a 20-minute call between the two leaders on Sunday had been “constructive”.

One ally of the prime minister insisted that both leaders were trying to restore relations after a week of criticism from the White House over the UK’s refusal to do more to support US-Israeli strikes on Iran.

“I think everyone wants to get back to normal,” the ally said.

Last month the MoD announced the UK would be deploying a carrier strike group — HMS Prince of Wales and escorting warships — to the north Atlantic and Arctic this year to “deter Russian aggression and protect vital undersea infrastructure”.

The deployment will be part of Nato’s new Arctic Sentry mission, established this year to strengthen the alliance’s security in the High North as melting sea ice opens up new routes and the threat of hostile state activity rises. Nato will command part of the UK’s deployment.

The carrier strike group is also due to cross the Atlantic and visit a US port. American jets are expected to operate from the flight deck of HMS Prince of Wales, alongside Royal Air Force F-35 jets.

In the meantime France has deployed its aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle to the eastern Mediterranean and French President Emmanuel Macron was in Cyprus on Monday to discuss security for the island, which is the location of two British military bases.

HMS Dragon, a British Type 45 destroyer, is expected to sail to the Mediterranean this week to provide extra protection for British interests in the region and for Cyprus.

Opinion polls show that most Britons back Starmer’s decision not to join the US-Israeli offensive in Iran. A new YouGov poll found that 59 per cent now say they are opposed to the military action — a rise of 10 points since last Monday — with 25 per cent in favour.

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Reform UK, which had supported the UK joining the war, now sounds more cautious. Robert Jenrick, Treasury spokesman, told the BBC on Sunday that he did not think it was “necessary” for the UK “to be deploying British airmen in bombing raids over Iran right now”.

Separately Sir Ed Davey, Liberal Democrat leader, has called on Starmer to push for the cancellation of a proposed state visit by King Charles and Queen Camilla to the US at the end of April in protest over the Iran war.

Downing Street said that no visit had been confirmed. Such royal trips take place only on the advice of the prime minister but officials briefed on the visit say planning is continuing “without deviation”.

Cancelling a state visit at such a late stage would be seen as a major insult to Trump and, given the fragile state of political relations, would be a big risk for Starmer.