Defence Secretary John Healey was left red-faced in a brutal car crash interview (Image: Sky News)
Defence Secretary John Healey was part of an awkward interview with Sky News during his visit to Cyprus following the conflict in the Middle East. On Friday (March 6), the Labour minister was grilled by Europe correspondent Ali Bunkall at RAF Akrotiri, where he repeatedly dodged questions about Britain joining strikes on Iran. In the car crash interview, he also revealed that he’d had the option of deploying HMS Dragon to the Mediterranean for weeks.
The broadcaster asked him if he could rule out Britain joining the conflict in an offensive capacity. To which he replied: “As circumstances in any conflict change, you’ve got to be willing to adapt the action you take.” Mr Healey then listed a series of defensive measures the UK was taking to provide aid to Cyprus. This included the use of anti-drone helicopters, deploying HMS Dragon to the eastern Mediterranean, and bringing in planners to co-ordinate and an international response. He explained: “Part of the coordinated offence we do with other allies.
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“We have other destroyers in this region, such as the US destroyers that provide much of the same protection that our air defence destroyer will provide when we bring that into the region as well.” He insisted: “We’re now in a position to better judge the Iranian response to the strikes. We can see they’re increasingly indiscriminate, they’re rising, they’re widespread, they’re uncontrolled.”
When he was pressed on whether he would rule out British aircraft taking part in offensive operations over Iran, Mr Healey mumbled again: “Everything that we have done is defensive, is legal, and is coordinated with other allies.” The presenter then pointedly asked: “Is that a surprise to you? The Iranians always, always told us that. So is it a surprise to you that they hit targets across the region?”
Mr Healey explained: “What’s different about this Iranian response is that it’s different to last year. Last year, it was proportionate; it was targeted only at military installations. This year, in the first 24 hours, we saw them strike 10 different countries.”
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HMS Dragon isn’t expected to arrive in Cyprus for another two weeks (Image: AFP via Getty Images)
Mr Bunkall pointed out: “But the Americans weren’t involved last year at the outset, they only came in at the very end. The Americans have now led the way with the Israelis. The Iranians always said they would do it widespread, they would target US military assets around the region and anybody else. So did it come as a surprise to you that RAF Akrotiri was targeted?”
The Labour minister insisted that weeks before the conflict started, measures were taken to protect the country and RAF airbase, including extra jets, air defence systems, RADARs and drone teams – none of which will defend the island against ballistic missiles.
It didn’t take long before viewers flocked to X – formerly known as Twitter – to share their shock online, with one user posting: “What happened, that was awful!”
Another called for Mr Healey to step down, penning: “John Healey, please just resign. No money for defence but plenty for welfare. Thousands announced today for failed asylum seekers. It was obvious to everyone that the US was going to go for it. Obvious that Iran would retaliate, they know their end is nigh and simply don’t care. You had no strategy.”
A third asked: “Car crash interview on @skynews with @JohnHealey_MP @DefenceHQ. Throughout January and February, we were moving defensive assets to Cyprus and Qatar”. Why was not 1 Royal Navy ship readied for action and en route the Eastern Mediterranean during that time?”
One fan raged: “This is EXCRUCIATING to watch. This interview should immediately end John Healey’s political career. Even Sly News can see he’s completely out of his depth, and amazingly, they don’t give him an inch. I’ve never seen anything like it. This is terrifying. We are totally screwed.”