Defence Minister: Aircraft carriers could go to the Red Sea to support action against Houthi rebels in Yemen
British aircraft carriers are "available" to be deployed to the Red Sea if they are needed to support further action against Houthi rebels in Yemen, according to defence minister James Cartlidge.
The MP told GB News "there is no truth whatsoever" in reports the ships could not be deployed.
He said: "I'm pleased to confirm both our carriers are in Portsmouth, they are at readiness and they are available to be deployed if needed, if the operational decision is that that is the appropriate response.
“Just to highlight, because I appreciate there has been some coverage at this point, Queen Elizabeth, one of the carriers, returned only eight weeks ago from a 13,000 nautical mile mission to the North Sea and the Baltic Sea, so it's not true that we can’t deploy them."
He said a support ship was docked at Liverpool awaiting "an upgrade" but there were "other support ships available.",
He said "further action" against the rebels, who have been targeting shipping in the Red Sea, had not been ruled out "if it was justified" but said the recent airstrikes were "proportionate" and "justified under international law".
British jets joined US warplanes, ships and submarines to launch dozens of strikes in retaliation for attacks on Red Sea shipping, which the Iran-backed group says is a response to the war in Gaza.
Lebanese Hezbollah, who are also backed by Iran, said the attacks would not stop the Houthis targeting shipping.
Describing U.S. and British strikes as an act of stupidity, Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said the Houthis would continue targeting ships belonging to Israel and going to its ports.
"The more dangerous thing is what the Americans did in the Red Sea will harm all maritime navigation, even the ships that are not going to Palestine, even the ships which are not Israeli, even the ships that have nothing to do with the matter, because the sea has become a theatre of fighting, missiles, drones and war ships," he said.
"Security has been disrupted."
One of the bases used by British planes, RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus, was the site of a protest on Sunday by pro-Palestinian activists.
Several hundred protesters chanted "Out with the Bases of Death" at the entrance to the base which is one of two the UK retains on the island.
The iron gates to the heavily-guarded compound, which sits on a peninsula on Cyprus's southernmost tip, were locked with dozens of police present.
"We are here because we condemn the complicity of the UK government and using Cypriot land for their agenda to support Israel in their onslaught of Gaza," said Natalia Olivia of the Cyprus-based United for Palestine organisation.
Another activist, Nicos Panayiotou, called the use of the British bases a disgrace. "They are using Cypriot land to do something every Cypriot is condemning," he said.
Britain is not obliged to seek permission from Cyprus for operations out of Akrotiri under the terms of the bases' presence on the island.
The strikes have added to concerns the Israel-Gaza war could spread through the Middle East, with Iran's allies also entering the fray from Lebanon, Syria and Iraq.
