‘Spineless Starmer is turning UK into a military pygmy’: Farage blasts PM as Iran’s leader in exile pleads for British support and top brass warn of £28bn funding crisis

Nigel Farage has condemned Sir Keir Starmer’s ‘spineless’ approach to defense spending, saying it makes Britain look like a ‘dwarf’ while the world is on the brink of multiple provocative conflicts.

At a time when Iran is facing a meltdown, Donald Trump is threatening war over Greenland and Vladimir Putin is threatening Europe over Ukraine, the Reform UK leader said it was ‘horrible’ that Britain faced a £28bn shortfall in defense funding.

‘Look what’s happening in the world,’ Mr Farage writes in today’s Mail on Sunday.

‘We may soon become involved in operations in Iran and move ever closer to conflict with Putin, but we are still military pygmies on the international stage thanks to spineless Starmer’s failure to properly fund our Armed Forces.’

Last week, it was revealed that the UK’s top military chief, Air Chief Marshal Sir Richard Knighton, told the Prime Minister that the Ministry of Defense faces a £28bn deficit between now and 2030.

Farage’s remarks come amid growing violent street protests against Iran’s Islamic regime; Diplomatic sources predicted that Britain could be dragged into military action if President Trump took action to overthrow the country’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Tonight, exiled crown prince Reza Pahlavi, who is claimed to be the next Shah of Iran if Khamenei is ousted, told the MoS that the UK Government must stand with Iranian protesters in their ‘time of need’.

The 64-year-old said: ‘The Iranian people are moving forward with great courage and determination. They have answered millions of my calls to action in the last few days.

Farage condemns Sir Keir Starmer’s “spineless” approach to defense spending and says it makes Britain look like a “pygmy”

Thousands of protesters took to the streets in Iran’s major cities on Friday night, chanting ‘Bring back Pahlavi!’ shouted slogans.

Pahlavi, who fled to the US with his father after the 1979 Islamic Revolution with the deposed Shah, also revealed that he spearheaded regime change by offering Iran’s hated Revolutionary Guard and army the chance to secretly switch sides using a secure QR code.

Diplomatic sources predict that Trump may launch a direct attack on the Iranian regime in response to the crackdown on protesters that has left more than 50 people dead. This may include the use of British military assets.

In other developments:

• Sources said Mr. Trump instructed the Joint Special Operations Command to prepare a detailed plan for the invasion of Greenland and the annexation of Danish territory due to its strategic location and mineral wealth.

• The BBC has faced increasing criticism over its coverage of protests in Iran; these reports were described as “blind” and “embarrassing” for downplaying their significance.

• The defense debate was further fueled by retired Air Marshal Edward Stringer, who described Britain’s national defense as a ‘flimsy front’.

US planes flew from Mildenhall base on Thursday as part of an operation to capture the “ghost” Russian tanker Bella 1, accused of violating American sanctions on Iranian oil sailing in the North Atlantic.

Exiled crown prince Reza Pahlavi (pictured), the man tipped to become Iran’s next Shah if Khamenei is ousted, told the MoS that the UK Government must stand with Iranian protesters in their ‘time of need’.

Last week, it was revealed that the UK’s top military chief, Air Chief Marshal Sir Richard Knighton (pictured), told the Prime Minister that the Ministry of Defense faces a £28bn deficit between now and 2030.

The seizure of the tanker, which has been trading with Iran and Venezuela since 2021, follows President Trump’s bold push last weekend to capture Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and fly him to New York to face drug and weapons charges.

In a report for the influential Policy Exchange think-tank, retired Air Marshal Stringer said the UK’s ‘pro-Western, American-controlled, rules-based international order’ had been replaced by the ‘transactional use of hard power to ensure security’.

He added: ‘The tide has receded and we can now see the UK military not wearing any shorts.’

Mr Farage says of the £28bn defense gap in his MoS article: ‘At a time when China is trying to infiltrate us at every opportunity and Russian submarines lurk menacingly beneath our waters, this situation is nothing short of appalling.

‘The Prime Minister and Chancellor repeatedly claim that the government is committed to increasing defense spending to 3 per cent by 2035. But that’s still a decade away. Look at what’s happening in the world. ‘We need to act now.’

He also said he would vote against the ‘ridiculous plan’ to send British soldiers to Ukraine as part of a peacekeeping force if the war ends, and that the Army ‘does not have the manpower or materiel required for a long-term operation’.

A No 10 source said: ‘Nigel Farage acts as Putin’s puppet by admitting he won’t support Ukraine, while the Prime Minister delivers the biggest spending increase since the Cold War, taking the UK’s defense budget to record levels.’