Rishi Sunak Urged To Limit UK Military Action In Red Sea And Not Seek To "Punish" Houthis

Chair of the foreign affairs committee and Tory MP Alicia Kearns has said Government should ensure that joint military action with the US against the Houthis in the Red Sea is "limited" and does not seek to "punish" the Iranian-backed rebel group.

In a statement on Friday, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said the Houthis had ignored "repeated warnings from the international community" over their attacks in the Red Sea which "cannot stand" and therefore the UK had undertaken retaliatory strikes against the Iranian-backed rebel group.

"The United Kingdom will always stand up for freedom of navigation and the free flow of trade," Sunak said. 

"We have therefore taken limited, necessary and proportionate action in self-defence alongside the United States, with non operational support from the Netherlands, Canada and Bahrain against targets tied to these attacks."

In the government's summary of its legal position on the strikes against the Houthis, it said the action permitted under "international law to use force in such circumstances where acting in self-defence is the only feasible means to deal with an actual or imminent armed attack and where the force used is necessary and proportionate". 

The Houthis, a militia group whose slogan includes the statement "death to America; death to Israel; curse the Jews", has claimed their attacks on vessels in the Red Sea are in solidarity with Palestinians and a call to end Israel's war with Hamas in Gaza. The attacks, many of which have been on civilian merchant ships, have disrupted global trade through the Red Sea – threatening the interests of countries globally.  

Chair of the foreign affairs committee, Alicia Kearns, told PoliticsHome the UK's retaliatory strikes did "seem to be the only