Rishi Sunak has said he will make a statement to MPs on Monday about “limited and necessary” military strikes in Yemen, which he insisted were carried out in self-defence after a series of attacks on shipping in the Red Sea. Lindsay Hoyle, the Commons speaker, said MPs should be updated “at the earliest possible opportunity” and that he would recall parliament at the weekend if needed, but the prime minister said this was not required. In a TV clip recorded in Kyiv before talks with the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Sunak said inaction over the attacks on ships by Houthi rebels, including a barrage seemingly aimed at western warships, risked destabilising the global economy. “Over the last month, we’ve seen a significant increase in the number of Houthi attacks on commercial shipping in the Red Sea that’s putting innocent lives at risk,” the prime minister said. “It’s disrupting the global economy, and it’s also destabilising the region. And in that time, we’ve also seen the single biggest attack on a British navy warship that we’ve seen in decades.”
Sunak described the US-led strike as “limited and necessary action in response to a specific threat in self-defence”, which was intended to “degrade and disrupt Houthi capability”. Asked what would happen if the strikes did not curb Houthi attacks on shipping, Sunak replied: “Initial indications are that their strides have been successful. We’ll continue to monitor the situation. But it’s clear that this type of behaviour can’t be met without a response.” Hoyle said in a statement released by his office after the UK’s involvement in the attacks on Houthi forces: “I was invited to a meeting at the Cabinet Office last night to be briefed about the airstrikes on Houthi rebel bases. I made representations to the deputy prime minister [Oliver Dowden] about the need for the house to be informed at the earliest possible opportunity and that I would be happy to facilitate a recall at any time.” The Commons ended its business for the week on Thursday and is not due to reconvene before Monday afternoon. MPs can be recalled to sit over weekends if there is an urgent matter to consider. So far the Liberal Democrats and the Scottish National party have called for MPs to sit over the weekend. Labour has only said Sunak should update parliament as soon as possible and it is understood the party is happy for this to be on Monday.
Speaking in Kyiv, Sunak said an early recall was not needed. “If you look at similar situations in 2015 and 2018, a statement was made to parliament after the action and that’s what I will be doing on Monday – I’ll be making a full statement in parliament and taking questions.” Layla Moran, the Lib Dems’ foreign affairs spokesperson, said there was a need for MPs to have a say. “Parliament should not be bypassed,” she said. “Rishi Sunak must announce a retrospective vote in the House of Commons on these strikes and recall parliament this weekend. “We remain very concerned about the Houthis’ attacks. But that makes it all the more important to ensure that MPs are not silenced on the important issue of military action.” The strikes on Thursday night were the first to be launched against Houthi forces since they started targeting shipping in the Red Sea, a key international trade route. The Ministry of Defence said four Royal Air Force jets struck two Houthi facilities that were involved in the targeting of HMS Diamond and US navy vessels on Tuesday. One was a site in Bani, in the country’s north-west, and the other was the Abs airfield, near the west coast. The US air force said it struck more than 60 targets at 16 sites in Yemen.
The UK and US had non-operational support from Australia, Bahrain, Canada and the Netherlands. Ministers were summoned to a cabinet video call on Thursday evening before the attacks, with Keir Starmer, the Labour leader, and John Healey, the shadow defence secretary, briefed afterwards. Starmer said subsequently that a summary of the government’s legal position on the attacks should be published. “I do want the prime minister obviously to make a statement to parliament as soon as possible because the scope, nature and extent of the operation needs to be explained,” he said. Sunak, in a separate trip to Ukraine on Friday that was not billed in advance by No 10, met Zelenskiy as the UK announced it would provide further military aid to Ukraine over the coming year. • The second video in this article was amended on 19 January 2024 to remove footage of an explosion that was from a different incident, dating back to at least September 2023.