Andy Burnham is facing vital mine-clearing Gulf mission in his first days as PM - 'but Starmer won't brief him'

Published: 23:10, 4 July 2026 | Updated: 23:25, 4 July 2026 Sir Keir Starmer has cut Andy Burnham out of the planning for British military action in the Gulf, defence sources have claimed –even though operations are expected to start during Mr Burnham’s first days in Downing Street. The Prime Minister is finalising the details of a Royal Navy mission to clear Iranian mines from the Strait of Hormuz, which he hopes will form part of his post-No 10 legacy. But the planning had been complicated by the Navy’s shortage of assets in the region, which is likely to mean that the UK will have to fall under the command of France, rather than mount a joint-and-equal operation with Paris as originally intended. According to the sources, when MoD officials argued to No 10 that Mr Burnham should be consulted about the plans as part of the transition talks, Sir Keir brushed it aside as unnecessary. Mr Burnham will succeed Sir Keir formally on July 20 – the week pencilled in for the start of mine-clearing operations. British military strategists are ‘war-gaming’ various scenarios, including how to respond if Iranian forces attack British assets in the region in response to the mine-clearing. Up to 80 mines are thought to have been laid by Iran in the Strait during the conflict with America. A source said: ‘No 10 was advised that Burnham’s team should be in lockstep during this process, to avoid a situation where he inherits a war in his first week. But the message back was clearly: “We have got this under control.” ‘We hope Burnham is bringing in some big hitters from the worlds of defence and foreign affairs because he’s going to need them.’ Sir Keir is finalising the details of a Royal Navy mission to clear Iranian mines from the Strait of Hormuz, which he hopes will form part of his post-No 10 legacy According to the sources, when MoD officials argued to No 10 that Andy Burnham should be consulted about the plans as part of the transition talks, Sir Keir brushed it aside as unnecessary  The de-mining mission is intended to allow the resumption of oil and gas exports through the region. A specialist Royal Navy mine-clearing team aboard RFA Lyme Bay, under Commander Gemma Britton, is equipped with remotely controlled systems that can track and trace Iranian mines and detonate them remotely. But Navy chiefs have complained that the UK fleet does not have enough vessels to form its own taskforce.  The Type 45 destroyer HMS Dragon and support ship RFA Lyme Bay are in the Gulf of Oman, where they are joining up with France’s Charles de Gaulle carrier strike group. A source said that officers at the Permanent Joint Headquarters in Middlesex were defaulting command to Paris because the UK does not have a submarine to deploy or any frigates or fighter aircraft in the region. No 10 sources signalled last night that any UK mine-clearing military operations were ‘not imminent’, with the focus so far on ‘ongoing diplomatic work’. Mr Burnham’s office was approached for comment. No comments have so far been submitted. Why not be the first to send us your thoughts, or debate this issue live on our message boards. By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual We will automatically post your comment and a link to the news story to your Facebook timeline at the same time it is posted on MailOnline. To do this we will link your MailOnline account with your Facebook account. We’ll ask you to confirm this for your first post to Facebook. You can choose on each post whether you would like it to be posted to Facebook. Your details from Facebook will be used to provide you with tailored content, marketing and ads in line with our Privacy Policy.