Purple-faced minister refuses to say the place warship is 4 instances as presenter jibes ‘P&O would have been there 5 days in the past’.
The HMS Dragon nonetheless shouldn’t be at Cyprus (Picture: Getty)
British warship HMS Dragon nonetheless has not reached Cyprus regardless of setting sail greater than every week in the past. Ministers have been compelled to defend the snail’s-pace of the Kind-45 destroyer once more immediately after it emerged the vessel was “someplace within the Mediterranean”.
Challenged on the placement of the ship this morning, authorities minister Matthew Pennycook didn’t verify when repeatedly requested when the warship would even arrive on the besieged British base. He stated that offering a particular date on HMS Dragon’s arrival wouldn’t be helpful.
The departure of the vessel got here every week late, after it was revealed the Navy didn’t have a single ship within the area when the conflict in Iran began. It successfully meant that for the primary time in many years the UK’s senior service was absent from the war-stricken space.
Talking this morning on LBC, Mr Pennycook stated: “I do not suppose offering a selected date is helpful” when presenter and Specific columnist Nick Ferrari requested when the ship could be totally deployed. Mr Pennycook refused to reply the query 4 instances, prompting the presenter to say: “A P&O would have been there 5 days in the past.”
He added that the Royal Navy was “slower than the P&O”, a significant ferry firm that gives cruise companies to the area. The minister defended himself saying he wouldn’t touch upon “operational issues”, a line utilized by ministers to keep away from answering questions on energetic army deployments.
Mr Ferrari demanded solutions a number of instances through the tense alternate. The deployment of HMS Dragon has triggered headache after headache for Downing Avenue after it was deployed late and solely after repeated calls for from the US President.
Its late deployment then triggered the Cypriot President to name for a dialogue about the way forward for the British territory which hosts UK bases on the islands. Talking final week, the President of Cyprus known as for an “open and frank dialogue” about the way forward for Britain’s bases on the island as soon as the disaster within the Center East is over.
Talking exterior a gathering of the European Council in Brussels, Nikos Christodoulides stated the 2 bases have been a “colonial consequence” as he appeared to forged doubt on their future.
‘The Royal Navy is slower than the P&O!’@NickFerrariLBC calls for to know when HMS Dragon will lastly attain Cyprus, however minister Matthew Pennycook will solely say ‘it is on its approach.’ pic.twitter.com/MfBrI5kKLi
— LBC (@LBC) March 23, 2026
He informed reporters: “When this case is over within the Center East, we’re going to have an open and frank dialogue with the British Authorities.”
The UK’s two army bases in Cyprus, Akrotiri and Dhekelia, are British sovereign territory underneath a treaty signed on Cypriot independence in 1960. Britain has used the bases to conduct operations within the Center East, with RAF jets presently flying sorties from the island to guard in opposition to Iranian drones.
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HMS Dragon is a missile-capable ship in a position to shoot down drones and Iran’s longer-range offensive ordnance.
It departed the UK weeks in the past after a fast reloading course of noticed the ship geared up and prepared for deployment.
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