Humza Yousaf is quite right to caution against any involvement in action against Iran

Anyone who remember the built up to the disastrous Iraq War will have a feeling of deja vu as events in the middle east unfolded last week.
Just like in 2003 the public are being warned of an existential threat from weapons of mass destruction - this time unless we rush headlong into war with Iran on the side of Israel.
Humza Yousaf is quite right to caution against any involvement at this point in what could well be an illegal action against a country which - while undoubtedly a threat - was at the negotiating table until Israel began launching missiles into its territory.
The US Air Force has already been moving jets closer to the middle east which could be used to facilitate dropping bunker buster bombs on nuclear facilities.
And the Scottish Government should think very carefully over whether it wants Prestwick Airport - which it owns - to continue to be involved in that operation.
Earlier this year Donald Trump famously accused Volodymyr Zelensky of 'gambling with World War III' in Ukraine.
But it is now surely the US President who is engaged in a high stakes game of poker which could ignite a global conflict if things spiral out of control.
Israel is a country which stands accused of horrifying crimes in Gaza where over 50,000 people have now been killed.
The utterly despicable October 7 attacks on Israel cannot be used as justification for the massive loss of civilian life.
And Benjamin Netanyahu's clear desire to now drag western allies into the conflict with Iran should be rejected in favour of diplomacy.
The last 20 years of wars in the middle east involving the US and UK have been an economic and humanitarian disaster for millions of people and have undoubtedly fuelled uncontrolled immigration to Europe.
To get involved in yet another due to pressure from a country accused of war crimes by the International Criminal Court would be an unforgivable misjudgment.
Legal aid for FAI families
Losing a child or relative is one of the most difficult things anyone will have to experience.
When a death happens at work or unexpectedly in hospital it's right that Fatal Accident Inquiries (FAI) take place to make sure it wasn't preventable.
Grieving families who are faced with having to attend an FAI should not have an added financial burden to do so.
Understandably relatives want to ensure their questions are answered. What isn't guaranteed is that they'll qualify for legal aid or have the funds to pay for a lawyer themselves.
As the parents of baby Freya Murphy point out, the thought of having no representation while a room full of lawyers discuss what happened to your relative is unthinkable.
That's why they are calling for government support to pay for lawyers for families in that situation.
The Sunday Mail back their call. The government has already granted legal aid for relatives of those who die in custody.
It's right they extend this to cover anyone whose relatives deaths are being probed by an FAI.

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The Guardian

30 minutes ago

• The Guardian

Trump news at a glance: President praises attacks on Iran as lawmakers divided on US involvement

Washington was in a flurry late on Saturday as Donald Trump announced that the US had completed strikes on three nuclear sites in Iran, directly joining Israel's effort to destroy the country's nuclear program. American politicians reacted to the news of the US bombing of nuclear targets in Iran with a mix of cheering support and instant condemnation, reflecting deep divisions in the country, as Washington grapples with yet another military intervention overseas. The strikes hit uranium enrichment sites at Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan, Trump said. He warned Iran away from retaliating against US targets in the region, promising that further US strikes would be even more deadly. Here are the key stories at a glance: The US directly joined Israel's effort to destroy the country's nuclear program in a risky gambit to weaken a longtime foe amid Tehran's threat of reprisals that could spark a wider regional conflict. The strikes hit uranium enrichment sites at Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan, Trump said. Later, Iran's atomic agency said that the country will carry on with its nuclear activities despite the US attacks on key facilities. Read the full story American politicians displayed a mixed reaction to the news of the US bombing of nuclear targets in Iran. Many democrat denounced the decision, while most Republicans praised the action. US Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer, a Democrat of New York, demanded of Senate majority leader and South Dakota Republican John Thune that he should immediately call a vote on the matter. Schumer said the US Congress must enforce the War Powers Act – intended as a check on the US president's power to devote the United States to armed conflict without the consent of the US Congress. Read the full story Mahmoud Khalil – the Palestinian rights activist, Columbia University graduate and legal permanent resident of the US who had been held by federal immigration authorities for more than three months – has been reunited with his wife and infant son. Read the full story The man charged in connection with the recent shootings of two Minnesota lawmakers and their spouses was a doomsday 'prepper' who instructed his family to 'prepare for war' as he tried to evade capture, according to new court filings. Read the full story Thousands of Afghans who fled to the US as the Taliban grabbed power again in Afghanistan are in mortal dread of being deported back to danger in the coming weeks amid the Trump administration's anti-immigration crackdown. Read the full story Texas will require all public school classrooms to display the Ten Commandments under a new law that will make the state the nation's largest to attempt to impose such a mandate. Pakistan nominated Donald Trump for Nobel peace prize, for his work in helping to resolve the recent conflict between India and Pakistan. Federal health officials are seeking to launch a 'bold, edgy' public service campaign to warn Americans of the dangers of ultra-processed foods in social media, transit ads, billboards and even text messages. And they potentially stand to profit off the results. Catching up? Here's what happened on 20 June 2025

Reuters

30 minutes ago

• Reuters

Strikes on Iran mark Trump's biggest, and riskiest, foreign policy gamble

WASHINGTON, June 22 (Reuters) - With his unprecedented decision to bomb Iran's nuclear sites, directly joining Israel's air attack on its regional arch-foe, U.S. President Donald Trump has done something he had long vowed to avoid - intervene militarily in a major foreign war. The dramatic U.S. strike, including the targeting of Iran's most heavily fortified nuclear installation deep underground, marks the biggest foreign policy gamble of Trump's two presidencies and one fraught with risks and unknowns. Trump, who insisted on Saturday that Iran must now make peace or face further attacks, could provoke Tehran into retaliating by closing the Strait of Hormuz, the world's most important oil artery, attacking U.S. military bases and allies in the Middle East, stepping up its missile barrage on Israel and activating proxy groups against American and Israeli interests worldwide, analysts said. Such moves could escalate into a broader, more protracted conflict than Trump had envisioned, evoking echoes of the 'forever wars' that America fought in Iraq and Afghanistan, which he had derided as 'stupid' and promised never to be dragged into. 'The Iranians are seriously weakened and degraded in their military capabilities,' said Aaron David Miller, a former Middle East negotiator for Democratic and Republican administrations. 'But they have all sorts of asymmetric ways that they can respond... This is not going to end quick.' In the lead-up to the bombing that he announced late on Saturday, Trump had vacillated between threats of military action and appeals for renewed negotiation to persuade Iran to reach a deal to dismantle its nuclear program. A senior White House official said that once Trump was convinced that Tehran had no interest in reaching a nuclear agreement, he decided the strikes were 'the right thing to do.' Trump gave the go-ahead once he was assured of a 'high probability of success,' the official said – a determination reached after more than a week of Israeli air attacks on Iran's nuclear and military facilities paved the way for the U.S. to deliver the potentially crowning blow. Trump touted the "great success" of the strikes, which he said included the use of massive "bunker-buster bombs" on the main site at Fordow. But some experts suggested that while Iran's nuclear program may have been set back for many years, the threat may be far from over. Iran denies seeking a nuclear weapon, saying its program is for purely peaceful purposes. 'In the long term, military action is likely to push Iran to determine nuclear weapons are necessary for deterrence and that Washington is not interested in diplomacy,' the Arms Control Association, a non-partisan U.S.-based organization that advocates for arms control legislation, said in a statement. 'Military strikes alone cannot destroy Iran's extensive nuclear knowledge. The strikes will set Iran's program back, but at the cost of strengthening Tehran's resolve to reconstitute its sensitive nuclear activities,' the group said. Eric Lob, assistant professor in the Department of Politics and International Relations at Florida International University, said Iran's next move remains an open question and suggested that among its forms of retaliation could be to hit 'soft targets' of the U.S. and Israel inside and outside the region. But he also said there was a possibility that Iran could return to the negotiating table – 'though they would be doing so in an even weaker position' – or seek a diplomatic off-ramp. In the immediate aftermath of the U.S. strikes, however, Iran showed little appetite for concessions. Iran's Atomic Energy Organization said it would not allow development of its 'national industry' to be stopped, and an Iranian state television commentator said every U.S. citizen or military member in the region would not be legitimate targets. Karim Sadjadpour, an analyst at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, posted on X: 'Trump indicated this is now the time for peace. It's unclear and unlikely the Iranians will see it the same way. This is more likely to open a new chapter of the 46-year-old US-Iran war than conclude it.' 'REGIME CHANGE' Some analysts suggested that Trump, whose administration has previously disavowed any aim of dislodging the Iranian leadership, could be drawn into seeking 'regime change' if Tehran carries out major reprisals or moves to build a nuclear weapon. That, in turn, would bring additional risks. 'Beware mission creep, aiming for regime change and democratization campaigns,' said Laura Blumenfeld, a Middle East analyst at the Johns Hopkins School for Advanced International Studies in Washington. 'You'll find the bones of many failed U.S. moral missions buried in Middle East sands.' Jonathan Panikoff, a former U.S. deputy intelligence officer for the Middle East, said Iran's leadership would quickly engage in 'disproportionate attacks' if it felt its survival was imperiled. But Tehran will also have to be mindful of the consequences, he said. While actions such as closing the Strait of Hormuz would pose problems for Trump with the resulting higher oil prices and potential U.S. inflationary impact, it would also hurt China, one of Iran's few powerful allies. At the same time, Trump is already facing strong push-back from congressional Democrats against the Iran attack and will also have to contend with opposition from the anti-interventionist wing of his Republican MAGA base. Trump, who faced no major international crisis in his first term, is now embroiled in one just six months into his second. Even if he hopes U.S. military involvement can be limited in time and scope, the history of such conflicts often carries unintended consequences for American presidents. Trump's slogan of 'peace through strength' will certainly be tested as never before, especially with his opening of a new military front after failing to meet his campaign promises to quickly end wars in Ukraine and Gaza. 'Trump is back in the war business,' said Richard Gowan, U.N. director at the International Crisis Group. 'I am not sure anyone in Moscow, Tehran or Beijing ever believed his spiel that he is a peacemaker. It always looked more like a campaign phrase than a strategy."

BBC News

31 minutes ago

• BBC News

What can Northamptonshire expect from Reform UK's Doge teams?

They have caused a stir in Donald Trump's US and now Elon Musk-style Doge teams are descending on Northamptonshire's two unitary councils, which are run by Reform UK. What can people in the county expect from them and what have they achieved elsewhere? What is Doge all about? Hardly anyone had heard the acronym Doge before Donald Trump returned to the White House in idea is reported to have surfaced first at a dinner party where Donald Trump's billionaire advisor, Elon Musk, was speaking in Tesla, Space X and X businessman told fellow diners that, if given the passwords to government computers, he could streamline its Trump became President again this year, he set up the Department of Government Efficiency (Doge) and put Musk in charge of aim was to end the "tyranny of bureaucracy", save taxpayers' money and cut the US national debt, said has actually happened so far is two million federal workers being offered a deal to leave. What are Reform UK's Doge team doing in Northamptonshire? A preliminary meeting with the Doge team happened this week at West Northamptonshire Council, and it will be descending on North Northamptonshire in the near future following the huge swing from the Conservatives to Reform UK in the May local Reform UK leader, Nigel Farage, who received a hero's welcome when he met his councillors in Corby on Tuesday, explained how it would work."The Doge team comes in and it talks to the officers and says 'we want to look at the books, we want to see what money's been spent on this, what money's been spent on that, we want to see the credit card statements, we want to see the contracts'," he took repairing potholes as an example and said Doge would ask "Who've you assigned to do this job? How long is the contract for? What's the cost? Is it based on results?"He insisted that "not everything about Doge is critical, not everything about Doge is slagging off what's gone before. I'm really hoping that Doge can help everybody".Reform UK said its team in West Northamptonshire would consist of "software engineers, data analysts and forensic auditors". How much is Doge costing taxpayers? The short answer, according to Reform UK, is Arnull, leader at West Northamptonshire, said: "The cutting-edge expertise the Doge team are providing free of charge will make it that much easier to identify waste and free up funds."Martin Griffiths, who leads West Northamptonshire, said: "We're not going to pay a penny [for the Doge review] so that's why our officers are fully in support of this."Some politicians have questioned whether experts would really work for free, and have suggested the pro bono element might not be good for local Lehmann, Green party leader in Kent, the first council to undergo the process, said: "The fact that they have software engineers offering to work 'for free' is of particular concern, given that the data they are forcefully requesting access to would include significant volumes of commercially sensitive information and the personal data of many of Kent's most vulnerable residents." How have opposition parties reacted to Doge in Northamptonshire? The leader of the Labour group on West Northamptonshire Council, Sally Keeble is concerned about the team's accountability and use of has submitted a Freedom of Information request for all communication between the council and the team to be said: "If the Reform administration wants to appoint Doge, they should put the organisation through a transparent procurement process with safeguards in place for people's personal data." Helen Harrison, who leads the Conservative opposition in North Northamptonshire, has said she would welcome any efficiencies but believed the review should be carried out by council officers rather than an external Harris, who leads the Liberal Democrat group in the North, said: "We understand that during the visit on Friday, 13 June the Doge team asked for no information, were provided with no information, didn't share a plan, and yet proclaimed that they were already 'starting to save taxpayers money'." Harris added: "It begs the question why taxpayers are paying cabinet member allowances, including basic councillor allowances of around £424,000 to the [Reform UK] administration."It's their job to lead, set strategy and establish savings, not the responsibility of an unelected group of individuals."West Northamptonshire's Independent councillor Ian McCord said he had written to the council leader to ask whether advice had been sought about the legal standing of the Doge unit, and whether data held by the council would be safe. What effect has Doge had elsewhere? NIgel Farage is adamant that the Doge approach is said: "Already, in other counties, we have found examples of pretty egregious expenditure."In Derby, where there is a cabinet member for council efficiency (Doge), the party claimed to have made efficiency savings equating to £6,000 per later admitted that figure was a mistake and was more like £4,000 per day. An unlikely winner so far from the Doge initiative has been the public sector workers' union to data released to Sky News, weekly new memberships increased by an average of 272% in the week after the May election results were a weekly average of 12 new members at North Northamptonshire the union saw the figure shoot up to 27 in the week following the has admitted that efficiencies may be more difficult to find in Northamptonshire's two unitary councils, which came into being in 2021, than in some older politicians have pointed out that councils already face regular audits so Doge teams would simply duplicate that the available evidence, though, two things look certain: Northamptonshire will go through the Doge process, and it will still be controversial. Follow Northamptonshire news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.