Boris Johnson is preparing to return to the UK amid mounting criticism over his failure to cut short his Caribbean holiday to address soaring tensions in the Middle East.
The prime minister, who has been celebrating the New Year with his girlfriend on the private island of Mustique, has so far not commented on the US airstrike that killed Iran's top general.
Expected back in Downing Street in the coming hours, Mr Johnson is under mounting pressure from opposition leaders to make a statement on the killing of Major General Qassem Soleimani.
A government source defended the prime minister, saying "he's been kept fully up to date" including by Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab "at all times".
"And he will be meeting with ministers on Monday and speaking to foreign leaders over the next few days," they said.
Advertisement
Jeremy Corbyn said the "assassination" risks "an extremely serious escalation of a dangerous conflict with global consequences by a belligerent US president".
"Boris Johnson should have immediately cut short his holiday to deal with an issue that could have grave consequences for the UK and the world," the outgoing Labour leader added.
More from Boris Johnson
Shadow foreign secretary Emily Thornberry, who is running to lead Labour, asked "is he afraid of angering Trump?" in an article in The Observer.
"Or is it simply that, as he lounges in the Caribbean sun, he simply does not care, an exact duplicate of the blasé approach to Iran that he took in 2018 – when he was foreign secretary and Trump was driving the nuclear deal to destruction – and the previous year when he recklessly jeopardised the fate of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe?"
[contf]
[contfnew]
sky news
[contfnewc]
[contfnewc]
