Max Colchester

And it is extraordinary that people in power become so unpopular so quickly.

as people become more polarized and more willing to switch between parties or rebel against incumbents.

And that does have serious consequences.

It raises questions about how you do actually govern countries if you have six months to a year to actually do something.

And often it takes years to turn around and solve problems.

So that is a broader question.

And Keir Starmer definitely looks likely to become a victim of that trend.

Thank you very much.

Well, we've seen an evolution really in the last week in their stance.

No European country was involved in the initial strikes on Iran.

However, as Iran hit back, launching drones and missiles seemingly indiscriminately across the Gulf, European allies have been forced to respond.

And what we're seeing now is they are providing air defenses to Gulf partners, and they are trying to intercept and stop the drones and missiles headed towards allies, or in some cases, their own bases.

The Brits are sending a destroyer to Cyprus to try and protect their base there, which has come under attack from Iranian drones.

The French are also deploying an aircraft carrier to the Mediterranean to try and defend Cyprus and regional allies.

The Italians are sending air defense to the Gulf.

And there's even talk of Ukrainians going into the Gulf to try and help train people there to better take down drones.

So there's an effort going on to try and bolster the defenses in the region.

And they're also allowing the U.S.

in some cases to use their airfields to launch strikes on Iran to try and take out the missile launchers that are firing these projectiles at them.

Yes, and that notable exception is Spain.