Where do Labour’s factions stand on the ongoing war in Iran?

Labour MPs from across the party’s ideological spectrum have begun to make their positions clear on the ongoing conflict in Iran, with a broad consensus backing the Prime Minister on avoiding active British intervention.

There have bben wide calls for caution and warnings about “past mistakes” in Iraq, and many factions have expressed reluctance around deeper UK involvement in the war. However, some MPs – particularly those in the Socialist Campaign Group – have been more bullish on condemning the US military action as illegal and calling for measures like a windfall tax to ease pressure on households struggling with energy bills.

LabourList has taken a closer look at where some of the most influential factions stand on the conflict.

‘Expecting Iranians to walk in and take over isn’t a strategy’

While the Tribune Group has not taken an agreed stance on matters of international policy, some of the group’s convenors have spoken out about the military action by the United States and Israel.

Justin Madders said that without a clear endgame the current conflict “risks repeating past mistakes”.

He said in a social post: “After years of brutal repression, with thousands gunned down in recent protests, expecting Iranians to walk in and take over isn’t a strategy.”

Madders also called upon the Competition and Markets Authority to “keep a close eye” on potential price gouging, noting that he passed a petrol forecourt where the cost of unleaded rose “eight pence per litre in just a few hours”.

‘Reform were out of step with the public in calling for Britain to get more involved’

Similarly, members of the Blue Labour group have said Keir Starmer was right to keep Britain’s involvement in the conflict limited and only defensive in nature.

Pendle and Clitheroe MP Jonathan Hinder told LabourList: “The government is dealing with Trump as best it can, and I support its cautious approach to the conflict in Iran. 

“The screeching U-turn from the Tories and Reform on the conflict highlights that they were completely out of step with the public in calling for Britain to get more involved.”

Hinder also said that the conflict emphasised the need to pivot the British economy towards renewable energy.

“This conflict only further demonstrates our vulnerability to energy price shocks. We must be pragmatic as we decarbonise our economy to reduce our reliance on imported fossil fuels, keeping costs down to support families and industry.”

Some of Hinder’s Blue Labour colleagues have echoed his views, with Connor Naismith hitting out at Reform UK’s initial stance on the war.

In a social post, he said: “Reform UK wanted to see the UK fly into a conflict which is destabilising for the global economy, inevitably hitting British people in their pockets. They want to double down on our exposure to oil and gas. They are not on your side.”

Naismith also criticised the Green Party’s position, being “opposed to action which defends British citizens and service people abroad”.

READ MORE: ‘NATO won’t follow Trump into his chaotic war with Iran’

‘Drawing the UK into a war makes us all less safe’

While Mainstream recognised the need for the Iranian people to live in a democratic society with human rights for all, the group has said the war led by Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu is “not the answer”.

A spokesperson for the group told LabourList: “The people of Iran deserve to live in a country that respects and upholds democracy and human rights, free from an abhorrent, brutal regime.

“But Netanyahu and Trump’s war is not the answer. It’s a war without an international mandate, plan or endgame. Their actions are putting people’s lives at risk across the region, destabilising energy markets and adding to the already painful cost of living challenge. 

“The risks of spread and escalation are growing. The Prime Minister is absolutely right to say that international law must be upheld, to support the UK’s bases and citizens in the region and to work with European and other allies to stand up to Trump’s ever-changing and increasingly wrongheaded demands, and to look for a peaceful and lasting solution determined by the people of Iran.”

Simon Opher, a founding member of Mainstream, said every country should follow international law and warned that “thousands of innocents will die as part of the ‘collateral damage’ that war always brings.

He said: “History shows us that every missile fired will create dozens of new terrorists in the future – as was the case in Iraq. Drawing the UK into a war makes us all less safe, not more – we should learn from history.”

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‘The wars in Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya show where this can end’

Members of the left-wing Socialist Campaign Group have been vocal in their opposition to the conflict, highlighting examples of previous wars in the Middle East of how the conflict could end up.

However, unlike other groups, the SCG have been strident in calling for a tougher approach, including preventing US access to British military bases to stop the UK from being dragged into the conflict.

Richard Burgon, secretary of the SCG, said “Trump should be given a clear no” on sending British warships to the Strait of Hormuz and warned of the dangers of “mission creep”.

“We should not be dragged further and further into an illegal war by Trump. All efforts should focus on de-escalation and securing a ceasefire.”

He also said: “The wars in Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya show where this can end. The government’s focus must be on pushing Trump, Israel and Iran towards de-escalation and a ceasefire. Siding with Trump risks British involvement in another US war in the Middle East and leaves us all less safe.”

On the cost of living implications of the war, Burgon has been equally bullish – and warned that some corporations may use the crisis to “rip people off”.

“As part of the package needed to protect people, the government must act against any profiteering – with measures like price caps and windfall taxes on corporate giants making super-profits from this crisis.”

Other members of the group have been unequivocal in their view of the legality of the conflict, with Alloa and Grangemouth MP Brian Leishman describing Trump as a “megalomaniac sociopath destroying international law”.

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