Iran cannot ‘hijack’ strait of Hormuz with shipping tolls, says Yvette Cooper – UK politics live
Key events
Cooper says she’s ‘deeply troubled’ by Israel’s escalating attacks in Lebanon
Yvette Cooper, the foreign secretary, told Sky News this morning that she was “deeply troubled” by Israel’s ongoing air strikes in Lebanon. She said:
I’m deeply troubled about the escalating attacks that we saw from Israel in Lebanon yesterday. We’ve seen the humanitarian consequences, the huge mass displacement of people in Lebanon.
Iran cannot ‘hijack’ strait of Hormuz with shipping tolls, says Yvette Cooper
Good morning. Keir Starmer is still in the Gulf, and Yvette Cooper, the foreign secretary, has been doing a round of interviews this morning, ahead of delivering a speech on foreign policy this evening.
As Jamie Grierson reports, Cooper has been arguing forcefully that Lebanon must be included in the US-Iran ceasefire.
But Cooper is also trying to quash suggestions that, as part of a permanent settlement, Iran might be allowed to carry on charging a $2m-a-ship toll for oil tankers wanting to pass through the strait of Hormuz. Rather alarminingly, Donald Trump has even suggested that the US might be part of this, as a “joint venture” with Iran.
In an interview on the Today programme, Cooper made it clear that charging a toll for passage through the strait would be unaccepable to the UK.
She said:
The starting point here is this is an international transit route. It’s international shipping that uses this. This is part of the international law of the sea. This is a a route between the high seas; it is a trading route.
When it was put to her that Iran takes the view that these are territorial waters, not international waters, Cooper said:
As part of the international maritime law, this is a transit route between the high seas.
And whether you talk about Dover or Gibraltar or other straits around the world, there may be territorial waters there, but there’s also an international shipping route and an international transit route, which means that freedom of navigation principles apply and that countries cannot simply hijack those kinds of international transit routes and unilaterally apply tolls. They cannot do that as part of the laws of the sea and the United Nations conventions.
Cooper said that protecting freedom of navigation throught the strait was “crucial for the global economy”.
I will post more from her interviews soon.
Here is the agenda for the day.
Morning: Keir Starmer is in the United Arab Emirates where he is expected to hold talks with the president, Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan. Later in the day he has another bilateral planned, and he is recording an interview with ITV’s Robert Peston.
10.30am: Zack Polanski, the Green leader, launches his party’s local elections campaign at an event in London.
11am: Rhun ap Iorwerth, the Plaid Cymru leader, launches his party’s manifesto for the Senedd election at an event in Wrexham.
Morning: Ed Davey, the Lib Dem leader, is doing a campaign visit in Greater Manchester.
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