WHILE today electors endured the rituals of our vastly undemocratic electoral system, Britain was at war. As we approach the anniversary of the victory over fascism in Europe, the Royal Air Force is in action against our former colonial subjects in the Yemen.

Far from defending our shores from foreign invaders, the Royal Air Force is attacking Yemeni targets in co-ordination with Donald Trump’s military as part of the multi-national operation in the Middle East in defence of Israel.

Parliament has not met to discuss launching a war, the British people have not been consulted and only the most alert will have noticed this dangerous escalation in a region where British public opinion is overwhelmingly in sympathy with the Palestinian people who, both in devastated Gaza and in the Occupied Territories and the West Bank, are bearing the brunt of Israel’s genocidal attack.

Make no mistake, US and British logistical support allows Israel’s assault on the Palestinian people. It is a joint operation with intelligence and communications support from British military assets in the region including in Cyprus where an unequal treaty imposed on that country permits Britain to maintain military bases, airfields and electronic intelligence gathering installations.

Long deployed to Israel’s strategic advantage, now these assets are targeted on Yemenis who have leveraged their advantageous strategic position aside the Red Sea and the approaches to the Suez Canal to interdict shipping they suspect of supplying Israel.

Drone technology has transformed battlefield conditions and has levelled the playing field in conflicts between the heavily armed industrial nations and the less developed. The Houthis have deployed these relatively inexpensive and easily manufactured devices to give them something of an advantage in offering practical support to Gaza.

RAF Typhoon fighters (approximate cost just under £200 million), refuelled by Voyager air tankers (approximate cost £50m) attacked, with Paveway IV missiles (approximately £100,000 each), a facility outside the capital Sana’a which it is claimed, these drones are manufactured. Small scale compared to the 800 air strikes carried out by Donald Trump’s airborne legions but no less deplorable.

This Middle East region, alternatively understood as West Asia, is kept in a state of constant tension as part of the now well-understood imperial strategy. Sustaining Israel’s military supremacy is an important element in maintaining imperialist hegemony.

John Healey MP, the former TUC official now repurposed as minister of war upon small nations in the global South, says the RAF raid was a response to “a persistent threat from the Houthis to the freedom of navigation.”

The full measure of the government’s hypocrisy and double standards lies in the refusal by the Israelis, backed by two US carrier fleets and the Foreign Office, to allow Palestinians to fish in the waters off Gaza or for any agency, including the United Nations refugee relief body, to supply Gazans with food, medical supplies and humanitarian aid.

When, a few years ago a solidarity flotilla set off to supply the Palestinians in Gaza with urgent medical supplies it was interdicted by the Israeli military and people died. So much for the freedom of navigation.

Healey’s Deputy Dawg tribute act to US “Defence” Secretary Pete Hegseth’s sheriff tells us much about the willing submission of the Labour government to the present US administration.

Never has British foreign policy looked so unprincipled. Britain’s traditional submission to the Washington diktat gets a new polish every time Healey opens his mouth. He, of course, is the lightning rod to deflect attention from Keir Starmer’s obeisance before Trump.