Andy Burnham told to give Saudi Arabia military assistance against Houthi attacks: ‘If we’re a serious nation, we would help!’

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The Prime Minister is said to be weighing up involving Britain in the conflict

Andy Burnham has been told he must provide military assistance to Saudi Arabia as the kingdom seeks support in countering attacks from the Iran-backed Houthis.

Speaking to GB News, former Conservative MP and British Army officer Bob Seely insisted if Britain still considers itself a “serious nation”, it must intervene.

It comes as Yemen-based Houthi fighters launched attacks against Saudi energy infrastructure, including inflicting major damage to the East-West pipeline, which is critical to oil and gas exports to the West.

The Prime Minister is said to be weighing whether to provide Riyadh with operational assistance to secure the Red Sea and defend the vital sites.

Asked whether Britain should intervene to assist Saudi Arabia, Mr Seely insisted: “Yes, absolutely we should.”

He described Saudi Arabia as a vital regional partner and an increasingly influential global power, warning China and Russia were also courting Riyadh.

“They’re allies, very important allies, and they’re an increasingly important global nation.

“Do we want to be a serious power that helps allies without giving a sort of daily judgement, moral judgement, on what they or what we think of them?” he asked.

To that end, the former army officer said the UK must be realistic in its dealings with regional allies.

“Or are we just going to let the sort of left in our country sort of sanctimoniously pontificate about who we should be allied with?”

Mr Seely said the increasingly dangerous international situation meant Britain should seek to maintain as many alliances as possible.

“For me, we live in an increasingly dangerous world. We need as many allies as possible. These people are allies, and if we’re a serious nation, we will help them regardless of whether we think their human rights record is perfect or not.”

Mr Seely explained military aid to Saudi Arabia did not necessarily mean the UK take part in the bombing of Houthi fighters.

“An active role may be just sending advisers, sending some specialist kit, (or) having some specialists. It may not be having the RAF bomb the Houthis.”

Speaking about the situation in Saudi Arabia, Mr Burnham said: “It is going to be challenging because the picture around the world is challenging and particularly the situation in the Middle East, and we will look carefully at all of those things.

“We won't take risks with people's living standards or with the economy as a whole. So we will take it all into account.”

The former MP was also challenged over Labour’s response to the conflict with Iran, which was particularly pertinent given Tehran’s support for Houthi rebels.

Britain previously declined to take a direct role in US military operations against Iran, despite the UK having been allowed to support President Donald Trump’s efforts against the Iranian regime.

Mr Seely said he believed it had been right for Britain not to participate directly in bombing Iran.

However, he added Britain had “lamentably failed” on the second issue of supporting and protecting Gulf allies, including Kuwait, the UAE, Bahrain and Qatar.