Keep Our NHS Public (KONP) condemns the escalating US–Israel military attacks on Iran and the grave risk of a widening regional war. Reports that hospitals and other civilian infrastructure have been struck and at least 165 school children and staff have been killed in southern Iran are particularly alarming and amounts to war crimes. Under international humanitarian law, medical facilities and personnel are protected. Any targeting of healthcare infrastructure demands urgent independent investigation and full accountability. Meanwhile, the confused aims and objectives of the war shift almost on an hourly basis.
This escalation risks triggering a broader and potentially prolonged conflict with unpredictable consequences. Recent history of Western intervention in the Middle East has demonstrated how made up and exaggerated claims of imminent threat and ill-defined ‘objectives’ can lead instead to drawn-out wars, destabilisation, and immense human suffering.
KONP is absolutely opposed to any UK government support, direct or indirect, for this military escalation and stands in solidarity with the people of the Middle East. That opposition is rooted in both principle and experience.
Keir Starmer rightly stated that you can’t bring about ‘regime change from the skies’ but has placed himself in an impossible position. Pointing out that a legal basis for the war has not been established he has then attempted to appease Trump by allowing the use of UK military bases for US operations. This makes it more likely that the UK will be drawn into the conflict before too long, something most of the electorate are clearly against.
There is also a vital domestic dimension. The NHS is facing a severe ongoing crisis: 1000s of avoidable deaths, extensive waiting lists, workforce shortages, deteriorating estates, and years of underinvestment. In this context, support for a potentially open-ended military confrontation with Iran carries serious implications. Military engagement — whether through direct participation, intelligence sharing, logistical support, or expanded arms commitments — generates long-term financial obligations. If Britain is drawn into a conflict with no clearly defined objectives or exit strategy, the economic consequences will inevitably affect domestic policy, and as we’ve argued elsewhere, Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ Spring Statement offers warfare not welfare in budgets to come. The risk is clear: resources that should be directed toward rebuilding the NHS, restoring public health capacity, and strengthening social care could instead be absorbed by sustained military commitments.
Keep Our NHS Public was founded to defend the principle that universal healthcare is a public good that must be properly funded and protected from political short-termism. We cannot separate foreign policy from domestic wellbeing. A government that commits itself to costly overseas military action while insisting that there is insufficient funding for pay restoration, hospital rebuilding, or expanded community services is making a political choice about priorities.
We therefore call on the UK Government to:
- Rule out any UK participation in military action against Iran
- Guarantee full parliamentary debate and vote before any military involvement
- Ensure strict adherence to international law, including the protection of medical facilities
- Suspend arms exports where there is a clear risk of their use in violations of humanitarian law
- Commit unequivocally to protecting NHS and welfare budgets from any diversion of funds linked to military escalation
A healthy population, a well-functioning NHS, secure housing, social care for all when in need, and continuous drive to reduce inequality are the foundations of genuine national resilience. Entering or supporting another prolonged conflict would undermine, not strengthen, that resilience.
Britain should be advocating de-escalation, diplomacy and adherence to international law — not facilitating another war whose human and financial costs would be borne both abroad and at home.
Keep Our NHS Public stands firmly for peace, for public health, and for a political agenda that prioritises welfare over warfare.We will be joining the Stop the War Coalition ‘Hands off Iran’ National Demonstration in Central London this Saturday and encourage other NHS campaigners, patients and workers, to do the same.
This attack is unprovoked, illegal and inhumane.
A brilliant, clear analysis on the reality for Britain of becoming involved in an escalation of warfare, both economically and in terms of it’s impact on the health of the nation
Our NHS should come before the government plunging us into a war that is NOT our fight. We should be protecting our NHS and not sending our army, navy or airforce to fight for a cause that is not ours. The government are acting as traitors to the British people and avoiding the issues at home, like deporting all illegals and keeping our NHS for the British people. Not illegals to abuse our NHS for stupid issues like hair loss, and a sex change for illegals and putting them first before the British people.