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It came as the Prime Minister fired the starting gun on Labour's local election campaign in Wolverhampton and insisted Britain will not be dragged into the US-Israeli war with Tehran

Keir Starmer has insisted the Iran conflict is "not our war" as he hit out at Reform chief Nigel Farage and Tory leader Kemi Badenoch's flip-flopping.

It came as the Prime Minister fired the starting gun on Labour's local election campaign in Wolverhampton and insisted Britain will not be dragged into the US-Israeli war with Tehran. He warned his rivals' "terrible judgement" would already have embroiled the UK in the conflict.

The Prime Minister said: "It's really important I reiterate where I stand and where this government stands because this is not our war.And we are not going to be dragged into it."

He added: "Yes of course we will defend British lives and interests in the region - we'll stand by our allies in the Gulf region. But we're not going to get dragged into it. That's my values, that my principles and that's what we've applied to our decisions whatever the pressure and whoever it's coming from.

"But what a contrast - if you took Kemi Badenoch or Nigel Farage. What did they want to do? They wanted to go straight in with both feet into the war without thinking through the consequences. They are in opposition at the moment - maybe that doesn't matter very much.

"But it's terrible judgement because taking your country is the single most important decision a Prime Minister could ever take. If they had been in government we'd be in a war with no plan."

The Reform UK leader initially hit out at the Government for failing to join the initial wave of US-Israeli strikes.

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Mr Starmer's comments come as Labour braces for its biggest electoral test since the 2024 general election on May 7 with over 5,000 council seats up for grabs across England. Voters will also elect new devolved adminstrations in Wales and Scotland as Labour's braces for a bruising night across the board.

But launching the party's fight back, the Prime Minister told voters the government 'has your back' in a volatile world with conflicts raging in the Middle East and Ukraine. He talked up "Labour values" and hit out at those who would use the conflict in Iran to "whip up even more division".

The PM touted the Government's policies as showing it is an administration that "bears down on the cost of living". He said: "Some will use, sadly, the conflict in Iran to whip up even more division in our country and our society.

"If you can believe it, they barely need a reason. We saw Nick Timothy at it last week complaining about Muslims praying in public. We see so many examples, but people will use this to try and tear the country further apart. It's really important that we assert our Labour values here, as we go into campaign, our Labour values about how we bring people together, how we understand the importance of place and the pride that people put in the place that they come from."