To this hideous dilemma, Starmer’s answer has been to oppose the initial attack but then join the defence against Iran’s retaliation. This is not an abundance of caution. It is the least amount of the stuff that one would expect. Nor is Starmer being indecisive. He opposed the phase of the war that he understood to be illegal, and supported the phase that he understood to be legal. Or, if international public law is not the paramount concern, put it this way. He would not have provoked Iran but, once it struck British allies, he responded with force. British jets shot down drones over Jordan on Tuesday.