Sir Keir Starmer’s failure of leadership in the wake of the Iran crisis has imploded the special relationship and left the UK “virtually powerless” on the global stage, an expert has warned.

The Prime Minister’s hesitance to take a stance either way on the first wave of American strikes in the Middle East has cost the United Kingdom its previously solid working relationship with Donald Trump and the US. Sir Keir initially refused American warplanes access to any UK bases to launch their initial wave of attacks, citing concerns over international law.

That position changed once Iran started firing back, forcing Sir Keir’s hand – but even then, Mr Trump let loose a very public broadside at the British PM, accusing him of attempting to join a war that the US had “already won”.

Professor Anthony Glees, a security expert from the University of Buckingham, told the Express: “This is no ‘lover’s spat’ – it is the start of a very painful divorce.

“Trump is going out of his way to hurt and humiliate an elected British prime minister. The latest body blow to us is to say ‘we don’t need people that join wars after we’ve clearly won’, echoing the disgraceful slur he made against our troops fighting alongside America in Afghanistan and Iraq.

“Starmer seems too unsure of himself to stand his ground. He cannot fight back, nor can he gain strength by saying, ‘okay, that’s it, we’re off’.

“If ever a nation needed to be in a position to ‘speak quietly but carry a big stick’, it is the UK. In fact, under Starmer, we have no ‘big stick’. We are virtually without influence on anyone, yet are still on the receiving end of erstwhile friend and present foe.”

Prof Glees was quick to point out that the sad state of the UK’s ailing armed forces was the result of “systemic failure” under both Labour and the Conservatives.

However, he highlighted that the Royal Navy’s farcical attempt to pull together any sort of swift response to the situation in the Middle East has thrown a brutal spotlight on just how bad the problem is.

HMS Dragon has still not set sail for Cyprus, 10 days into the crisis. It will take at least five days to sail there once it is under way. It will be more than two weeks late to arrive, sparking fears that British allies have lost a huge amount of respect for our capabilities.

Prof Glees went on: “For decades, we have allowed our armed forces to be run down. Our ships can’t sail, our armoured vehicles make our soldiers so ill they cannot fight the enemy. Our nuclear-armed submarines are creaking and of no conceivable use in any conventional war, which is where war now is. And so it goes on.

“We are locked into our security marriage to the USA because right now, and for the next five to 10 years, we need to be able to call on the USA if we are attacked by Putin’s Russia. Putin is the number one threat that faces us here in Europe, and everything else is subservient to it.

“From the word go, sadly, Starmer has been doing the wrong thing by trying to do right, sticking to our correct view that no one would be served by the ‘war of choice’ declared by Trump and Netanyahu, doubtless against the advice of the UK and other NATO allies, if they were asked or even simply informed early in February that an attack was being planned.”