UK Column News — 14th October 2026

Mike Robinson (0:16)

Good afternoon, it's Wednesday the 14th of October, 2026, just after 1 o'clock. Welcome to UK Column News. I'm your host, Mike Robinson. Joining me by video link today are Charles Malet and Vanessa Beeley. Later in the programme, we'll have the latest news from Gaza and Lebanon. We'll be covering the claim need to upgrade national security. And we'll also be reporting on the continuing medical establishment attacks on outspoken doctors. But we'll begin today with the determination that Iran runs red diesel fraud schemes in the UK now, Charles.

Charles Malet (0:48)

I don't think we can really draw the line there, Mike, because there are an enormous amount of things that could be appended to Iran. But what we're going to start with, and before I do actually start, I will say that if you've been wondering why UK Column has been following the very theatrical story concerning RAF Fairford quite so closely, then I think this report will make it clear. So we're going to start with a joint statement that was released on Monday by the foreign ministers of a host of Commonwealth and European countries, as well as the UK and the United States. We can just stick that on screen.

And we see in the subtext that there is a connection being made immediately. And I think it's not quite visible yet. But in effect, underneath the main text, it says there's a joint statement from the foreign ministers regarding RAF Fairford and Iran state threats. So the critical part there is that absolutely immediately these things are being connected in a way that previously they hadn't. And as if by magic, it appears. So you see that underline now. And then we go into some of the text of the statement itself. The foreign ministers condemn in the strongest terms Iran's use of violent attacks, including lethal plotting, arson, sabotage, cyber attack and other hybrid activities. So rather euphemistic language, nothing direct about Fairford. But we then go on to see that they recognize the United Kingdom's attribution of Iran's involvement in the incident at RAF Fairford on the 27th of September, and that the UK has also concluded this event demonstrates the IRGC's continued willingness to project hostile activity beyond its borders through covert networks and proxy actors. So it's really quite considerable. Of course, it doesn't end there because the Prime Minister, Andy Burnham, made a statement to the House of, well, to the House of Commons on Monday, really following his time at the United Nations General Assembly. And of course, the theme of his statement was that of an uncertain world. So he started inevitably with support for Ukraine and the need for, interestingly, a National Center for Information Defense, about which we will hear more in due course. He also said that he'd spoken to Donald Trump about the situation in the Middle East, the support for Saudi Arabia, who of course we are now also standing with. He moved on to talk about the European Commission, his discussions with Ursula von der Leyen in advance of the summit with the EU in November. And it very much looks like now that the basis for rejoining the European Union is to be sold on the pretext of solving the migration problem and that people get better prices for food as logistical difficulties causing food wastage and high prices will be done away with.

Again, somewhat inevitably, he finished up by confirming that artificial intelligence will take centre stage at the British presidency of G20 next year. Certainly seems like an ill judged and predictable statement in equal measure. And of course, he spoke about RAF Fairford. So we'll just listen to what he had to say on that score.

SPEAKER_3 (4:02)

Since UNGA, Mr Speaker, we have been in close contact with the US about protective security at our shared bases. I want to thank our police and military personnel for their swift response to the incidents at RAF Fairford and RAF Molesworth. My right honourable friend, the Home Secretary, will update the House regarding the incident at RAF Fairford. But I can confirm our assessment that it is highly likely to have been coordinated in Iran, almost certainly directed by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard.

We will not tolerate these threats on our soil. We will crack down on Iran's use of criminal networks, using our full range of powers to target them and their funding streams. And we will bring further sanctions to restrict the capacity of Iran and the IRGC to do us harm.

Charles Malet (4:58)

It's obviously a bit unfortunate for him that he had to refer to RAF Molesworth because the troublemakers there are at least, we are told, Latvian and therefore presumably meant to be potential victims of so-called Russian aggression. However, he comes to this statement, highly likely to have been coordinated in Iran. Well, what was coordinated and what is this threat that he's talking about?