LONDON, March 4 (Reuters) - Britain needs to keep a cool head over the conflict in the Middle East to address the public's concerns about escalation, Prime Minister Keir Starmer said on Wednesday.
Starmer was speaking after U.S. President Donald Trump heaped fresh criticism on his leadership over Britain's limited support for U.S. strikes on Iran.
"I know the whole country is worried about the potential for escalation," Starmer told parliament.
"We need to act, therefore, with clarity, with purpose and with a cool head."
He also said Britain had been liaising closely with the United States on pre-deploying military assets to the region.
"For a number of weeks now, we've been pre-deploying our capabilities to the region. In doing so, we've been liaising very closely with the United States," he said.
Starmer said those assets included air defence and counter-drone systems as well as F-35 jets.
(Reporting by Sam Tabahriti, writing by William James; editing by Sarah Young and Kate Holton)
