France, Italy and Germany were accused last night of ‘lacking the will to fight’ after they refused to join Britain and America’s defence of the Red Sea.

The UK and US launched air strikes against Houthi targets in Yemen on Thursday night following attacks on naval and commercial shipping vessels.

Germany, Denmark, The Netherlands, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, South Korea and Bahrain signed a joint statement backing the US-UK strikes and warning of further action while the Dutch provided additional support.

However, Spain and Germany are among those remaining on the sidelines while the French navy focuses on providing support to French-flagged ships.

Last night, Rear Admiral Chris Parry, a former Royal Navy commander chided them for their inaction.

He said: ‘The lack of political will and courage to deploy in the face of threats to the international rules based system shows, once again, that it is the same old story with Europe – craven appeasement and a policy of ‘can’t fight, won’t fight’.’

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