Tax exiles in Dubai should pay to be protected by Britain, says Lib Dem leader Sir Ed Davey

Speaking on Tonight with Andrew Marr, Sir Ed said we "should protect" those that have moved abroad as hundreds of Brits scramble to leave the Middle East as Iran unleashes retaliatory strikes across the region.

"I was really clear in the House that we absolutely owe a duty to them. They are British," he said.

But the Lib Dem leader doubled down on his comments made in the Commons on Monday, where he asked Sir Keir Starmer if he agreed that it was "only right" that British expats in the region "start paying taxes to fund our Armed Forces just like the rest of us do".

"I think it's also a duty for the rest of our country that they pay their taxes," he told Andrew.

Sir Ed added: "And I think many people have been rather alarmed that we are now going to pay for them to be protected, rightly, but they should start paying."

"I think it's a complete principle that we can surely all agree with. If they benefit from that protection, they should contribute towards it.”

It cames as Britain's first evacuation flight from the United Arab Emirates arrived at Heathrow Airport.

The Etihad Airways flight EY067 arrived at Terminal 4 of the west London airport, after a delayed departure from the UAE’s capital.

It was one of 15 Etihad Airways flights to depart from Abu Dhabi in a three-hour window, which flight tracking company Flightradar24 said were “likely helping to clear transit passengers who have been stuck there since the start of the conflict”.

An estimated 300,000 Brits are currently in the Middle East as the region faces chaos following the killing of Iranian Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Saturday.

A British woman who was stuck in Abu Dhabi over the weekend said she was “unbelievably relieved” to land back in London, as she hugged her partner Adam Smith, 41, who waited for her and their son at Heathrow’s Terminal 4 arrivals.

Fay McCaul, also 41, said: “It was a lot.“I just hope the people who are stuck there get some help.”