British aircraft carrier HMS Prince of Wales prepped to set sail

One of the UK's two aircraft carriers has been placed on advanced readiness to sail from Portsmouth. The crew of HMS Prince of Wales have been told they must be ready to leave in five days, defence sources said. This may raise speculation the carrier could be deployed to the Mediterranean to help defend British interests threatened during the conflict in the Middle East. Before this, the ship's "notice to sail" was 14 days. On Saturday night, US President Donald Trump criticised Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer for not sending carriers to the Middle East earlier. In a post on Truth Social, Trump said: "The United Kingdom, our once Great Ally, maybe the Greatest of them all, is finally giving serious thought to sending two aircraft carriers to the Middle East." He added: "That's OK, Prime Minister Starmer, we don't need them any longer - But we will remember. We don't need people that join Wars after we've already won!" The UK government has not joined offensive operations with regard to Iran or given any commitment to do so. The government has been accused of not acting fast enough to protect Cyprus from enemy drones and missiles. Sir Keir denied the UK was not prepared for the conf