Andy Burnham has said the UK will support Saudi Arabian fighter jets in their struggle against the Houthi rebels in Yemen.

The Prime Minister said British planes will provide air-to-air refuelling for Saudi jets allowing them to stay airborne longer and fly further for longer.

The Voyager tanker is the Royal Air Force’s main air-to-air refuelling aircraft. It is based on the civilian Airbus A330-200 airliner and is known in RAF service as the Voyager KC2 or Voyager KC3.

The UK mission will be limited to supporting Saudi aircraft defending the country from attack from drones and missiles rather than supporting strikes against the Houthis.

Mr Burnham said he made the decision after discussions with Defence Secretary Wes Streeting and Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband amid fears that the deepening Middle East crisis will add to cost pressures facing British households.

Speaking to reporters on his plane to the United Nations General Assembly in New York, the Prime Minister said: ‘We have received a request from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for military support.

‘On the advice of the Defence Secretary and the Foreign Secretary, last night I agreed to that request for defensive air-to-air refuelling.

‘That’s the agreement we’ve given.’

The conflict between the Iran-backed Houthis and Yemen’s Saudi-backed government has reignited in recent weeks, with Houthis aiming missile and drone strikes on Saudi Arabia, including one that targeted Riyadh.

The Houthis have also declared a blockade on Saudi shipping in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait and the Red Sea, attacking Saudi-linked vessels and oil facilities inside the kingdom, the world’s top oil exporter.

The use of the RAF’s Voyager tanker is expected to start within days and the mission will be time-limited, with officials indicating it could last for ‘weeks’.

The refuelling mission is in addition to the UK Sky Sabre air defence system already deployed in Saudi Arabia.

Mr Burnham said he was ‘acting to secure the interests of Britain and the wider region because, of course, Saudi Arabia has been experiencing attacks, is looking at potential further disruption, and we need to keep those pathways open, and hence our agreement to the request’.

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