Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask His Majesty's Government how they define the difference between the right to defend and an offensive action by a state.

As recognised in Article 51 of the UN Charter, States have the inherent right of individual or collective self-defence against armed attack. Self-defence permits States to use necessary and proportionate force to repel such armed attacks. States’ uses of force outside of self-defence or absent some other legal basis such as a Chapter 7 UN Security Council Resolution, consent or humanitarian intervention would be unlawful as a matter of international law.