𝓤𝓷𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓝𝓮𝔀𝓼

Kemi Badenoch condemned Sir Keir Starmer over his refusal to say if he backs the US action in Iran. The Conservative leader also hit out at the Prime Minister over the time it took for him to give America permission to launch military strikes against Tehran from British bases.

Mrs Badenoch claimed there are “large blocs of voters… whose political loyalties are swayed by conflicts in the Middle East” who Sir Keir is “scared” to upset. In a post on X, she said: “We knew on Saturday that our allies in Canada and Australia had backed the action taken by the United States and Israel.

“Yet Keir Starmer still couldn’t tell the British people where our country stood or whether the UK would allow the use of our own airbases.

“It took Iranian missiles hitting allies in the Middle East and a UK base in Cyprus before Starmer finally approved the use of our bases, and this morning the Foreign Secretary still can’t say if the Labour government supports the action against Iran.

“Iran’s regime has funded international terrorism, attacked British nationals, brutally repressed its own citizens calling for freedom, and continues to try and develop a nuclear weapon.

“It should not be beyond our government to say they welcome the US-Israel taking action.”

Highlighting last week’s Gorton and Denton by-election, she added: “But, particularly in the wake of the by-election last week, the Labour government are too scared to say what is obvious to the rest of us.

“In towns and cities across Britain there are large blocs of voters – that Labour see as their voters – whose political loyalties are swayed by conflicts in the Middle East, not the British national interest.

Ensure our latest politics headlines always appear at the top of your Google Search by making us a Preferred Source. Click here to activate or add us as Preferred Source in your Google search settings.

“So we watch our Prime Minister and Cabinet Ministers squirm and obfuscate in interviews, because they cannot say what needs to be said because too many of their voters do not want to hear it.

“It isn’t ‘international law’ or principle. It’s pure, partisan, political calculations from a party that has surrendered its right to govern our country. I will always act in our national interest.”

Mrs Badenoch’s intervention comes as Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper insisted it was “not in the UK’s interests” to support the US attack on Iran over the weekend during this morning’s broadcast round.

The Prime Minister last night gave permission for the US to use UK bases to target Iran.