Row as Badenoch backs Israel barring two UK MPs

Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has been criticised by senior politicians across the political spectrum after she backed Israel's decision to deny two UK Labour MPs entry to the country.

Abtisam Mohamed and Yuan Yang said they were on a trip to visit the occupied West Bank to "witness, first-hand, the situation" and were "astounded" after being stopped at the airport.

Badenoch told the BBC that Israel had a right to "control its borders", adding it was "very significant" there were Labour MPs other countries did not want to let in.

Foreign Secretary David Lammy said her comments were "disgraceful", while Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey said she had shown "unbelievably poor judgement".

Senior Tory MP Richard Fuller told Times Radio he thought MPs on official trips should be "welcomed in any country", adding "we should all be very worried" about democracy.

Yang, the MP for Earley and Woodley, and Mohamed, the MP for Sheffield Central, flew to Israel from London Luton Airport with two aides on Saturday afternoon.

The Israeli immigration authority said Interior Minister Moshe Arbel denied entry to all four passengers after they were questioned. It accused them of travelling to "document the security forces".

Badenoch first made her comments when asked on the BBC's Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg show whether Israel was entitled to refuse entry to the MPs.

"Countries should be able to control their borders," she said. "What I think is shocking is that we have MPs in Labour who other countries will not allow through, I think that's very significant."

She continued: "I believe that the people who represent us in Parliament should be people who should be able to go anywhere in the world and people not be worried about what they're going to do when they go into those countries."

Badenoch said the reason given by the Israelis was that "they don't believe that they're going to comply with their laws" and "there are many people that we don't allow into our country and I don't think we should be setting precedents in a different way".

Tagging a video of the Conservative leader's comments on X, Lammy posted: "It's disgraceful you are cheerleading another country for detaining and deporting two British MPs.

"Do you say the same about Tory MPs banned from China?

"This government will continue to stand up for the rights of our MPs to speak their mind, whatever their party."

Reposting the criticism, Badenoch said: "Unlike China, Israel is our ally and a democracy. A good Foreign Sec would be able to make that distinction.

"Perhaps Labour MPs could put UK national interest first and do their jobs instead of campaigning for airports in Kashmir or promoting Hamas propaganda in parliament."

Further criticism came from Davey on X, who posted: "Kemi Badenoch has once again shown unbelievably poor judgement by failing to back two British MPs denied entry to Israel.

"Yet another complete shocker."

Foreign Affairs Committee chairwoman Dame Emily Thornberry told Sky News she was "completely gobsmacked" by Badenoch's comments.

"This is nonsense," the Labour MP said. "You have to stand up for what's right, Kemi Badenoch, and you should stand in solidarity with other parliamentarians who were just going to Israel and the West Bank to find out what was going on."

Badenoch was also contradicted by Tory MP Fuller, who told LBC that Conservative MPs had experienced similar issues in China and he wanted to support the right to travel to other countries.

"I want to support my colleagues," said Fuller. "This isn't a partisan thing, as a parliamentarian, we live in a difficult world at the moment.

"Democracies are under threat, we should support them in those circumstances, whether China, Israel, or anywhere...

"On this, my personal view is, parliamentarians should be allowed free passage to other countries, to our allies. We should look at that in a poor light. We should be supporting them."

Fuller spoke about his boss again on Times Radio, saying he thought MPs on official trips are "going there to be better informed about the situation and then report back to their parliamentary colleagues about what they have found".

"Democracy isn't a guarantee in life," he said. "Freedom isn't guaranteed."

Sign up for our Politics Essential newsletter to read top political analysis, gain insight from across the UK and stay up to speed with the big moments. It'll be delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.