The UK’s Conservative Party Leader, Kemi Badenoch, has fiercely criticized Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s decision to formally recognize the State of Palestine, describing it as “absolutely disastrous” and a move that rewards terrorism without addressing the plight of hostages in Gaza or the suffering of civilians caught in the conflict.
In a statement on her X page on Sunday, Badenoch, MP for North West Essex, accused Starmer of lacking a coherent plan for the country and instead pandering to “the hobbyhorses of the Labour left” to maintain power.
“Rewarding terrorism with no conditions whatsoever put in place for Hamas leaves hostages languishing in Gaza and does nothing to stop the suffering of innocent people caught in this war,” Badenoch wrote.
The UK government, along with its Canadian and Australian counterparts, announced formal recognition of the state of Palestine yesterday, in keeping with their earlier threat to do so if the Israeli government failed to take steps to resolve the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict in the Gaza Strip and commit to a long-term peace process that would result in a Palestinian state coexisting with Israel.
In a post on X, the UK’s PM, Keir Starmer, said, “In the face of the growing horror in the Middle East, we are acting to keep alive the possibility of peace and a two-state solution.”
The decision has sparked outrage from the Israeli government, families of hostages held in Gaza, and some conservatives.
Sir Keir insisted that the decision “is not a reward for Hamas” because it means Hamas could have “no future, no role in government, no role in security.
“Our call for a genuine two-state solution is the exact opposite of [Hamas’s] hateful vision. The move is a pledge to the Palestinian and Israeli people that there can be a better future.”
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He said the “starvation and devastation [in Gaza] are utterly intolerable,” adding that “the death and destruction horrify all of us.”
Badenoch argued that Labour’s recognition of Palestine was part of a broader pattern of misplaced priorities, adding:
“They cannot fix the NHS, so they push assisted suicide. They cannot create jobs for young people, so they give them votes at 16. They cannot sort out immigration, but they will recognize Palestine instead.”
Badenoch also criticized Starmer’s record in international affairs, citing the payment of £35 billion in reparations to Mauritius and the surrender of the Chagos Islands as examples of poor judgment.
“Everything we are seeing is a consequence of a prime minister who has no plan for the country and no judgement,” Badanoch said.
“He will spend the next four years delivering the hobbyhorses of the Labour left to stay in power and leave a huge mess for us to clean up.”
Starmer, MP for Holborn and St Pancras, has previously stated that the UK’s recognition of Palestine was intended to revive “the hope of peace for the Palestinians and Israelis, and a two-state solution.”
Ministers, on the other hand, maintained that it was their moral role to keep prospects for long-term peace alive.
Efforts to establish a cease-fire in Gaza, much less a long-term resolution to the Israel-Palestine issue, have failed.
