Sir Keir Starmer “takes the knee” and caved to “mob rule” by deserting our ally Israel, Kemi Badenoch warns
WEAK Sir Keir Starmer opts to “take the knee “ rather than confront “the mob”, Kemi Badenoch has warned.
The Tory leadership hopeful savaged the PM over his decision to suspend some arms sales to Israel.
Writing in today’s Sun on Sunday, Ms Badenoch said Sir Keir had thrown UK interests “under the bus” and harmed our relationship with key allies including the US.
Israel could ditch trade talks and even scale back crucial intelligence sharing in response, the Top Tory warned.
She wrote: “Why did Labour make the extraordinary decision to single out and cancel arms licences to Israel, but not to Saudi Arabia, Qatar or other countries in the Middle East?
“It is because they are afraid. They gave in to the mob and threw UK interests under the bus.”
“Whether it is the unions or protesters, Labour has shown time and time again that they have no courage and will take the knee when things get heated.”
“In 2020, we saw Keir Starmer and Angela Rayner actually kneel in support of the Black Lives Matter movement without any serious understanding of the divisive ideology that portrays blackness as victimhood and whiteness as oppression.”
The Foreign Office suspended 30 out of 350 arms export licences to Israel on Monday – the same day six murdered hostages seized by Hamas on October 7 were being buried.
It sparked an international outcry, with Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu branding the move “shameful”.
Ms Badenoch revealed that when she was Business Secretary, anti Israel activists tried to bully her into cutting arms sales to Israel.
Protesters stormed her offices and her staff were “pushed and shoved”, while union-backed civil servants threatened to go on strike.
Ms Badenoch said she refused to cave to their demands – but Sir Keir is “not brave enough to face down intimidation and lobbying”.
Britain relies on intelligence sharing with Israel to thwart terror attacks on UK soil, but this could now be at risk, she warned.
The Tory MP added: “Along with intelligence, our defence trade with Israel is of mutual benefit, and when this war ends, Israel’s view of our trade relationship will be changed.
“A reciprocal move against us would be damaging.”
The government has defended their decision, insisting their support for Israel is “unshakeable” but they had a “duty to follow the law”.