A cabinet minister has taken aim at Kemi Badenoch after she supported Israel’s right to refuse entry to two Labour MPs.
Yuan Yang and Abtisam Mohamed travelled to Israel over the weekend and were planning to go on to the West Bank, but they – together with their aides – were questioned by the Israeli authorities and turned back on Saturday.
They were allegedly suspected of planning to “document the activities of security forces and spread anti-Israel hatred”, according to a statement from the Israeli immigration ministry.
But the MPs said they were on a fact-finding mission – and the government quickly defended them, calling Israel’s actions “unacceptable”.
When asked about the incident, the Conservative Party leader told the BBC on Sunday that “countries should be able to control their borders”.
She claimed it was “very significant” and “shocking” that it was MPs from Labour who were not permitted into Israel.
Badenoch was then rapidly slapped down by the transport secretary Heidi Alexander on Monday morning.
Speaking to Sky News, Alexander said: “It was disgraceful what Kemi Badenoch was saying yesterday really, and I think there were some issues which should transcend party politics – and I think this is one of them.”
She continued: “Countries are in control of their own borders but I think parliamentarians, respected parliamentarians who are going on fact-finding missions – I understand this visit was looking at potentially aid in the region – I think that seems like a very reasonable thing for a respected politician such as Yuan and Abtisam to be doing.
“I was very very sorry to see the way they were treated.”
Badenoch’s remarks drew immediate condemnation from the foreign secretary David Lammy on Sunday, too.
“It’s disgraceful you are cheerleading another country for detaining and deporting two British MPs,” he wrote on X in response to Badenoch.
“Do you say the same about Tory MPs banned from China?”
She later hit back: “Unlike China, Israel is our ally and a democracy. A good Foreign Sec would be able to make that distinction.”
But the Tory leader faced a further headache after a shadow minister broke rank and sided with the government during the same media round.
The Conservative shadow chief secretary to the Treasury, Richard Fuller, told Times Radio: “Any member of parliament who goes on an official trip should be, I would think, welcomed in any country. They’re going there to be better informed about the situation and then report back to their parliamentary colleagues about what they have found.”
He added: “I think we should all be very worried about democracy. Democracy isn’t a guarantee in life. Freedom isn’t guaranteed.”
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