David Lammy accuses Kemi Badenoch of ‘cheerleading’ for Israel over Labour MPs

David Lammy has criticised Kemi Badenoch’s “disgraceful” comments after she said it was “shocking that we have MPs in Labour who other countries will not allow” in.

The Foreign Secretary accused the Conservative leader of “cheerleading another country for detaining and deporting two British MPs”, after two of his Labour colleagues were denied entry to Israel on Saturday.

Mrs Badenoch is facing a backlash after her comments about Yuan Yang and Abtisam Mohamed on the Sunday morning political programmes, in which she also said “countries should be able to control their borders”.

She told the BBC’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg programme: “If you look at the reasons why the Israeli government has given for why they’re not letting them in, they don’t believe that they’re going to comply with their laws,” she added.

“MPs do not have diplomatic immunity. 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.”

Asked whether the move was “a bit odd” she had earlier told Sky News’s Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips programme that she is “very concerned about a lot of the rhetoric” from Labour MPs in relation to the Middle East, and later added: “I’m not surprised”.

In a post on X on Sunday morning responding to the BBC clip, Mr Lammy tagged Mrs Badenoch and said: “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.”

Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey also accused the Conservative leader of “unbelievably poor judgment”.

He said she “has once again shown unbelievably poor judgement by failing to back two British MPs denied entry to Israel. Yet another complete shocker.”

Ms Yang and Ms Mohamed have said that they are “astounded” by the decision to not allow them into the country, while David Lammy has spoken to his counterpart in Israel about the matter.

In a statement on Sunday morning, Ms Yang, the MP for Earley and Woodley, in Berkshire, and Ms Mohamed, who represents Sheffield Central, said it is “vital” that parliamentarians are able to “witness first-hand” the situation on the ground in Palestine.

They said: “We’re astounded at the unprecedented step taken by the Israeli authorities to refuse British MPs entry on our trip to visit the occupied West Bank.

“It is vital that parliamentarians are able to witness first-hand the situation in the occupied Palestinian territory.”