UK Business Secretary Kemi Badenoch has launched a blistering attack on Prime Minister Keir Starmer following his government’s decision to formally recognise a Palestinian state, calling the move “absolutely disastrous” and a dangerous reward for terrorism.
Posting on her verified X (formerly Twitter) account on Sunday, Badenoch accused Starmer of prioritising “hard-left hobby horses” over Britain’s real challenges and warned that the recognition would embolden Hamas while leaving Israeli hostages in danger.
“Disastrous. Absolutely disastrous. We will all rue the day this decision was made,” Badenoch wrote.
“Rewarding terrorism with no conditions whatsoever put in place for Hamas. It leaves hostages languishing in Gaza and does nothing to stop the suffering of innocent people caught in this war.”
The senior Conservative minister claimed Labour was using the recognition of a Palestinian state to distract from its inability to address domestic crises.
“It is because Labour cannot fix the big problems in our society that they focus on discredited student union campaigns to appease the hard left.
“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 recognise Palestine instead.” She continued.
Badenoch also accused Starmer of a pattern of weak leadership, citing the government’s decision earlier this year to pay £35 billion in reparations to Mauritius as part of the agreement to return the Chagos Islands.
“Everything we are seeing is the consequence of a Prime Minister who has no plan for the country and no judgement.
“He will spend the next four years delivering the hobby horses of the Labour left to stay in power and leave a HUGE mess for us to clean up.” She concluded.
Starmer announced Britain’s recognition of a Palestinian state earlier on Sunday, joining Canada and Australia in what he described as a historic step to revive the possibility of a two-state solution and end the nearly two-year conflict in Gaza.
The decision has drawn criticism from Israel and some Western allies, while Palestinian leaders hailed it as an “irreversible step” toward independence.
