Kemi Badenoch has been accused of “taking the public for fools” after rowing back on her past calls for Britain to support the US in its war against Iran.
Shortly after Donald Trump joined Israel is launching joint strikes on Tehran at the end of February, the Tory leader said: “There is no point wanting action to make the world a safe place while being too scared to stand by and watch others.”
She also used prime minister’s questions to ask Keir Starmer: “We are in this war whether they like it or not – what is the PM waiting for?”
ITV’s Good Morning Britain host, Ranvir Singh, reminded Badenoch of her past remarks during a tense interview today.
But Badenoch replied: “I said that we should do what Canada and Australia were doing, verbal support, and I said if our bases were attacked, then we should defend them.
“But every government has this. We had Covid, for instance, you know, we had the war in Ukraine.
“There’s always something. Saying simply saying, well, of external circumstances, it’s all too difficult, what’s the point of the government being there?
“And the fact is, we had weakened our economy before the war in Iran started. We already had energy prices skyrocketing.
“The cheap power plan that we brought out came in before the Iran War started. So, it’s no good just blaming, blaming President Trump.
“We have the government, what powers do they have? What are they going to do?”
Starmer rejected Trump’s request to use British military bases for offensive action against Tehran, only granting access for “defensive strikes”.
The move caused major friction in his relationship with the White House right up until he left office in July.
In response to her Good Morning Britain interview, a Labour spokesperson accused the Tory leader of “rushing for war”.
They said: “Kemi Badenoch is desperately re-writing history.
“She’s taking the public for fools because she knows that if Britain had followed her plan to plunge us head first into war, people would be facing even higher energy bills today.
“You don’t get a second chance when deciding whether to send British troops into conflict. Kemi Badenoch’s rush for war risked making the economic shock we’re facing now far worse and it’s hard-working Brits who would have paid the price.
“At least the Tory Leader admits that the Conservatives weakened our economy long before the war in Iran. It’s now up to Labour to continue fixing the mess they left behind and bring back hope.”
It comes after chancellor John Healey tried to offer Brits some “breathing space” in his cost of living Budget on Wednesday.
It’s been widely criticised for not meeting the moment, though the chancellor pointed out that there are plenty of global “economic storms” which are out of the government’s control – like the Iran war.
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