The Conservative leader, Kemi Badenoch, has been criticised after defending Israel’s decision to deny two MPs entry into the country and deport them.
Speaking about the deportation of Abtisam Mohamed and Yuan Yang, who were part of an MP delegation set to visit humanitarian aid projects and communities in the West Bank with UK charity partners, the Conservative leader said: ‘I think that every country should be able to control its borders, and that’s what Israel is doing, as far as I understand.’
The Labour MP Emily Thornberry, who is chair of the Commons foreign affairs committee, told Sky News she was ‘completely gobsmacked’ by the Tory leader’s comments, adding: ‘This is nonsense. You have to stand up for what’s right, Kemi Badenoch, and you should stand in solidarity with other parliamentarians who were just going to Israel and the West Bank to find out what was going on.’
Richard Fuller, the shadow chief secretary to the Treasury, disagreed with his leader. ‘Any member of parliament who goes on an official trip should be, I would think, welcomed in any country,’ he told Times Radio.
