Prime Minister Keir Starmer has accused Kemi Badenoch and Nigel Farage of making dramatic U-turns on their support for the Iran war, saying the UK would be at war if it were up to them. During a raucous Prime Minister's Questions session, Starmer said Badenoch had performed the “mother of all U-turns” after she previously urged the UK to join US strikes but this week denied calling for involvement.
Starmer also criticised Farage, who earlier backed “regime change” in Iran but on Tuesday said the UK should avoid another foreign war. The prime minister said both leaders were competing to be Donald Trump’s “biggest cheerleader” and had disqualified themselves from leading the country. Badenoch’s spokesperson later argued she only supported allowing US use of British bases and that the UK is already in the war.
Starmer defended the UK’s armed forces, which have flown over 230 hours of defensive operations and shot down multiple drones. He criticised Badenoch for saying RAF personnel were “just hanging about”, calling on her to apologise. Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey also attacked the pair, saying families were suffering rising costs due to a war they did not start. Starmer agreed, noting fuel duty would remain frozen until September.
