Conservative Party Leader, Kemi Badenoch, has sharply criticized Prime Minister Keir Starmer for officially recognizing the State of Palestine, describing the move as “absolutely disastrous.”

In a statement shared on her X account on Sunday, September 21, Badenoch, MP for North West Essex, argued that the decision rewards terrorism without securing the release of hostages in Gaza or alleviating the suffering of civilians trapped in the conflict.

“Rewarding terrorism with no conditions whatsoever put in place for Hamas leaves hostages languishing in Gaza and does nothing to stop the suffering of innocent people caught in this war,” she wrote.

Badenoch accused Starmer of lacking a clear plan for the country and instead pandering to “the hobby horses of the Labour left” to stay in power. She linked the Palestine recognition decision to what she described as Labour’s broader record of misplaced priorities:

“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 also revisited Labour’s foreign policy record, citing the £35bn reparations payment to Mauritius and the handover of the Chagos Islands as evidence of what she called Starmer’s “poor judgement.”

“Everything we are seeing is a 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,” Badenoch said.

Meanwhile, Starmer, MP for Holborn and St Pancras, defended the recognition of Palestine as a step toward reviving the hope of peace in the Middle East and achieving a two-state solution.