Shadow foreign secretary Dame Priti Patel has accused the government of “lying to the country about the reality on the ground” over the scale of aid coming into Gaza.
In a wide-ranging exclusive interview with the JC, the former cabinet minister also branded incoming prime minister Andy Burnham a “disgrace” for his apology over Labour’s earlier handling of the conflict in the Middle East, and claimed UK foreign policy had “raised the white flag of surrender” to Britain’s enemies.
Speaking with refreshing frankness compared to many politicians, Patel tore into attempts to appease left-wing backbenchers and Muslim voters in a heightened focus on Israel, saying: “They know what it's looking like in some of their constituencies, and that's how insincere they are.
“The level of insincerity, rank hypocrisy, you know, they'll say whatever it takes.”
She labelled Burnham “an absolute disgrace” for his apology on Labour’s previous positioning on the conflict, in which he said his party should have called for a ceasefire to the conflict in Gaza sooner.
Patel accused him of failing “to speak with any humanity” about the Israelis who suffered at the hand of Hamas, including hostage families.
Speaking in an interview from her office on the parliamentary estate, she said: “Many of us in this place have spent hours with families and with victims.
“And I just think it just shows how unfit this man will be to effectively defend Britain's interests and stand up for our national interests on the world stage.”
The former home secretary foresees little difference between Burnham and the government as it was under Sir Keir Starmer: “because all they've done is pander to their backbenches. That's all this is.”
When it comes to what the Tories would do differently to Labour, Patel is adamant that UK-Israel relations would never have been allowed to deteriorate so significantly.
“We've always had good relations with the Israeli government. We're proud of that because they keep us safe, and they are an intelligence and security partner.
"And look how contested and dangerous the world is. We need strong allies and partners.”
She contrasts that with “all those little Labour MPs, including Labour ministers”, who solely focus on Palestine and who recognised a Palestinian state despite it not being part of a two-state solution.
But she admits this is not something they would reverse.
“We can't reverse it… you cannot reverse something years after it's been done.”
Patel hit out at the Palestinian Authority (PA)’s so-called pay-for-slay policy and attacked Labour for not pushing the PA hard enough when it came to Reforms.
“We have a Labour government spending our money, UK taxpayers' money, putting it into the pockets and the hands of people that basically are hurting our country and hurting the only democracy in the Middle East.”
Patel is forthright in her condemnation of Labour's portrayal of the levels of aid going into Gaza – something ministers regularly say is insufficient, but which Patel says they’re wrong about.
“They love running over to the chamber to say Israel's terrible. You know, ‘They're all so awful. They blockade.’ Well, I actually went to Cogat [Israel’s Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories]. I saw exactly what they were doing in terms of aid numbers, aid missions, lorries, and crossings.
“Never to this day has the Labour government or Labour ministers been honest about the aid situation and the volume of aid going in, and that's because again they're all too busy placating their backbenches, wanting to get pats on the back.”
She went on to accuse Labour of “misleading and lying to the country about the reality on the ground”, adding: “Britain's never going to have a good relationship with the government of Israel if that's how the British government under Labour are going to behave.”
Patel says she has been characteristically frank in her dealings with Israel’s government, although not in front of the cameras.
She said: “We would have open dialogue, and of course, behind closed doors, I was in Israel. I had many discussions behind those very closed doors, including with Prime Minister Netanyahu.
“We don't have to broadcast what we talk about, but, we are firm, we are robust, and we are fair, and that's what British diplomacy is all about.
"And that is how you conduct yourself respectfully. You know, these guys [Labour] just want to get out the megaphone … that is not what you do to your allies.”
Patel says she has a deep sense of care for the Jewish community as a fellow “north London girl”, having growing up in Harrow, and is horrified by rising antisemitism.
She says some of it is fuelled by the sorts of comments made by politicians who should know better demonising Israel. She believes the situation is worse than she saw growing up.
“There are many many people that I know in the Jewish community … who basically said they've had enough. And that is terrible because for the first time in a long time I keep hearing that people just want to leave and leave the country, which is just not right.
“Britain has always been a very tolerant, open, free country and society. But the level of antisemitism, which I have to say, is being motivated through pure hatred and intolerance, is just unacceptable”, Patel said, adding that those responsible should be “taken off our streets and locked away.”
One issue that particularly irks Patel is criticism from Labour MPs about the Tories’ failure to proscribe Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) during their 14-year stint in government.
She says bluntly: “They're the same people that love to bang on in Parliament and stand up and give their social media clips condemning Israel rather than condemning Iran and Hamas.
“Under us, there were in excess of 400 sanctions placed on Iran … And in 2023, there were 154 designations that were made. And don't forget that this government hasn't proscribed the IRGC; they've designated them.
“I was the home secretary responsible, as everybody knows, for the full prescription of Hamas. I did the full prescription of them, and on top of that, we had a whole new sanctions regime around Iran. We were the first to do it, so it's not this government.”
Are Labour claiming credit for the Conservatives’ work? “They are, they’re totally insincere,” she says.
“The Iranians are money laundering and using cryptocurrency and using our financial system to wash their money through the City of London again and again and again.
"I've challenged the government on this, and they can't answer questions on this because they've done the square root of zero. They're not serious about this ... I think this sums up Labour.”
She’s keen to point out the time spent by MPs and ministers criticising Israel, “an ally of Britain, a country that helps to keep us safe”, rather than Iran.
“A brutal Iranian regime that represses its people and is responsible for October 7, responsible for the conflict in the Middle East, responsible for all the appalling things that we have seen … and now responsible for strikes upon our allies in the Middle East [Israel and Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries] … you don't see Labour standing up and defending our allies.”
When she was at the Home Office, she paid close attention to the Iranians.
“I walked into MI5. I asked MI5 about the resourcing for two countries: one was Iran, one was China.”
She is clear that she was across the threat posed by Iran to Britain and gave the security services the resources they required.
“When it comes to our own country's safety and security, our security services must be empowered to use every single tool that they have at their disposal,” Patel added.
She labels the 60-day ceasefire agreement with Iran a “farce” which she said has “collapsed”, and asked what Britain should do, she replies that: “We've not had a seat at the table, we've got a Labour government that spends all its time attacking and criticising Israel rather than actually trying to find solutions,”
She sees a key weakness in the UK lack of presence on the international stage under Labour.
She blasts the agreement with Mauritius for the future of the Chagos Islands – which would see sovereignty of the Islands handed over, but the strategically important US-UK military base leased back to the UK – at a cost to the taxpayer – as an “absolute disaster”, which she says is motivated by Labour being “apologists for our history”.
“Their idea of foreign policy is cowering to our enemies and basically waving the white flag of surrender around the world”, adding that the deal hurt Britain’s reputation with the Trump administration, amid speculation at the time that Starmer’s government had refused US permission to use the base for strikes on Iran.
The JC has contacted the government for comment.
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