Sir Keir Starmer was last night accused of being a ‘hypocrite’ by Kemi Badenoch for condemning an attack on RAF Brize Norton – having previously defended airbase protesters and used them to build support for his Labour leadership campaign.
The Prime Minister described the raid on the base by Palestine Action as ‘disgraceful’ and an ‘act of vandalism’ after the group posted footage showing protesters spraying red paint into the engines of two Airbus Voyager aircraft.
But Sir Keir has not only argued, during his legal career, that breaking into an airbase and sabotaging its aircraft should be legal – he actually featured an activist in the video used to launch his successful leadership bid in 2020.
When he was working as a human-rights barrister, Sir Keir defended Josh Richards, who was arrested after cutting the fence at RAF Fairford while carrying a petrol mixture intended to set fire to the aircraft.
In stark contrast to his words on Friday, Starmer argued that Mr Richards’ action was legal on the grounds that he was acting to prevent a wider crime – the Iraq war.
Sir Keir also represented Lindis Percy, who was arrested over 500 times for breaking into and protesting outside RAF and US bases.
In January 2020, when he was running for the Labour leadership, Sir Keir featured Ms Percy in his campaign launch video, in which she said, against the backdrop of images of campaigners: ‘Keir defended me, and many others, to bring public scrutiny and awareness to the presence of the US visiting forces so that we can live in a more peaceful and less secretive society. Keir never asked for anything in return.’
After Friday’s attack, Sir Keir posted a message on X, formerly Twitter, saying: ‘The act of vandalism committed at RAF Brize Norton is disgraceful.
‘Our Armed Forces represent the very best of Britain and put their lives on the line for us every day. It is our responsibility to support those who defend us.’
Last night, after No10 tried to justify the Prime Minister’s actions by saying that under the ‘cab rank rule’ barristers were obliged to accept any case they were offered, Tory leader Kemi Badenoch said: ‘This is nothing to do with the barristers’ cab rank rule or a lawyer defending their client.
‘It’s about integrity. I believe that those who aim to damage the British military are extremists and criminals who deserve to be thrown in jail.
‘Keir Starmer is so proud of them he puts them in his campaign videos for the Labour leadership.
‘This might help explain why, from paying £30billion to surrender the Chagos Islands, to signing several bad trade deals, when this Labour Prime Minister negotiates, Britain keeps losing. Starmer is a hypocrite and represents everything that is wrong with politics.’
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper will move to proscribe the Palestine Action group in the coming weeks, effectively branding it as a terrorist organisation.
It comes as the intelligence services are investigating whether Palestine Action has been covertly funded by Iran. A security review is now under way at military bases across the UK.
A spokesman for Palestine Action said: ‘When our government fails to uphold its moral and legal obligations, it is the responsibility of ordinary citizens to take direct action.’
UK defence industry representatives have met with ministers on five occasions, appealing for them to take action against the group, arguing that the cost from the protests is running into tens of millions of pounds.
Kevin Craven, the chief executive officer of ADS, the trade association for the UK’s aerospace defence security and space sectors, said: ‘We have repeatedly engaged with government and policing services, who are responding to a complex and evolving situation in a considered, encouraging and appropriate manner.
‘But the scenes from Brize Norton are extremely worrying, and are indicative of a wider environment that our defence sector has been facing for some time.
‘Regrettably, this type of violence and criminal damage is not new to our sectors; our members have been increasingly targeted over the past two years.’
