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.
