KEMI Badenoch has accused a “dithering” Keir Starmer of “covering up” the Iranian attack on Diego Garcia military base.
She blasted the Prime Minister for not “coming clean” about the botched strikes on the Chagos Islands base shared by the UK and US.
The Tory leader’s explosive comments came after it emerged this morning that Iran had sent two missiles to strike Diego Garcia.
It is understood one of the projectiles failed mid-flight and the other was shot down by a US warship.
But questions are now emerging about when the attack occurred and if the British public were kept in the dark.
Badenoch attacked Starmer’s initial silence on the topic, arguing he needs to “come clean about the details of this latest attack on British troops”.
She said: “Keir Starmer has dithered and delayed on the Iran conflict from the outset.
“Now we find out, from the media and not the Prime Minister, that the British base on Diego Garcia has been the target of Iranian missile attacks.”
Badenoch accused Starmer of an inclination to “cover up the truth”.
“As we saw with Peter Mandelson, Starmer’s first instinct is always to cover up the truth.,” she added.
“On Wednesday he attacked me at PMQs for calling for the proper defence of our bases, now we learn that as he did so our base in the Chagos Islands was being targeted by Iran.
“The Prime Minister needs to immediately come clean about the details of this latest attack on British troops and explain why the public weren’t informed sooner.”
Earlier this morning, she told Times Radio the Prime Minister was not prepared for the UK to be dragged into the conflict.
“He’s basically sat on the fence, hoped it would go away, and then when the news looks like it’s negative, he pretends that he actually made a decision,” she said.
“We didn’t start this war. But if there is any war between the US and Iran, we should never be on the side of Iran. It’s a hostile country that tries to carry out terror plots on UK soil.
“Today we’re hearing that they’ve been firing missiles on Diego Garcia. The sad thing is, whether we like it or not, we’re being dragged into it and what we need is a prime minister who can think ahead.”
A Ministry of Defence spokesman has condemned Iran’s “reckless attacks” after its attempted strikes on the Indian Ocean base.
They said: “Iran’s reckless attacks, lashing out across the region and holding hostage the Strait of Hormuz, are a threat to British interests and British allies.
“RAF jets and other UK military assets are continuing to defend our people and personnel in the region.
“This Government has given permission to the US to use British bases for specific and limited defensive operations.”
