#danny-kruger-mp — Public Fediverse posts
Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #danny-kruger-mp, aggregated by home.social.
-
War, war, war
Hostilities continue with little sign of lasting peace let alone reconciliation
April 2026
There is a ceasefire in Gaza/killings continue; the straight of Hormuz is open/the straight of Hormuz is closed; the Iranians have agreed to hand over their nuclear material; the Iranians will not hand over their nuclear material; there is a ceasefire in southern Lebanon; homes continue to be demolished in southern Lebanon. Welcome to the now you see it, now you don’t world of Middle East warfare.
At one level it is bizarre. Largely stemming from Washington, it seems to represent a desperate desire by the Americans and President Trump to claim some kind of victory for the ill-considered and catastrophic war they were persuaded into by the Israelis. At another level it is a disaster in which death, destruction and human misery is foisted on the peoples of Gaza, Lebanon and Iran. The killing is wanton. The pretence that the bombing and killing is directed at terrorists and because innocent people are human shields seems no longer to be the story in town.
In addition to the visible destruction there is the treatment of Palestinians in prisons around Israel which the latest UN report discusses. In exposing this practice, Francesca Albanese has been atrociously treated by the Americans as we discussed in our previous post.
Any Questions? and Danny Kruger
It is disappointing to listen to some of our politicians speaking in support of this continuing violence and carnage in the region as some kind of solution to the problems there. One such is the Reform politician Danny Kruger, the MP For East Wiltshire, a constituency touching on Salisbury. In a BBC radio programme called ‘Any Questions?’ where members of the audience put questions to a panel of – for the most part – politicians, he said in answer to a question on the Pope’s comments about Donald Trump:
“[It is] important that the Americans and Israelis win this war (audience demurs) and it is important the right side comes out on top. The Americans and Israelis were right to recognise that Iran poses and existential threat to its own region and to the safety of the world. One day we are going to have to take on the challenge of defeating the Iranian regime, the most evil regime in the world and I recognise why so many people are appalled at how President Trump conducts himself. […]
“But guys, you’ve got to be on the right side of this conflict. […] Fundamentally, the Iranians are the bad guys in this conflict and it’s really important that their power to develop nuclear weapons and their power to support terrorist organisations around the region – and in this country – [are] degraded. So I really, really hope that the outcome of this conflict is a weaker Iran.” (our italics)
Noticeable in this one-sided approach to the conflict is the absence of balance. No one would claim that the Iranian regime is other than a violent and unpleasant one, but the language of ‘winning’, ‘defeat’ and the desire to see a ‘weaker Iran’ is disappointing to say the least. Since it is Israel which has been engaged in bombing and assassinations, the absence of any mention of their activities – the killing of over 70,000 in Gaza for example, and the current process of demolitions in south Lebanon – is questionable. Is it only Iran posing an ‘existential threat to the region?’. Israel is the only nuclear power after all. One wonders if Mr Kruger has ever read the speeches of Ben Gvir or Bezalel Smotrich?
Caterpillar Tractors
On the subject of demolitions, our attention has been drawn to a YouTube post on the activities of the American plant company Caterpillar which provides the armoured machines enabling the demolitions in south Lebanon and Gaza to be carried out. See ‘How Caterpillar profits from the genocide in Gaza and [US citizens] pay for it.‘
124th v igil
Yes, they continue with over 30 yesterday (18 April) with around 40 passing motorists sounding their horns.
No sign of another local MP, Mr John Glen, who is a ‘proud’ member of Conservatives Friends of Israel the biggest lobby organisation in Parliament. Along with some Labour ministers like Peter Kyle and David Lammy, they are part of a large contingent of around 150 MPs who promote the interests of Israel in parliament.
- War, war, war
- UN rapporteur sanctioned by the US
- Will peace talks succeed?
- April minutes and newsletter
- Government deceit concerning arms exports
-
Shocking remarks by Danny Kruger MP
The Reform MP is asked about Israel and Gaza
November 2025
Danny Kruger is the MP for East Wiltshire (part of a county in England) and was voted in as a Conservative candidate in 2024. He switched just over a year later to become a Reform MP. He has a range of largely bizarre views and was interviewed by a Guardian journalist the results of which were published on 22nd of this month.
Our concern is not with his overall political views but on the specific remarks he made in answer to questions about Israel and Gaza which have implications for human rights. The journalist is Charlotte Edwardes. That section is as follows:
“[…] We move on to the conflict in Israel and Gaza, because he’s declared Palestine woke and I’d like to know how. He says the position of Israel is important to our politics in the UK, but also to the west in general, “because it stands for the idea of the nation and of western civilisation being something worth defending. [Israel] is fighting the battle for all of us in the Middle East”.
“Kruger does not believe Israel is committing genocide in the region: he says all the deaths in Gaza are the responsibility of Hamas. Nor does he feel Benjamin Netanyahu’s government has gone too far. “The children wouldn’t die if Hamas was not a security threat to Israel” he argues. “I can’t judge the precise tactics of particular IDF operations. I can well imagine there have been atrocities and excesses, as happens in wartime.” Is there no price too great in terms of human life for the elimination of Hamas? “Well, if that price is the elimination of Israel, then nothing is too great […].”
Normally, statements such as these would go unremarked being just one of many foolish statements made by a variety of MPs. But Kruger is advising Nigel Farage, the leader of Reform who, current polls predict are in a good position to form a government in the next election. He is thus someone who is influential and may be in a position to influence policy if Reform are successful in forming a government. A reading of the whole article – the result of three interviews – sees another journalist struggling to make sense of his remarks.
Comments
- His comments are simplistic. To say ‘all the deaths in Gaza are the responsibility of Hamas’ is a gross distortion. It is accepted that Hamas is a terrorist organisation and the attack on October 7th was horrific. But Israel’s response has been wholly disproportionate making Gaza a wasteland and killing 70,000 Palestinians – many of them women and children.
- He shows no sign of recognising the history of the conflict. It did not start on October 7th as so many of the Israeli cheerleaders want us to believe but its roots lie in the events following 1948/9 and the brutal expulsion and murder of at least 750,000 Arabs and Palestinians. He makes no reference to the system of apartheid operating in Israel making non-Jews second class citizens. As someone who has a DPhil degree from Oxford, it might be expected to see a greater understanding of historical causes of conflict.
- It displays a degree of callousness to the suffering of the people of Gaza. To say ‘the children would not die if Hamas was not a security threat to Israel’ is crass not to say offhand. Elsewhere in the interview (and in other interviews and commentary) he makes great play of his Christian faith yet there is no sign of this in these comments.
- Denial. He denies that Israel is committing genocide. He echoes the Labour government’s position on this which is no recommendation. How would you describe the deaths of 70,000, the deliberate destruction of all the hospitals, schools and water treatment plants, preventing food, water and medicines to enter the area? Perhaps there is another word Mr Kruger would like to deploy?
- ‘Palestine [is] woke’ means what exactly? The interviewer does not get an answer.
- The use of weasel words and phrases. ‘I cannot judge the precise tactics of IDF operations …’ is trite although he admits there have been atrocities and excesses. He has been quick to condemn Hamas (does he know the ‘precise tactics’ of their operations?) but tries to excuse IDF operations with these weasel words. The use of cluster munitions, using massive 500lb bombs to blow up entire buildings with no concern for who’s inside, parking remote control vehicles packed with explosives outside apartment blocks and blowing them up ditto.
- His statement that Israel ‘stands for the idea of the nation and of western civilisation being something worth defending’ and that the country is ‘fighting the battle for all of us in the Middle East’. Can this really be true? How does apartheid fit into that? How does attacking olive farmers and destroying their trees count as civilised? Gangs attacking Palestinian villages at will with the police and army standing by – is this fighting the battle for all of us? The murder of many Palestinians in Israeli prisons. Holding over a thousand Palestinians in sometimes underground cells and the use of vile torture methods – are these values Mr Kruger wants us to support?
- Finally, no mention or recognition of the violence on the West Bank.
- His answer to the question ‘is there no price too great … ?’ is especially damning.
What emerges is someone who has a surface view of history and seemingly no understanding of the conflict or its roots. It is a combination of naivete and surface thinking. He seems to have swallowed Israeli ‘talking points’ wholesale. It lacks balance. Perhaps the most shocking part of the interview is the shear callousness concerning the death of children in vast numbers. We could add those who have lost limbs or have starved to death. This throwaway remark seems to be widely at odds with his purported Christian beliefs. He may be in an influential position in government after the next election when these beliefs will matter.
The full Guardian interview can be read here.
Recent posts: