Nigel Farage meets Emily Damari’s mother and accuses government of ‘pandering’ to Hamas

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage has accused the government of “pandering” to Hamas and said it was not doing enough to secure the release of Emily Damari, a British hostage held by the terror group.

Yesterday, Farage met Emily’s mother Mandy, who is meeting with political leaders to help raise awareness of her 28-year-old daughter’s plight.

After their meeting, Farage posted a video on X/Twitter in which he said he hoped and prayed she was still alive.

The MP for Clacton in Essex lamented that “almost no one in Britain knows that we still have a British citizen being held captive”.

Farage criticised the government for not doing enough to help secure Emily Damari’s release. He also attacked Foreign Secretary David Lammy for posing for a photo with Mandy Damari and, shortly afterwards, tweeting about “humanitarian assistance in Gaza with not a mention – not a mention – of the hostages or Emily at all”.

Farage, who was first elected to Westminster in July, said the Labour government had “written off the Jewish population. They're not interested. You know why?

"There aren't enough of them, and they're losing votes to hardline Islamist candidates and so they’re pandering to Hamas and the pro-Gaza as a side of the argument,” he said, referencing the defeats experienced by several Labour candidates at the general election to pro-Gaza independent candidates.

“The job of a British government isn't just to defend our territory, it's to stand up for our citizens”, Farage said, referring to the Don Pacifico affair, in which merchant and British subject had his house burned down in an antisemitic attack in Athens in 1850.

Don Pacifico demanded compensation from the Athens government and was backed up by then-foreign secretary Lord Palmerston who sent the Royal Navy to blockade the Greek coast.

Defending his decision in the House of Commons, Palmerston said: “As the Roman, in days of old, held himself free from indignity, when he could say Civis Romanus sum (I am a Roman citizen); so also a British subject, in whatever land he may be, shall feel confident that the watchful eye and the strong arm of England, will protect him against injustice and wrong.”

“We did it to defend our people,” Farage said, adding: “Today we have a British citizen being held by these savages, and the government appears not to even care less.”

The Reform UK leader also highlighted comments by US president-elect Donald Trump who said there would be “hell to pay” if hostages held by Hamas were not released before his inauguration on January 20 next year.

Mr Farage said: “It takes an American president to stand up for a British citizen, because our government, frankly, can't be bothered.”

Yesterday Mandy Damari also met leader of the Conservative Party Kemi Badenoch, who said in a post on X/Twitter: “Mandy told me the harrowing story of Emily's abduction on 7th October 2023 and I pay tribute to her strength as she campaigns for Emily's release. I call on the government to do more to bring the hostages home.” 

Damari also met other MPs including Justice Minister Sarah Sackman, Conservative MP for Harrow East Bob Blackman and Bristol North East MP Damien Egan.

Damari criticised the UK’s lack of focus on the plight of the 101 hostages held by Hamas in a speech at Labour Friends of Israel’s annual dinner on Monday.

She said the government’s decision to back a UN Security Council resolution calling for an unconditional ceasefire that was not tied to the release of hostages broke her heart and would “leave Emily and the other hostages in the hands of Hamas. Giving them no incentive to ever release them”.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, who was a keynote speaker at the pro-Israel group’s event, said following Damari’s speech: “There is no ceasefire worthy of the name, which does not, as item number one include the return of all the hostages. That is what we are working for, day and night.”