Tory leader Kemi Badenoch has demanded to know whether license-fee funds were directed to Hamas terrorists during the production of a contentious BBC documentary, The Daily Mail reported on Sunday. The MP criticized BBC director-general Tim Davie over the BBC2 film aired last week, which was narrated by the teenage son of a Hamas official (UK Culture Secretary Demands BBC Explain Airing Hamas Propaganda).
In a strongly worded letter obtained by the Daily Mail, Badenoch called for an investigation into any “potential collusion with Hamas” and the “possibility of payments” to terrorists.
The BBC was forced to apologize after it was revealed that Abdullah—the child narrator of “Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone”—is the son of Ayman Alyazouri, Hamas’s deputy minister of agriculture.
Initially, the BBC defended the program and attempted to shift responsibility to London-based production company Hoyo Films, claiming it had not been informed of the Hamas connection. But as it turned out, the contract between the BBC and Hoyo indicated that the corporation was directly and consistently involved, stating: “We will address editorial compliance issues as they arise through regular updates and phone calls with the commissioning editor.”
Another section, also revealed by The Mail on Sunday, said: “Permission will be sought from the parents’ guardians every time we film with them… The producers will act and work as we would in the UK.”
On Sunday night, the BBC was unable to answer Badenoch’s inquiry regarding its making payments to Hamas and claimed it was conducting “further due diligence” on how the program was produced.
Badenoch also argued that the BBC’s bias in covering the Gaza war was not an “isolated incident” and insisted that any review must address what she described as the corporation’s “systemic and institutional bias against Israel.”
She went further, warning that her party could withdraw its support for the license fee unless “serious action” was taken, stressing that senior BBC executives must be included in any investigation.
In her letter to Davie, Badenoch wrote about the program that was shot in Hamas’s tightly controlled Gaza Strip: “How could any program from there be commissioned, without comprehensive work by the BBC to ensure that presenters or participants were – as far as possible – not linked to that appalling regime? Would the BBC be this naive if it was commissioning content from North Korea or the Islamic Republic of Iran?”
Olukemi Olufunto Adegoke Badenoch, 45, has been serving as Leader of the Opposition and Leader of the Conservative Party since November 2024. The first Black person to hold these positions, she previously served in the Cabinet under Prime Ministers Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak from 2022 to 2024. Badenoch has been the Member of Parliament for North West Essex since 2017.
Badenoch has expressed strong support for strengthening UK-Israel relations. During her leadership campaign, she wrote to the Conservative Friends of Israel, stating: “If I am the leader of the Conservative Party, we will continue to strengthen our ties with Israel and root out the tragic resurgence of antisemitism in the UK. We will be true to our values.”
As International Trade Secretary, Badenoch rejected calls to halt arms exports to Israel following the outbreak of the Gaza war and condemned the Hamas-led attack on Israel on 7 October. In a September 2024 Sky News interview, she argued that Israel had demonstrated “moral clarity in dealing with its enemies and the enemies of the West” through military action targeting Hamas and Hezbollah leaders.
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