Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has been criticised by senior politicians across the political spectrum after she backed Israel’s decision to deny two UK Labour MPs entry to the country.

Abtisam Mohamed and Yuan Yang say were on a trip to visit the occupied West Bank to “witness, first-hand, the situation” and were “astounded” after being stopped at the airport.

Badenoch told the BBC that Israel had a right to “control its borders”, adding it was “very significant” there were Labour MPs other countries did not want to let in.

Foreign Secretary David Lammy said her comments were “disgraceful” while Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey said she had shown “unbelievably poor judgement”.

Senior Tory MP Richard Fuller told Times Radio he thought MPs on officials trips should be “welcomed in any country”, adding “we should all be very worried” about democracy.

Yang, the MP for Earley and Woodley, and Mohamed, the MP for Sheffield Central, flew to Israel from London Luton Airport with two aides on Saturday afternoon.

The Israeli immigration authority said Interior Minister Moshe Arbel denied entry to all four passengers after they were questioned. It accused them of travelling to “document the security forces”.

Badenoch first made her comments when asked on the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg show whether Israel was entitled to refuse entry to the MPs.

“Countries should be able to control their borders,” she said. “What I think is shocking is that we have MPs in Labour who other countries will not allow through, I think that’s very significant…

“I believe that the people who represent us in Parliament should be people who should be able to go anywhere in the world and people not be worried about what they’re going to do when they go into those countries.”

Badenoch said the reason given by the Israelis was that “they don’t believe that they’re going to comply with their laws” and “there are many people that we don’t allow into our country and I don’t think we should be setting precedents in a different way”.

Tagging a video of the Conservative leader’s comments on X, Lammy posted: “It’s disgraceful you are cheerleading another country for detaining and deporting two British MPs.

“Do you say the same about Tory MPs banned from China?

“This government will continue to stand up for the rights of our MPs to speak their mind, whatever their party.”

Reposting the criticism, Badenoch said: “Unlike China, Israel is our ally and a democracy. A good Foreign Sec would be able to make that distinction.

“Perhaps Labour MPs could put UK national interest first and do their jobs instead of campaigning for airports in Kashmir or promoting Hamas propaganda in parliament.”

Further criticism came from Davey on X, who posted: “Kemi Badenoch has once again shown unbelievably poor judgement by failing to back two British MPs denied entry to Israel.

“Yet another complete shocker.”

Foreign Affairs Committee chairwoman Dame Emily Thornberry told Sky News she was “completely gobsmacked” by Badenoch’s comments.

“This is nonsense,” the Labour MP said. “You have to stand up for what’s right, Kemi Badenoch, and you should stand in solidarity with other parliamentarians who were just going to Israel and the West Bank to find out what was going on.”

Badenoch was also contradicted by Tory MP Fuller, who told LBC that Conservative MPs had experienced similar issues in China and he wanted to support the right to travel to other countries.

“I want to support my colleagues,” said Fuller. “This isn’t a partisan thing, as a parliamentarian, we live in a difficult world at the moment.

“Democracies are under threat, we should support them in those circumstances, whether China, Israel, or anywhere…

“On this, my personal view is, parliamentarians should be allowed free passage to other countries, to our allies. We should look at that in a poor light. We should be supporting them.”

Fuller spoke about his boss again on Times Radio, saying he thought MPs on official trips are “going there to be better informed about the situation and then report back to their parliamentary colleagues about what they have found”.

“Democracy isn’t a guarantee in life,” he said. “Freedom isn’t guaranteed.”

Officers hunting for an XL Bully which escaped when police marksmen opened fire on the animal say they have contacted all veterinary practices in Sheffield in a bid to trace it.

Armed police tried to shoot the dog after it became “aggressive” while officers were investigating reports of a gun being fired at a property in Daniel Hill Street, in Hillfoot, on Thursday.

A police spokesperson said it was believed the animal had been injured before fleeing the scene.

The force has urged people not to approach the dog but to call 999 immediately, saying it has “the ability to show aggression and cause harm”.

A police spokesperson said: “Shooting a dog is never a decision taken lightly by our armed officers.

“During what was already a challenging incident, and the risk posed, the decision was made to shoot the dog to progress finding a suspect and weapon and protecting our communities.

“We now believe the dog to have suffered injuries and are urging the public to be vigilant for a loose XL Bully, but also one that may have succumbed to its injuries or been taken somewhere for treatment.

“We have contacted all veterinary practices as part of our enquiries but continue to ask anyone who has received a dog into their care [which] they believe could be this dog to come forward.

“If you see the dog, we continue to urge you not to approach it, as we believe it has the ability to show aggression and cause harm.”

South Yorkshire Police were called to Daniel Hill Street on Thursday night after shots were fired at a house and the windows of a car were smashed.

A few hours later, in the early hours of Friday, officers attended a crash involving a motorbike and a silver VW Golf in Liberty Drive, Stannington, after receiving reports shots had been fired at a man.

The force said 39-year-old Marcus Ned, from Sheffield, had since been charged in connection with the incidents and was due to appear at the city’s magistrates’ court on Monday.

He faces two counts of possession of a firearm with intent to cause fear of violence, possession of a firearm, possession of ammunition without a certificate and attempt to cause grievous bodily harm with intent.

A 39-year-old woman arrested on suspicion of possession of a firearm and a 36-year-old man arrested on suspicion of theft of a motor vehicle have been released on bail.

Meanwhile, police said a 35-year-old man had been arrested on suspicion of affray and released on police bail.

Chief Secretary to the Treasury Darren Jones said the era of globalisation has “ended” following Donald Trump’s new tariffs.

It comes after Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer suggested in a Sunday Telegraph article he was about to announce state intervention to protect UK firms from the US president’s move. The UK was among nations hit with a 10% “baseline” import duty, and negotiations on a trade deal to reduce tariffs are continuing.

“Globalisation as we’ve known it for the last couple of decades has come to an end,” Jones added, in a BBC interview.

Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch disagreed that globalisation was over and pointed to “great” trading relationships with other countries.

There are fears of a global recession following President Trump’s “Liberation Day”, when he announced sweeping import taxes, sparking retaliatory action from countries including China and Canada.

The prime minister has said the government “will do everything necessary to protect Britain’s national interest” and is “ready to use industrial policy” to help shelter businesses, because “the world as we know it has gone”.

Speaking on the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg show, Jones was asked whether globalisation – which has resulted in a boom in imports of cheap fashion, electrical goods and other products – was over.

“Yeah it’s ended, the prime minister said that himself this morning,” he said.

The change meant the UK had to “build out” relationships with allies around the world but also invest in the UK’s own economy, Jones said, denying ministers were “scrabbling” for solutions.

He insisted the government was “trying to get ahead of these challenges” , which he said were “why we have to invest in the domestic economy, both for UK businesses, but also our public services… which is why our plan for change is investing in the NHS and skills as well as industrial policy.”

Amid reports both elements of the spending review and the industrial strategy could now be brought forward from their expected June publication date, he said Labour had been working on the industrial strategy since it was in opposition.

Pressed on whether they would be brought forward, Jones deferred to Sir Keir’s announcement expected in the coming days and laughed when Laura Kuenssberg said “that sounds almost like a yes but you’re not allowed to say it to us this morning”.

The UK government is continuing its policy of not responding with counter-tariffs, as other countries have done, preferring a “calm” approach focused on a UK-US trade deal.

“We’re hoping to do a deal,” Jones said, adding on tariffs that “we have a better outcome than other comparable countries as a consequence of our diplomacy”.

The Liberal Democrats have called for MPs to be allowed to vote on any deal struck with Trump due to concerns about the possibility of changes to regulations around farming, online content and the digital services tax on US social media giants.

The party’s deputy leader Daisy Cooper said it would be “deeply undemocratic” to sideline Parliament on these “critical” issues.

She said: “Both Conservative and Labour MPs should commit now to voting down any Trump deal that sells out British farmers and their high food standards or waters down our online safety rules.”

Asked to rule out watering down the Online Safety Act, Labour’s Jone said protections for children are “non-negotiable” and committed to ensuring that social media platforms are “designed in a way that protects children from harm”.

Environment Secretary Steve Reed has previously said “we won’t undercut British farmers on welfare or environmental standards” in order to secure a US trade deal.

However, Chancellor Rachel Reeves has previously suggested the UK could change its taxes on big tech firms as part of a deal to overturn US tariffs, despite the digital services tax bringing in about £800m per year since its introduction in 2020.

Speaking on the Kuenssberg show, Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch agreed that retaliatory tariffs were not a solution because they would only harm UK consumers.

However, she told Kuenssberg she did not agree globalisation was over, insisting what was happening was only “fragmentation” and that “we still have a great trading relationship with many other countries”.

Badenoch added the Labour government should pick up the deal former Prime Minister Boris Johnson had tried to negotiate with Trump during his previous presidency, which ended in 2020.

Kuenssberg asked whether the deal was “oven-ready”, as she had claimed several times, and Badenoch suggested the government “should “pick up where we left off”, following former president Joe Biden’s decision to dump the deal.

“We had six rounds of negotiations where there were some decisions that were concluded and they can pick that up and take it,” she said.

“The most important thing is removing tariffs – the tariffs are going to be disruptive for our businesses…

“That is going to make a whole mess of the tax take that [chancellor] Rachel Reeves thought she was going to be getting in her budget.

“We are in a worse place now because of the decisions that Labour has made and people out there are suffering.”

People and properties have been evacuated as a wildfire has spread over a large area of forest in Galloway, in the south west of Scotland.

Emergency services were initially called to Glen Trool at about 23:50 on Friday, with police urging people to avoid the area.

The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) said two crews remained on the scene on Sunday morning, with helicopters continuing to water bomb the area.

Rising temperatures across the UK have led to wildfire warnings being put in place for several parts of the country.

Firefighters are also tackling another wild blaze in the west Highlands near Ullapool.

Police have closed a stretch of the A835 between the Achiltibuie junction and the junction at Badagyle.

A spokesperson for the SFRS said the fire in Galloway had now moved on to the nearby Bennan and Lamachan Hills.

Police previously warned of a risk the flames could spread to the Loch Doon area of East Ayrshire after a change in wind direction.

People living in the area, including near Loch Doon, have been asked to keep windows and doors closed.

A helicopter was dispatched to assess damage to the area from above on Sunday morning.

Stewart Gibson, team leader at Galloway Mountain Rescue, said at one point fire crews had four helicopters dropping water on the flames from above, with the fire front “two to three miles wide” at one stage.

He said five groups of walkers were located on the hills on Friday night, but were safely moved away from the area.

Team members were acting as spotters for the police overnight on Sunday, but were stood down at about 04:00.

He urged anyone heading to the hills over the next week to take care and avoid lighting camp fires or naked flames.

Mr Gibson told BBC Radio’s The Sunday Show: “It’s an exceptionally dry period of weather we have been having and I know for the next week it is going to be very dry as well.

“So anyone out with a camping stove, anything can park the fire, so we would urge anyone out to take care.

“We would advise people not to light camp fires and use naked flames.”

Police urged people to stay away from the site and urged and anyone camping nearby to leave. Areas affected include Merrick Hill, Ben Yellary and Loch Dee.

Another wildfire had been reported around the same the area on Thursday and covered some 1.5 miles (2.4km).

Scotland has seen a number of fires over the last few weeks as the weather gets warmer and drier.

The fire service issued an “extreme” warning for wildfires and the public has been urged to avoid lighting any fires outdoors until next week.

It warned that there was typically a large volume of “dead, bone-dry vegetation across large areas of countryside” at this time of year which acts as a fuel for fire.

The SFRS said hills are particularly prone to wildfires because the fire can spread far quicker uphill than on flatter ground.

BBC Scotland weather presenter, Christopher Blanchett, said the south of Scotland had only recorded about 30%-50% of its expected rainfall for March.

However, some areas close to the location of the fire at Glen Trool were drier still, with Scottish Environment Protection Agency rain gauge data showing rainfall at just 20% of expected levels.

He said: “This part of the Galloway forest hasn’t recorded any rainfall for more than a week, with the last wet weather here on 29 March.

“Overall, it’s been a dry start to April in Scotland and this followed a very dry March. There’s no rain forecast for the region for around another week too.

“In addition to the dry conditions, Friday and Saturday have been quite windy across the south west. On Friday night, the east-north-easterly winds were gusting close to gale force on the Solway coast.

He added: “All of these factors combined can help fuel wildfires and allow them to spread”.

Meanwhile an amber alert for wildfires is in place for parts of England, southern Scotland and Northern Ireland until Monday.

A huge gorse fire spanning about two miles (3.2km) in the Mourne Mountains in County Down is being tackled by the Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service.

Police believe that fire may have been started deliberately.

The UK saw its warmest day of the year so far on Friday as temperatures reached 23C (73F) in the south of England.

Otterbourne and Gosport in Hampshire saw the highest temperatures and were warmer than Ibiza, Rhodes and Cyprus.

Cardiff was expected to see the mercury rise to 21C, while Scotland and Northern Ireland were forecast to be cooler, with around 10C in Edinburgh and 15C in Belfast predicted.

Temperatures are forecast to fall this weekend as cooler air moves down from the north. England’s south coast will be warmest on Saturday with an expected high of 21C, while Sunday will peak nearer 17C.

Before Friday, the highest temperature recorded so far this year was 21.3C in Northolt, west London, and Chertsey, Surrey, on 20 March.

Last month was the sunniest March in England since records began in 1910, according to the Met Office. It was also very dry, with the UK’s rainfall total just 43% of the usual amount.

Whereas, the highest April temperature ever recorded in the UK was 29.4C on 16 April 1949.

Friday will be warm across most of the country. Temperatures will be lower near North Sea coasts, where the wind is blowing from the sea and temperatures are around 13C.

Wild temperature swings are not unusual at this time of year.

Parts of southern England already hit highs of 20.7C on Thursday and 20.1C in the Scottish Highlands.

Scotland had its warmest day of the year on Thursday but temperatures both there and in Northern Ireland will be a little lower on Friday.

Temperatures are forecast to fall at the weekend as cooler air moves down from the north.

The south coast of England will be warmest on Saturday, reaching 21C, while the highest temperature in the UK on Sunday will be nearer 17C – still well above the seasonal norm.

Northern Ireland will be cooler this weekend but is set to turn warmer again next week with temperatures of up to 18C expected.

Heading into next week, the risk of overnight frost will return for the beginning of the week but it is expected to warm up again, with temperatures forecast to be back up to 21C in Scotland.

Throughout this time it is still looking dry, and those conditions are ideal for wildfires starting and spreading.

Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) said on Wednesday that there was a “very high to extreme risk” of fires spreading while Cumbria Fire and Rescue service urged the public to act responsibly to cut the risk of wildfires.

The fire service has tackled blazes this week near Bonhill in West Dunbartonshire and in the Kilpatrick Hills near Milngavie, East Dunbartonshire.

Elsewhere, more than 126 acres (51 hectares) were left charred after a fire at Upton Heath in Poole shortly before midnight on Wednesday, and a second fire broke out at nearby Canford Heath on Thursday morning.

Dorset & Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service said the fires were both “down to human intervention”.

In England there were 185.8 hours of sunshine in March, according to the Met Office, the country recorded its sixth driest March and Wales its fourth driest since records began in 1836.