Kemi Badenoch has admitted the Tories have a “mountain to climb” as she closed her first conference speech as party leader.
The Conservative leader spoke at the opening of the Tory party’s four-day conference in Manchester on Sunday afternoon.
She described the Conservatives as the party that will “strengthen our borders, restore our sovereignty and rebuild our prosperity”.
On the eve of the event, she unveiled plans for a special task force, called the “Removals Force” to deport 750,000 illegal immigrants from the UK.
Now speaking on stage, she said: “To me and the shadow cabinet, the resulting policy decision is also clear. We must leave the ECHR and repeal the Human Rights Act.
“I want you to know that the next Conservative manifesto will contain our commitment to leave. Leaving the convention is a necessary step but it is not enough on its own to achieve our goals.”
She added: “This is the only way to end spurious claims from immigrants with spurious lawyers and excuses. This is the only way to allow the next British government, a Conservative government, to deliver a British borders plan in full.”
Badenoch admits Tories have ‘mountain to climb’ as she ends speech
Kemi Badenoch has admitted the Tories have a “mountain to climb” as she closed her first conference speech as party leader.
She told attendees: “This is a party under new leadership with a renewed purpose – we have listened, we have learned, and we have changed.”
She described the Conservatives as the party that willl “strengthen our borders, restore our sovereignty and rebuild our prosperity”.
She concluded her speech by saying: “Yes, we have a mountain to climb, but we have a song on our hearts, and we are up for the fight.”
Badenoch: Labour and Reform are ‘two sides of the same coin’
The Independent’s political correspondent Millie Cooke reports:
Labour and Reform are “two sides of the same coin”, Kemi Badenoch has argued, claiming neither of the two parties offer “the leadership that Britain deserves”.
“You will have seen last week both Labour and Reform shouting at one another, trading insults instead of solutions. One flings around the word racist and will not be realistic about what is going wrong. The other whips up outrage, offering simplistic answers that will fall apart on first contact with reality. That is not serious politics”, the Tory leader said on Sunday.
“Neither of those parties offers the leadership that Britain deserves. The truth, is that Labour and Reform are two sides of the same coin.
“Both deal in grievance, both divide our country into tribes and labels. Both practice identity politics which will destroy our country. And I am saying no – no to division and no to identity politics.”
Badenoch insists leaving ECHR is ‘necessary step’ for ‘British border plan’
Kemi Badenoch is outlining her pledge to leave the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) if the Conservative Party get into power at the next general election.
The Tory leader told attendees at their party conference: “We must leave the ECHR and repeal the Human Rights Act.”
She described it as a “necessary step”, claiming it is “the only way to allow a British government, a British Conservative government, to deliver a British border plan”.
And she claimed doing so “would not mean that we lose any of the rights we cherish”.
Badenoch takes aim at Truss in promise to ‘learn from mistakes’
The Independent’s political correspondent Millie Cooke reports:
Kemi Badenoch has taken aim at previous Tory governments in her address to the Tory party conference in Manchester, saying: “Our mistakes on the economy and on immigration lost us the trust and confidence of the public”.
She told party members that the public “won’t listen to us again until we show them we have learnt from our mistakes and changed”, adding: “We’ve got to do this and weve got to do this properly.”
She continued: “What have we learnt? That you can’t have a budget that has £150bn of spending giveaways and billions more in tax cuts without saying where the money is coming from. We have to show we have learnt from the policy mistake of letting bureaucrats decide the immigration system. We failed to bring the numbers down and stop the boats, lets be honest, that happened on our watch. Yes we tried, but put simply, we didn’t achieve enough.
“After years of responsible and effective government, our mistakes on the economy and on immigration lost us the trust and confidence of the public.”
Badenoch claims pro-Palestine protests have become ‘carnivals of hatred directed at Jewish homeland’
Kemi Badenoch has claimed pro-Palestine protests have become “carnivals of hatred directed at the Jewish homeland”.
She said: “You have no right to turn our streets into theatres of intimidation and we will not let you do so anymore.”
Badenoch: ‘Why can’t we control our borders and remove those who need to go?’
Kemi Badenoch has questioned: “Why can’t we control our borders and remove those who need to go?”
Giving her welcome speech on Sunday afternoon, the Conservative leader will pledge to use a special task force to deport 750,000 illegal immigrants from the UK.
Badenoch’s speech clashes with former leadership rival Jenrick
The Independent’s political correspondent Archie Mitchell reports:
Kemi Badenoch’s speech was delayed in getting underway, and she faces clashing with her former leadership rival Robert Jenrick.
The Tory leader’s speech is now running against a fringe event featuring the shadow justice secretary.
He is still seen as a potential challenger to woo Ms Badenoch and is appearing at a slew of events in the coming days as he seeks to woo activists and cement his popularity with MPs.
He has dominated the headlines with stunts including a video in which he tackled fare-dodgers on public transport.
And as Ms Badenoch looks to make an impression on the country and build her own brand, she risks being overshadowed once more by Mr Jenrick.
Badenoch: Tory conference is about ‘return to values that define our country at its best’
The Independent’s political correspondent Millie Cooke reports:
This year’s Conservative Party conference is about a “return to values that defined our country at its best”, Kemi Badenoch has said, promising that her party is “ready to earn the trust of the British people again”.
She added: “But I didn’t say it would be easy. I didn’t say it would be quick. Nothing really worth doing is. Anyone who tells you there are easy answers to the questions this country faces is either lying to you or lying to themselves.”
“We have plenty of reasons to be cheerful. As one of my great predecessor’s Margaret Thatcher put it: ‘The facts of life are conservative'”.
Tories would introduce ‘reset’, Badenoch pledges
Kemi Badenoch has said the Conservatives would introduce a “reset” if they were to get into power at the next general election.
She told the Tory Party conference a government under her would be “politics done differently, politics done properly”.
‘Extremism has gone unchecked’ in Britain, Badenoch claims
Kemi Badenoch has claimed “extremism has gone unchecked” in Britain.
Speaking at the Tory Party conference, she told attendees: “We have tolerated this in our country for too long.”
