Kemi Badenoch SLAMMED by Labour and Lib Dems after claiming immigrants bring values that ‘undermine the West’
Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has been hit with backlash after she warned that some immigrants bring “behaviours, cultures and practices” that undermine Western civilisation.
Speaking at the Alliance for Responsible Citizenship (Arc) conference at the ExCel centre, Badenoch claimed Western civilisation faces a “crisis of confidence” despite having “dominated the world for well over two centuries.”
“Millions of people all around the world want to live in the West because they want the benefits,” she told the gathering of 4,000 attendees from 96 countries.
“However, some of them bring behaviours, cultures and practices that will undermine the West and the values that helped make us great.”
However, Labour dismissed Badenoch’s speech, with a party spokesman saying the Conservatives “haven’t listened and they haven’t learned” since the general election.
A party spokesman said: “While Kemi Badenoch indulges in talking-shop politics, this Labour Government is fixing the Tories’ mess.”
The Liberal Democrats accused the Conservative leader of “competing with Nigel Farage to fawn over Donald Trump.”
Deputy Leader Daisy Cooper MP added: “Instead of standing up for Ukraine and Europe’s security, Kemi Badenoch has decided that she would rather parrot Trump’s dangerous rhetoric.”
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In her speech, the Conservative leader also commended US President Donald Trump, implying that he had demonstrated a way to recognise issues within the government.
“Take a look at President Trump. He’s shown that sometimes you need that first instinct in government to spot the problems,” she said. “But it’s the second time around when you really know how to fix them,” she said.
Badenoch argued that immigration levels are “far too high” and that Britain has “no obligation” to support all those wishing to enter the country.
“The British people must come first,” she stated, adding that “our country is not racist” and does not need to “apologise” or “pay reparations”.
Badenoch attacked what she called “weakness” in Western institutions, particularly criticising the European Convention on Human Rights which she claimed had been “weaponised”.
Conservatives have “limited time” to convince the electorate to back them in future, Badenoch said, as she pointed to problems with institutions such as the ECHR.
She told the conference: “I believe that loopholes in liberalism have been found and easily exploited. We have been hacked. The rule of law is what builds so much of the West.”
She added: “We were members of this convention for half a century without this madness. What has changed is not the values, it’s the people. They are afraid of creating any kind of conflict.
“They use the most novel and expansive interpretations of human rights law to avoid it, and we see that lack of confidence now in everything from law and order to national defence, a fear of sticking up for young girls being abused by rape gangs over so many decades so as not to upset community relations.”