Badenoch defends Jenrick over comments that he ‘did not see another white face’ in Birmingham – UK politics live | Politics
Badenoch says she agrees with Jenrick about need for more community integration
Nugent asks about this Guardian story about Robert Jenrick.
Q: Jenrick talks about wanting people to be properly accurate. Do you approve of that?
Badenoch says, given it is the Guardian, she will take it with “a pinch of salt”. She goes on:
They haven’t always been the most accurate newspaper.
She suggests the quotes might have been taken out of context.
I don’t know what was being discussed before he said that. But in and of itself, it’s a factual statement.
If he said he didn’t see another white face, he might have been making an observation. There’s nothing wrong with making observations.
But what he and I both agree with is that there are not enough people integrating. There are many people who are creating separate communities. I’m very worried.
Q: So you agree with his concerns?
Badenoch says:
Well, I wasn’t there, so I can’t say how many faces he saw, but the point is that there are many people in our country who are not integrating. I heard that one of the MPs of that area was accusing him of racism. I completely disagree with that. I want to make that very clear. In fact, I’m quite worried about these sectarian MPs who’ve been elected in Birmingham, very, very divisive politics, people who are more interested in talking about Gaza.
Key events
Badenoch claims Jenrick’s Handsworth comment may have been taken out of context, as she accepts people should not be judged on colour
Kemi Badenoch is on the Today programme now. Anna Foster is interviewing him.
Q: Do you support Jenrick’s comments?
Badenoch says she has not heard the recording. As she suggests Jenrick has been misquoted, Foster says the BBC has heard the recording, and he has not been taken out of context.
Q: Andy Street says Jenrick was wrong. Jenrick said he did not see another white face, and then said he did not want to live in a country like that.
Badenoch says there would have been “context” before that remark. So just looking at two sentences is not fair.
She says she and Jenrick both want a country that is integrated. Skin colour should not matter.
She says we need a “socially cohesive country”.
Q: Is how many white people you see in an area a measure of integration?
Badenoch says people should not care what people look like.
Q: He does.
Badenoch reverts to saying she does not know the context.
But she does not want to live in a country where people are scared of saying things because of concerns about race.
Former Tory mayor Andy Street says Jenrick wrong about Handsworth, saying it’s ‘very integrated place’ and no slum
Kemi Badenoch was asked about the Guardian’s story about Robert Jenrick complaining about Handsworth in Birmingham, saying thata he did not see another white face when he visited and that it was not the sort of Britain he wanted to live in.
On Newsnight last night Andy Street, the former Tory mayor of the West Midlands, was also asked about Jenrick’s comments. He said:
I was very proud to be mayor of the most diverse place in Britain, a Conservative mayor with that background.
Putting it bluntly, Robert is wrong. It’s a place I know very well, Handsworth. It’s come a hell of a long way in the 40 years since the last civil disturbances there.
And it’s actually a very integrated place. If you go along the main streets there, you will see Sikhs, Hindus, Muslims, Christians, a lot of them of African and Caribbean origin, and of course, white people as well. It is actually one of the most successfully integrated place. Brilliant civic society, brilliant faith leadership.
Asked about Jenrick’s claim that he had seen some of the worst slums ever in Handsworth, Street replied:
I think he was trying to make a point which I don’t agree with.
If you go to the schools in Handsworth, I’ve been to a number recently, you see incredible hope, optimism and people taking part in education which is based around British values and thinking about how they can make a contribution to the future of their their region, their city and their area. That is not a definition of a slum.
Badenoch says her experiences as party leader echo what happened to Margaret Thatcher when she became leader in 1975.
She says she has been reading the book Margaret Thatcher: A Tory and Her Party, by Patrick Cosgrave, about this period.
She says she thinks history “rhymes”.
Q: Did you like Jilly Cooper’s books?
Yes, says Badenoch. She says she read Polo, “probably years before I should have read it”.
Q: Do you have a favourite author?
Terry Pratchett, says Badenoch. She says she finds him very funny. She thinks she has all his books, except for the last one.
Q: Do you think Greta Thunberg is a force for good?
Badenoch says she would not say that. She says other people have been campaigning on these issues. And Thunberg started young; Badenoch suggests she was pushed into it.
Asked about the Jenrick story, Badenoch again suggests Guardian reporting is reliable.
Q: Jenrick was making a distinction between white faces and brown faces.
Badenoch says she is often the only black person in a room.
She says Britain has been successful as a multiracial society, but there is still a need for more integration.
Q: Do you agree the bond markets have too much power?
Badenoch says they only have too much power because we are borrowing too much.
Q: Are you proud of the British empire?
Badenoch says the British empire did many good things. That is not to say everything it did was right. She claims in Nigeria, where she grew up, there was a custom of killing twins until the British colonised the country. She has twins in her family, she say. So that is a good thing.
Q: Richard Fuller said at a fringe meeting that there might be a case for means testing the state pension.
Badenoch says that is not party policy.
Q: So why did he say it?
Because we have free debate here, Badenoch says.
Badenoch dismisses case for pact with Reform UK, claiming Farage’s party wants more spending and more welfare
Badenoch says she is surprised support for Labour has collapsed so much.
Q: But you have not benefited.
Of course not, says Badenoch. She says at the last election voters kicked the Tories out.
Q: Can you envisage a pact with Reform UK. Two thirds of your members want that?
Badenoch says she is not splitting the right. Reform want more welfare spending, she claims. The only area where they have things in common is immigration. And their plans are not thought through.
She says Reform UK vote for more spending.
Badenoch says she thinks she is best person to be Tory leader
Q: Last year you said you were concerned about the impact of being PM on your family. Do you want the job?
Yes, says Badenoch. She says she wants to be PM to make the country better.
This week her husband said the children had told him they wished she worked at McDonald’s, because they would get free burgers and she would be home more often.
She says she is doing this because she thinks she is the best person for the job.
Badenoch condemns people taking part in Gaza protests today, on 2nd anniversary of Hamas attack
Badenoch is now being interviewed on Times Radio.
Q: Can anyone protest today about Gaza in good faith, given it is the anniversary of the 7 October Hamas attack on Israel.
Badenoch says no.
Q: So should students who are demonstating be punished?
Badenoch says she would not agree with that. She backs free speech, she says.
Badenoch dismisses claims low turnout is problem for Tory conference
Nugent shows some pictures of the conference hall half empty at one point, during Mel Stride’s speech.
Badenoch does not accept there is a problem with attendance. She says people have been complaining about not being able to get into fringe meetings. And the hall was full for her speech on Sunday, she says.
They end showing this clip of Badenoch singing at an event last night with young Conservatives.
Q: William Hague has a column in the Times today saying there are not enough young members of the party.
Badenoch says the clip shows the opposite. The youth wing is strong, she says.
Badenoch says she agrees with Jenrick about need for more community integration
Nugent asks about this Guardian story about Robert Jenrick.
Q: Jenrick talks about wanting people to be properly accurate. Do you approve of that?
Badenoch says, given it is the Guardian, she will take it with “a pinch of salt”. She goes on:
They haven’t always been the most accurate newspaper.
She suggests the quotes might have been taken out of context.
I don’t know what was being discussed before he said that. But in and of itself, it’s a factual statement.
If he said he didn’t see another white face, he might have been making an observation. There’s nothing wrong with making observations.
But what he and I both agree with is that there are not enough people integrating. There are many people who are creating separate communities. I’m very worried.
Q: So you agree with his concerns?
Badenoch says:
Well, I wasn’t there, so I can’t say how many faces he saw, but the point is that there are many people in our country who are not integrating. I heard that one of the MPs of that area was accusing him of racism. I completely disagree with that. I want to make that very clear. In fact, I’m quite worried about these sectarian MPs who’ve been elected in Birmingham, very, very divisive politics, people who are more interested in talking about Gaza.
Badenoch rejects claim she has ditched plan to delay policy announcements until 2027 – saying she never said that
Kemi Badenoch is on BBC Breakfast. She is being interviewed by Jon Kaye and Sally Nugent.
Q: Your message is tough to deliver. How will you manager?
Badenoch says politics is about doing the right thing. Labour and Reform UK are making promises they won’t be able to keep. She is being honest. Britain needs to take tough decisions on spending, and to control the borders.
Q: You said you would not announce policies until 2027. But now you are announcing policy. What has changed?
Badenoch says nothing has changed. She goes on:
I never said in 2027 – other people kept asking that.
What I said was that we would not announce policies until we had thought them through. No announcements without plans. That’s the way I do things.
She says she did this with ECHR withdrawal.
This is the way that I do politics. It’s politics done properly. I’m an engineer by background, I have not come from a student politics background, like many in the Labour party.
Badenoch faces grilling over lack of support from Tory members as conference continues
Good morning. Kemi Badenoch is doing a round of interviews this morning at the Conservative conference in Manchester, and she is likely to be asked about polling out yesterday suggesting half of party members do not think she will lead the party into the next election. Robert Jenrick, the shadow justice secretary, came top when YouGov asked members who they would vote for if there is another contest, but not overwhelmingly. Jenrick, who gives his speech in the conference hall today, was on 37%, and YouGov only asked about three other alternatives (Boris Johnson, James Cleverly and Priti Patel).
Here is the agenda for the day.
7.30am: Kemi Badenoch is interviewed on BBC Breakfast. She is also on Times Radio at 7.45am, the Today programme at 8.10am, Good Morning Britain at 8.25am and LBC at 8.45am.
10am: Chris Philp, the shadow home secretary, speaks at the conference, followed by Stuart Andrew, the shadow health secretary, at 10.25am.
10.50am: Members have a debate on the meaning of sex.
11.15am: Laura Trott, the shadow education secretary, speaks to the conference.
11.40am: Robert Jenrick, the shadow justice secretary, speaks.
1pm: Jenrick takes part in a fringe Q&A organised by the Daily Telegraph.
2pm: James Cartlidge, the shadow defence secretary, speaks to the conference, followed by Priti Patel, the shadow foreign secretary, at 2.25pm.
2.50pm: Tony Abbott, the former Australian PM, holds a Q&A in the conference hall with Patel.
3.30pm: Michael Heseltine, the former deputy PM, speaks at a fringe meeting on Europe.
Afternoon: Keir Starmer leaves London for a trip to India.
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