Kemi Badenoch thinks people leaving Conservatives is a ‘good thing'
Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has said that defections from her party are a "good thing" because those who are leaving "don't believe in conservatism".
Her comments come as Nigel Farage 's Reform party has taken a steady stream of councillors from the Tories in Scotland in recent months.
On Thursday, Lauren Knight, who represents the Huntly, Strathbogie and Howe of Alford ward on Aberdeenshire Council, defected to Reform. The party has claimed to have 11,000 members north of the border.
Reform recently surged in the Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse Holyrood by-election, rising to third place and coming close to the SNP in the seat, which was won by Labour 's Davy Russell.
Despite the perceived threat to the Tories from Reform, Ms Badenoch said she did not have an issue with people leaving for the party.
She told journalists at the Scottish Tory conference: 'Reform are not a centre-right party.
'This is a party that's talking about nationalising oil and gas.
'This is a party that wants to increase benefits at a time when the benefits bill is so high.
'So if Nigel Farage is taking out of the Conservative Party the people who are not Conservatives, then I'm quite fine with that.
' One of the things that we ned to do is make sure that people see an authentic Conservative Party, we don't want people who want nationalisation and more benefits.'
She later added: 'If offering a very, very clear kind of conservatism is now sending out the people from our party who don't believe in our values in the long run, that's a good thing.
'There is no point in us just accumulating lots of people who don't believe in conservatism just so we can win, then when we get into government, we can't govern.
'That's what we saw happen before, that's what we're seeing with Labour, they don't have a plan.
'They just had a plan to win elections and now they're going round and round in circles.
'We want to have people who believe in our agenda, not just people who want to be politicians.'
The Tory leader also hit out at former Tory MSP Jamie Greene – who defected to the Lib Dems earlier this year, attacking his support for the Scottish Government's controversial – and ultimately blocked – gender reforms.
'How anyone could have supported what was obviously a mad piece of legislation and think themselves a Conservative is beyond me,' she said.
Former party leader Jackson Carlaw and current health spokesman Dr Sandesh Gulhane both also backed the Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill.
Speaking as she made her first appearance at the Scottish Tory conference since taking over as leader, Ms Badenoch declared Nigel Farage a 'threat to the union'.
'If he wants the SNP to have another five years, then that is a threat to the union,' she said.
She pointed to an interview Mr Farage gave to the Times earlier this year where he suggested his party could side with the SNP ahead of Labour, but he added that Scotland was 'not going to leave the United Kingdom, it's not going to happen in a month of Sundays'.
In her speech, the Tory leader said: 'In April this year, Nigel Farage said he would be fine with the SNP winning another five years in power.
'He's fine with another five years of higher bills, longer waiting lists, declining school standards, gender madness, and ultimately, independence.'
Addressing members of the party, she said 'Scottish people deserve better' than another five years of the SNP – the party currently leading in the polls ahead of next year's election – while also announcing her party would scrap the windfall tax on oil and gas if it wins back power at the next UK-wide vote.
While the SNP may be in the lead, some polls suggest Reform could beat Labour to second place and push the Tories to fourth.
'In April this year, Nigel Farage said he would be fine with the SNP winning another five years in power,' she said in her speech.
'He's fine with another five years of higher bills, longer waiting lists, declining school standards, gender madness, and ultimately, independence.'
Addressing her first Scottish conference since taking on the top job, Ms Badenoch claimed: 'Reform will vote to let the SNP in, Conservatives will only ever vote to get the nationalists out.'
Part of her 'positive vision of the future' includes 'standing up' for the North Sea oil and gas industry, with Mrs Badenoch claiming that by increasing the energy profits levy – also known as the windfall tax – the Tories had introduced, Labour is 'killing the oil and gas industry'.
Speaking about the levy, she said: 'Frankly if it is allowed to remain in place until 2030, as is Labour's current plan, there will be no industry left to tax.
'Thousands will have been made unemployed and all the while we import more gas from overseas – from the very same basin in which we are banned from drilling.'
She called on the UK Government to remove the energy profits levy, as she added that the Tories would also 'scrap the ban on new licences' for oil and gas developments that has been imposed since Labour came to power.
'We will champion our own industry,' Mrs Badenoch told supporters.
'We will let this great British, great Scottish industry thrive, grow and create jobs – ensuring our energy security for generations to come and making Scotland richer in the process.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Sun
an hour ago
- The Sun
Channel migrants queue for cash in hand jobs as secrets of UK's £260bn illegal economy revealed
CASH-in-hand labour by migrants who crossed the Channel is a driving force in the UK's illegal economy, which is worth an astonishing £260billion. A Sun on Sunday investigation found how those coming here illegally on small boats are working for knock-down prices as they are exploited by unscrupulous bosses. 6 6 6 Economic experts estimate that the size of the entire illegal economy is worth a quarter of a trillion pounds — equivalent to ten per cent of Britain's entire output. This deprives the Treasury of billions at the very time economists are warning that Chancellor Rachel Reeves faces increasing taxes to fund her £113billion expenditure on major building projects. It is estimated that £2.2billion-worth of tax is evaded annually by individuals or firms operating entirely in the black economy. Figures from the National Centre for Social Research (NatCen) suggest that one in 11 adults are now involved in the black economy here — with a high level of migration since 2022 linked to the amount of cash-in-hand work. Nigel Farage said: 'The British people are being taken for fools again. We already know that our borders are in chaos. 'But thanks to successive Labour and Tory governments, those arriving then go on to work illegally on the £260billion black-market economy — all the while we are paying for their accommodation.' The reality behind these statistics was evident at first light last week as a group of 20 men — including those from Afghanistan — huddled beneath a flyover in Barking, East London. They were attempting to find work as labourers for as little as £30 a day. One of them, who gave his name as Torab and said he was 23, claimed he had arrived in the UK on a dinghy. He said: 'I arrived in England on a tiny boat with 48 people. The boat was so small I thought it was going to sink. Fury as hotel firm housing asylum seekers in 'all-inclusive resorts' paid £700M a year of YOUR money 'I live in Luton, in a hotel with other asylum seekers. Two people in my room, me and another man from Afghanistan. I come here to Barking two, three times a week. It takes about one and a half hours. I arrive here no later than 6.30am. I don't know if the work will come. 'I normally do building work, carpentry, but will do whatever there is. 'They give me £70 a day, sometimes £80. I think it's a fair price.' Ato, 33, from Accra, Ghana, who said he arrived in the UK in the back of a lorry, moaned: 'There's too many people here today. 'The cars come and you have to run to get a job first before the others waiting, but there are always more than 15 people trying. 'I come twice a week normally. I used to come more but there is little work here now. 'When the work comes, the pay is not so good. They're long days, lots of hours, and sometimes it's just £30 or £40. Sometimes people don't get paid. Yes, I like the UK because there are jobs. But it's hard with no money, with no work.' At 6am last Monday, there were around 15 to 20 men waiting but that had increased to 30 by 7.30am. Some wore backpacks and carried paint-smeared buckets and tools. The following day, 15 miles away in Stanmore, North West London, a queue of men gathered outside a builders' merchant — not to work there but hoping to be transported to jobs elsewhere. A red Toyota car pulled up and the passenger doors opened, causing a rush of men to try to get in. After less than a couple of minutes of apparent negotiations with the driver, just three men got in, leaving the others looking disappointed at failing to land work. 6 6 The same scenes are said to be common in cities up and down the country. In Leeds, migrants congregated on a road to try to get cash-in-hand work on Thursday morning, as builders' vans pulled up. At 8am two of the waiting men approached our reporters and asked if they were looking for workers. One man, who said he was Romanian and called Alex, asked in broken English: 'You got any work? I'm a very good builder, very good paver.' He said he turned up every day to the same roadside spot, hoping to be picked up for a shift, quoting £100 for a full day's labour, insisting on cash only. His pal, who also said he was from eastern Europe, said: 'I'm a builder — brickwork, tile work, plasterboard work. I can do it for you.' Asked why they stood on that particular corner, he nodded towards passing vehicles on a busy main road: 'Because of the English guys in vans, they stop for us.' The number of people participating in the black market for jobs has grown by 80 per cent since 2016, according to NatCen's report. A rise in the level of illegal migration was one of the main factors blamed for this. Politicians in France, where the authorities are accused of failing to stop migrants boarding Dover-bound small boats, have blamed Britain's lax tax rules and lack of enforcement action as key reasons. But last week the Home Office boasted there had been a 51 per cent surge in the number of arrests in immigration enforcement since the general election last year. Facebook was reported by The Times last week to have a vast illegal market in delivery app log-ins, such as Deliveroo, being offered for 'rent' to black market workers. Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch said: 'Britain's being mugged. This black-market economy is undermining real businesses and sucking cash out of public services. 'Labour promised to smash the gangs, but Starmer cancelled the only workable deterrent, and now we're seeing the highest numbers of small boat crossings on record. Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said: 'Unscrupulous employers and illegal workers will be held to account under this Government — since coming into power we have increased raids and arrests for illegal working by 50 per cent compared to the previous year, with 9,000 visits and 6,410 arrests. 'We must not stand for this. The rules need to be respected and enforced." KICK THEM OUT NOW By Nigel Farage, Leader of the Reform Party ON Question Time last week, Labour's clueless Treasury minister Darren Jones made an extraordinary claim. He told the BBC's top debate show that 'the majority of people in these boats are children, babies and women' when they cross the Channel. This is simply not true. The Government's own website states: 'Seventy per cent of people detected arriving irregularly have been adult males aged 18 and over.' And — thanks to the exclusive Sun on Sunday investigation published here — we now know what many of them get up to once they arrive. The British people are being taken for fools again. We already know that our borders are in chaos. But, thanks to successive Labour and Tory governments, those arriving then go on to work illegally on the £260billion black market economy. And all the while we pay for their accommodation. If Barking in East London is anything to go by, this scandal is playing out in towns and cities right across the country. Nearly 40,000 boat migrants have arrived since Labour came to power — and numbers are up 40 per cent on this time last year. How many of these already work on the black market without paying tax? Labour has long championed the mantra of British jobs for British workers. But brickies and builders are being undercut by illegal labour. Britain is in social and economic decline. The social contract is stretched to its limits. People that pay their taxes and play by the rules increasingly feel shafted. Yes, these migrants may be victims of exploitation — but they are also part of the criminal economy. Unscrupulous bosses are laughing all the way to the bank while British workers get priced out again. I was the first to highlight the impending invasion of young, un- documented males. Most of the media ignored me. But we can now see I was right. Immigration is out of control. The situation in the Channel is a security emergency. If we cannot stop this in Barking, how on earth will we control the borders in Dover? Keir Starmer's soft touch is laughable. He promised to smash the gangs — but all he has smashed are illegal immigration records. The only way to deal with this problem is to say everyone that comes to Britain illegally will be deported — and actually mean it. That means leaving the European Convention on Human Rights. We need immediate deportations.
Telegraph
3 hours ago
- Telegraph
Reform is Corbynism with a flag: the Tories stand for economic freedom
I confess I shudder every time I hear that word. Yet politicians from Keir Starmer to Nigel Farage are now gleefully chanting 'nationalisation!' as a solution to every economic challenge in the utterly deluded belief that the answer to our problems is getting civil servants to take control of business. The Conservative Party knows that the state is already too big, much too slow, and doing far too much and doing it badly. Some of that happened under previous Conservative governments. It's my job to fix this and to ensure that those mistakes are never repeated. The solution isn't more government, it's smarter government, better government – and that means getting out of the way of private enterprise. Growth comes from business, from the risk-takers, from the people who devote their time, money and energy to building things. It doesn't come from the politicians sat in offices dreaming up new ways to spend your taxes. Yet that is now the way Starmer and Farage are talking about economic growth. Let's start with oil and gas. As many as 10,000 jobs have been lost in this sector recently. According to Offshore Energies UK, capital investment in our domestic industry is set to collapse from £14.1 billion to £2.3 billion in just four years. The business environment is not friendly and not competitive. But what is Reform's answer? Give the Government a stake in new oil and gas fields. Labour's? Hike the so-called 'windfall tax' and make it permanent. Both will scare off serious investors. On Friday I called on the Labour Government to scrap the windfall tax on North Sea producers. The windfall is gone, but the tax is still there, strangling investment and killing jobs and growth. I am proposing a solution that puts business and workers first. But naturally Labour criticised it. The same fantasy economics is playing out in steel. British Steel in Scunthorpe is haemorrhaging money – losing nearly £1 million a day. Labour's answer is to nationalise it. Reform's is to do the same, but with even more gusto! When the Port Talbot steelworks faced a similar crisis, I worked with a private company – Tata Steel – to find a solution that made economic sense and secured a future for the community in South Wales. Because unlike Starmer and Farage, I know to be successful a business doesn't need politicians telling it how to operate. It needs politicians who will listen to what those who do the job says works. The Labour government started taking us backwards last year – sneaking through rail nationalisation, hoping voters had forgotten the British Rail disaster. It's not just farcical that the first nationalised train ended up being a replacement bus service, it's a warning of what's to come. And after oil, steel and rail, the next on their list is water. The drumbeat to nationalise Thames Water is getting louder. But the answer isn't to send civil servants in. The answer is to create a climate where investment flows in rather than out. That means protecting the profit motive, not punishing it. Everyone knows we Conservatives have a battle on our hands. Reform pretends to be a Right-wing party, but economically Reform is Corbynism with a flag: more benefits, more subsidies, more central planning, more control. It is socialism that is dressed up as patriotism. Under Labour, business taxes are at record highs. The Trade unions are running everything from education to business policy – hence the Employment Rights Bill that effectively makes everyone a union member unless they choose to opt out of it. The public sector is getting inflation-busting pay rises, while the private sector (the source of economic growth) is getting squeezed. It should tell you all you need to know that 10,000 entrepreneurs have already fled the country since Starmer took over last year. Reform and Labour both want to grow the state. Under my leadership the Conservatives will prioritise growing opportunity and prosperity. Margaret Thatcher once said progress comes from the 'inventiveness, ability, determination and the pioneering spirit' of ordinary people. She was right then and she's right now. The Conservative Party is not here to run your business, or burden you with endless taxes and pointless regulation. We are the last line of defence for economic freedom, and we will stop the other parties from taking away what belongs to you.
South Wales Guardian
3 hours ago
- South Wales Guardian
Russell Findlay distances himself from Kemi Badenoch defector comments
Kemi Badenoch faced journalists in Edinburgh on Friday after her first address to the Scottish Tory conference since taking over the job. Her first appearance came amid a stream of defections from the Tories, mainly to Reform UK, with one MSP – Jamie Greene – moving to the Liberal Democrats. While Mr Findlay has generally been conciliatory when elected members announce plans to move, Ms Badenoch said the departures were a 'good thing' because those who left 'don't believe in conservatism'. Speaking to the PA news agency on Saturday, after his own inaugural address to the Scottish party conference, Mr Findlay said: 'I'm always disappointed when I see anyone choosing to the leave the party for whatever reason. 'The reasons are varied and I can't get inside the minds of everyone who might choose to do so.' Asked if he agreed with the 'good riddance' attitude of Ms Badenoch, he said: 'I would never say that about anyone that chooses to go elsewhere. 'It's more of a disappointment than anything else.' The UK party leader also told journalists she did not understand how someone could vote for the Scottish Government's blocked gender reform proposals in 2022 and call themselves a conservative, in a direct attack on Mr Greene. But two of the party's MSPs, frontbencher Dr Sandesh Gulhane and former leader Jackson Carlaw, voted for the legislation. Asked if he believed the pair were conservatives, Mr Findlay said: 'Of course they are conservatives and they have realised that they got that vote wrong.' The Scottish Tory leader also hit out at Mr Greene, who has accused him of 'undoing Ruth Davidson's broad-church conservativism in favour of right-wing propaganda' on the same day Mr Findlay sat down with the former leader.
