Badenoch Grilled in GB News Leadership Event
It’s Badenoch’s turn now on GB News. A short pitch, then questions from members and Chris Hope…
Read live updates below:
- Straw poll in the room: a handful of people have changed their minds. Some put hands up for Jenrick, many more for Kemi.
- Assisted suicide. She says she has supported in in principle. But system is broken – failing to offer social care already.
- Nigel in the Tory Party? If someone says they want to burn your church down, don’t let them in.
- Badenoch likes Harris and Trump equally.
- Role for Liz? She’s not an MP. Look to the future.
- No to cannabis legalisation. No change to fox hunting laws.
- Social media addictive. Children should be off it.
- Reversing Labour’s education tax is first thing she would do in power.
- Countries are trying to use guilt to exploit the UK. It is a scam.
- We should look at ways of making it easier to bring up kids at home.
- Kemi can take care of kids as well as being party leader. She was able to work in government with them.
- Jenrick’s biggest weakness: the ECHR argument is not the right one. It will divide the party – end the drama by doing it the right way. Do not impose your views on everybody else. Jenrick declined to answer that one…
- Party must be handed to the next generation. There is another centre-right party to worry about. If Tories get it wrong Reform will overtake them.
- Quickfire questions.
- NHS was built for a homogenous young working population. It needs reform.
- Don’t attack Labour on every single thing. Be focussed and have a plan.
- Justice: Troubled families are the problem. Education too.
- Country is not a dormitory.
- ECHR: Not a silver bullet. France sends back 70% of people. Used ECHR to protect gender-critical women. Guido seems to remember the EU’s deportation figure being significantly lower…
- Reform strategy: Earn back trust. Speak with clarity and conviction like Nigel. For too long Tories were just policies, no principles.
- “No one else has done more on Brexit than I have.”
- Over 2,000 retained EU laws scrapped. Badenoch says purpose of law, not provenance of it is what matters.
- Has Brexit been a success? Some of it. There wasn’t much of a plan. People need to stop blaming Brexit and just fix problems.
- Policy commissions and policy reviews to be set up in opposition.
Too many people are out of work, or retiring early. - Where would you make cuts? Badenoch says government is doing too much, needs to change priorities. Spend more on defence. Making people productive again.
- “People know what I believe.“
- Badenoch says she does do media. She was on TalkTV yesterday. She doesn’t go on media for the sake of it.
- The policies will come, she says. Party must be united first.
- Record of delivery: Biggest trade deal since leaving EU, protecting women and children with Conservative values.
- Need to pick a leader who can win back trust.
- Race is about character and conviction, she says. Use opposition wisely.
- Kemi gives her pitch.
