The Tory Leader has said Shabana Mahmood’s migration policy is a “step in the right direction” but “it’s time for us to toughen it up.”
Kemi Badenoch told GB News: “I’ve said this many, many times. We have become a country that people see as one whose rules can be exploited. We are a very kind country, but our rules are being exploited. That’s why we changed our policy, toughened it up, no asylum for people who arrive in our country illegally, deporting all foreign criminals. No ifs. No buts. Ending the immigration tribunals that are just rubber stamping these applications through.”
“We’ve got a borders plan. We just need to toughen things up. And I’ve told Labour, if they do tough stuff, I will support them. That’s why I said to Shabana Mahmood, this is not enough, but it’s something. It’s showing steps in the right direction. Our system has been taken for granted and exploited. It’s time for us to toughen it up.”
Reacting to accusations that the BBC put illegal migrants in the Question Time audience last night, she said: “Question Time is a chance for British people to ask their politicians difficult questions. It’s not a time for asylum seekers to ask politicians to change the law. That’s a campaign. If the BBC wants to platform those voices, it can do it as part of a news program or a documentary- not for Question Time. I didn’t think that was right. I wouldn’t have done it.”
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On the growing public frustration with the BBC, Ms Badenoch said: “I think that those people have a valid point. The license fee payers need to be treated fairly. Most people who watch BBC do so because they enjoy the entertainment programs like Antiques Roadshow or Strictly. That’s really what they’re paying for. They don’t want to be lectured to on their politics by people who’ve got a campaign to run. So I’m sure the BBC will be thinking very hard about how to make sure that it is more representative, rather than trying to channel views for people who are clearly not license fee payers.”
The Tory leader also addressed the loss of 100,000 hospitality jobs since Labour came into power: “When I speak to businesses, I’m seeing a lot of unhappiness. I had a restaurant owner burst into tears today talking about how hard it is for her just to get by. People see a lot of people walking in to hospitality businesses, and think they must be making loads of money. But their margins are so thin. They’re basically running at a loss until December, when hopefully they can get back to zero. They’re not making any profit.”
“A lot of high-street businesses in retail and hospitality were hoping for some good news in the budget last week. There was no good news for them. It was a budget just for benefits. They thought that they were going to get some relief on business rates. In fact, many of them are seeing their business rates increase.”
“That’s why Conservative policy is to scrap business rates for high street businesses, retail, hospitality and leisure, dropping £110,000 or less. We’re going to scrap your business rates.”
On the Labour Chancellor’s promise to help the hospitality industry, Ms Badenoch said: “I think Rachel Reeves just makes stuff up. She gives promises that she can’t deliver. She just says whatever she needs to say to get out of the hall. A lot of businesses were expecting good news in her budget, and all they got was bad news.”
“It was a budget just for people on benefits. Nobody else was thought about. We need to start creating jobs. We need to get Britain working again. So Rachel Reeves needs to go back to the drawing board. Personally, I think she should go. We have a campaign SackReeves.com because we think that she has been so dishonest, the whole country has lost confidence in her ability to do the job.
On market concerns that Rachel Reeves would be sacked, Ms Badenoch said: “I don’t believe that that is why the markets have reacted the way they have. The markets just care that they’re getting the money that they’ve loaned the government back. That’s all they care about.”
“It’s a terrible excuse to stay in the job because everybody else is absolutely abysmal. It is not a vote of confidence. They should find somebody from outside the government. Find them a safe seat, put them in and make them Chancellor if there’s no one on the back benches. But I think that that is a testament to what the Labour cabinet actually think of their own back benchers. They think that they’re all rubbish to the point where they don’t think anyone else can do a better job. Rachel Reeves is not doing a good job. Why don’t we get the Conservatives back in, and then we can do a much better job.”
Addressing criticism over comments Nigel Farage made as a teen, Ms Badenoch joked: “I don’t need to confess anything. If there’s anything that people can find, they can come out and, you know, we can have that conversation. Nigel Farage should just apologise and move on. This story is getting quite laboured. There were a couple stories about what happened 50 years ago.”
“What I want to do is just talk about all those people who are suffering. What are people going to do for Christmas? Where’s the money coming from? How do we deal with immigration? How do we deal with the economy? That’s what I care about.”
