An autism charity has condemned Kemi Badenoch for endorsing a report accused of “stigmatising” people with the condition.
The Tory leadership favourite wrote the foreword for the ‘Conservatism in Crisis’ report, which says an autism diagnosis “offers economic advantages and protections”.
It adds: “If you are a child, you may well get better treatment or equipment at school - even transport to and from home.
“In short, whereas once psychological and mental health was seen as something that people should work on themselves as individuals, mental health has become something that society, schools and employers have to work around.”
Former Tory cabinet minister Robert Buckland is among those who have hit out at the document.
He said it should not be “stigmatising or lumping certain categories in with each other”.
Buckland said: “Anxiety is not a neurodiverse condition… autism is not a mental health condition.”
Journalist Ian Burrell, a former speechwriter for David Cameron, also said the report contained “an offensive claim far removed from the grim reality of many despairing citizens and families struggling for support”.
Responding to the row, the Autism Centre of Excellence at Cambridge charity posted on X: “We need leaders who take the time to understand the complexity of the issues they are commenting on – and who bring workable solutions to the table.
“The best way to do both is to talk to people with lived experience. We believe that autistic people and parents would agree that the government has failed to provide a good education, employment opportunities and the right care. Anyone with an interest in running our country would ask themselves why this is.”
A Labour spokesperson said: “This is the latest worrying example of just how out of touch the Tory leadership candidates are.
“It’s clear Kemi Badenoch has learnt nothing about why the Conservatives were completely rejected by the public at the general election.
“While the Tories are arguing about scrapping maternity pay and bizarre demands to jail civil servants, this Labour government is rolling out the biggest levelling up of workers’ rights in a generation.”
A spokesman for Badenoch said: “Kemi wrote the foreword to this report because she knows it is important we discuss changes to society and critical issues impacting people all over the country.
“The authors of the report support her campaign and see the rising impact of mental health and its effect on productivity as one of these critical issues. If we are to resolve the problem of deteriorating mental health, we must be able to point out that it is happening and how society has changed its approach to it and determine whether that approach is working.
“It would be wrong to infer any prejudice and it is essential that we are able to talk about these issues without the media deliberately misleading their readers for the sake of easy headlines.”