Kemi Badenoch has clashed with Laura Kuenssberg over the Tory leadership hopeful’s claims that some immigrants “hate Israel”.
The former cabinet minister made the claim in an article for the Sunday Telegraph in which she also said that not all cultures in the UK are “equally valid”.
Badenoch wrote: “We cannot be naïve and assume immigrants will automatically abandon ancestral ethnic hostilities at the border, or that all cultures are equally valid.
“They are not. I am struck for example, by the number of recent immigrants to the UK who hate Israel. That sentiment has no place here.”
On Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg on BBC1 this morning, the MP was asked: “Who do you mean and how do you know that?”
Speaking as the Tory Party conference begins in Birmingham, Badenoch replied: “Because we’re seeing it on social media, we’re hearing it.
“One of the things that I found most upsetting after October 7 was watching people ripping down posters of missing kidnapped children from walls and lampposts in London. We’ve never seen that here before. I think that that is beyond the pale.”
The presenter then asked: “How do you know that the people who did that are recent immigrants? And if you say that you saw that on social media, do you think that social media is always a reliable source from where to get your views?”
The MP said: “I didn’t say only recent immigrants hate Israel. I said I am struck by the number of recent immigrants who hate Israel. It is quite clear that there are many people who have recently come to this country who have brought views from where they used to be that have no place here.”
Asked to explain who she “specifically” means, Badenoch replied: “I know what you’re trying to do, Laura. You want me to say Muslims when it isn’t all Muslims, so I’m not going to do that. I’m not going to play this game.
“I should be able to say that I have made an observation without you trying to portray it as me attacking a particular group.”
Kuenssberg then hit back: “Kemi Badenoch, I am not trying to portray it in any way. I am asking you on what evidence do you base this claim. Who are you talking about?”
The former cabinet minister replied: “I told you - things that people write, people I’ve met. I’ve talked about people ripping down posters, we saw who was doing it.
“I have answered the question multiple times, but I know what you are trying to get me to say, and I’m challenging you that we need to be able to have these conversations without being scared, without running away.”