Kemi Badenoch bizarrely claimed “our country and all of western civilisation will be lost” unless the “new conservative century” is embraced in a speech today.
It comes after a scathing attack on Europe from US vice-president JD Vance last week, when he told the Munich Security Conference: “When I look at Europe today, it’s sometimes not so clear what happened to some of the cold war’s winners.”
He also attacked the UK for its “backslide away from conscience rights” which – he claimed – has put “the basic liberties of religious Britons” in jeopardy”.
Badenoch seemed to adopt the same spirit in a speech at the Alliance for Responsible Citizenship (ARC) conference today.
She said: “Western civilisation is in crisis.
“Our ideas and our culture have dominated the world for well over two centuries.
“This is not a crisis of values, it’s a crisis of confidence that has set in at exactly the same time that we face existential threats.”
She then claimed the answer to these problems lay in reviving her party, which suffered from historic loss at the July general election.
Badenoch said: “For those of us who seek leadership, we must do better, and that is why in the United Kingdom my party is starting the largest renewal of policy and ideas in a generation.”
She continued: “If we get this right, we stand at the dawn of the new Conservative century with so much opportunity and possibility.
“If we throw this opportunity away because of anger or self-doubt or weakness, our country and all of Western civilisation will be lost, and that is why we, the next generation of Conservatives, must lead the world back from the precipice. It is time to speak the truth.”
Badenoch also appeared to share Vance’s concerns about the decline in British values, too, saying: “Free speech matters. Some cultures are better than others, and it’s only contentious to say this because honesty has become impossible.
“Most of all, we need to get up off our knees and start fighting not just for the UK, but for the west and our values.”
The Tory leader also said the UK is “not racist” but “some cultures are better than others” and “British people must come first”.
The North West Essex MP said: “Immigration is far too high. We cannot support all those who wish to come to our country. We have no obligation to do so. The British people must come first.
“Our country is not racist. We don’t need to apologise. We don’t need to pay reparations or give away the Chagos islands.”
Speaking at the ARC – which was co-founded by self-help author Jordan Peterson and Tory peer Philippa Stroud – Badenoch claimed minds are being “poisoned” in higher education institutions in the UK, too, before criticising immigration policies.
Badenoch also touched on the fears the UK’s defence sector is not large enough to provide the peacekeeping troops Keir Starmer wants to send to Ukraine.
She said: “Totalitarian states like Russia, Iran, and North Korea are coordinated in their efforts.
“Failing to spend more on defence is not peacemaking, it is weakness and it only emboldens their threats to democracy and global stability.”
Badenoch seemed to back Vance in comments to the Sunday Telegraph over the weekend, too, saying: “Free speech is precious – and under threat. We must fight for it. It challenges dangerous orthodoxies and sparks change.”
She said she “hates cancel culture” too, and claimed government has overstepped while trying to protect people.
“Rules to protect people from ‘perceived’ harm have overreached. Being upset or offended shouldn’t be the state’s concern,” she said.
She claimed: “Silencing free speech harms democracy, culture and individual resilience. Without free speech, false ideas thrive unchallenged.”
It comes after Vance said the “basic liberties of religious Britons in particular” are under threat in a scathing attack on Europe last week.
Liberal Democrat Deputy Leader Daisy Cooper slammed Badenoch’s comments, saying: “Kemi Badenoch is competing with Nigel Farage to fawn over Donald Trump.
“Instead of standing up for Ukraine and Europe’s security, Kemi Badenoch has decided that she would rather parrot Trump’s dangerous rhetoric.
“To borrow a phrase from her political hero: sad.”
You can watch Badenoch’s speech here.