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Kemi Badenoch, the Conservative leadership contender, has claimed that not all cultures are “equally valid”, as the party gathered for an annual conference that looked set to be dominated by immigration.
The former business secretary criticised “recent immigrants who hate Israel”, adding: “I don’t think those who bring foreign conflicts here should be welcome.”
Asked on Sunday by the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg who exactly she meant, Badenoch replied: “You want me to say ‘Muslims’, but it isn’t all Muslims. I’m not going to play that game.”
Asked which cultures were “less valid?” she replied that when she was out canvassing a woman answered the door to her and said: “I can’t speak to you, I will get my husband.”
“I don’t think that is as equally valid as our culture,” Badenoch said.
Separately, in a Sunday Telegraph article, she wrote: “We cannot assume immigrants will automatically abandon ancestral ethnic hostilities at the border, or that their cultures are equally valid. They are not.”
Badenoch is the bookmakers’ second favourite to succeed Rishi Sunak as Tory leader, but former immigration minister Robert Jenrick is regarded as the clear frontrunner.
Jenrick, speaking ahead of the four-day conference in Birmingham, said immigration was the most important issue in the contest, but that the NHS and economy were key too.
He has promised to end the era of “mass migration”, imposing a legal cap on immigration in the tens of thousands, as well as promising to leave the European Convention on Human Rights, which he claims impedes Britain’s attempts to control its borders.
The Tory conference has been described as an extended “beauty pageant” for the four contenders vying to succeed Sunak, who will be replaced on November 2.
Tom Tugendhat, former security minister, and James Cleverly, former foreign secretary, are both seen to be flagbearers for the party’s moderate centre.
Sunak is expected to appear briefly in Birmingham on Sunday to appeal for unity and thank party members for their work during the party’s general election campaign.
He will then head home on Sunday evening, clearing the way for the four leadership contenders to court MPs and party members at various fringe meetings and two set-piece events in the main hall.
On Monday and Tuesday, the four candidates will face questions from the floor and on Wednesday they will make speeches setting out their pitch.
Tory MPs will next month decide on a shortlist of two, with party members having the final say in the contest. The result of the run-off will be announced on November 2.
There will be unwelcome distractions for the party offstage during the Birmingham conference, with Boris Johnson promoting his memoirs Unleashed and making claims such as his abortive plot to send special forces to the Netherlands to extract Covid-19 vaccines.
Liz Truss, another former premier, will be in Birmingham on Monday, offering advice on how to generate more economic growth.