Badenoch says they are both right.<\/p>\n
She says the Tories believe in freedom of religion.<\/p>\n
double quotation markBut this debate which Nick is having is not about freedom of religion. It is about how religion is expressed in a shared public space, and whether those expressions fit within the norms of British culture.<\/p>\n
She says Keir Starmer<\/a> pulled out of an an event organised by the group that organised the Trafalgar Square event when he was opposition leader because they are \u201chighly controversial\u201d. He was \u201csucking up\u201d to British Jews. So his stance is \u201cthe mother of all hypocrisy\u201d, she says.<\/p>\n She says Timothy is a \u2018\u201cfantastic shadow justice spokesperson\u201d.<\/p>\n She says, as a woman from an ethnic minority, she is \u201cvery uncomortable seeing women pushed to the back in Trafalgar Square in an event which is exclusionary\u201d.<\/p>\n She says she is happy to see religious events in Trafalgar Square. But they have to be inclusive.<\/p>\n (Although this Badenoch is claiming that the Tories primarily objected to the Trafalgar Square prayer event because it involved gender segragation, Timothy did not mention this at all in his original tweet<\/a> attacking the event as \u201can act of domination\u201d, or in a subsequent defence of his stance<\/a>.)<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a007.46 EDT<\/p>\n Key events<\/p>\n Show key events only<\/p>\n Please turn on JavaScript to use this feature<\/p>\n The venue chosen by Reform UK<\/a> for the launch of its Scottish manifesto has policies observers may feel are at odds with Nigel Farage\u2019s hatred of net zero, environmental protection and \u201cwoke\u201d politics.<\/p>\n Ingliston Country Club<\/a>, which sits in parkland near the Clyde west of Glasgow, prides itself on its environmental sustainability, boasting \u201cthe largest single footprint of solar panels in Scotland\u201d, its EV car charging points, its home-grown flowers, recycled pencils and rigorous plans to cuts its energy use.<\/p>\n Its website states:<\/p>\n double quotation markAt Ingliston Estate & Country Club we have made it our mission to run our business as ethically and environmentally conscious as possible, and we have taken steps to ensure our footprint on the planet is reduced.<\/p>\n The hundreds of buoyant and bullish Reform supporters who queued in bright sunshine on Thursday morning to watch Farage and his Scottish leader Malcolm Offord could have learnt more about its long list of eco credentials:<\/p>\n double quotation markWe have the largest single footprint of solar panels in Scotland generating 70% of the electrical energy we use each day, with plans in the pipeline to add another 16 panels in the next 12 months.<\/p>\n We have three polytunnels which are each 30 meters long, where we grow all the flowers and plants throughout the estate. We also grow many of our herbs and vegetables used in our award-winning Palomino\u2019s restaurant.<\/p>\n We use 100% recycled paper and recycled pencils. We use suppliers that only have a Green Eco Carbon Footprint programme.<\/p>\n Farage has pledged to scrap the UK\u2019s net zero targets<\/a>, drill as much oil and gas from UK waters as possible, resume fracking onland, cut all subsidies for renewables and rip up what he sees as \u201ca progressive, woke ideology\u201d which embarrasses the UK.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Foreign secretary Yvette Cooper has said the UK remains a \u201cmajor player\u201d in overseas aid despite a reduction in funding.<\/p>\n In a statement to the Commons, Cooper said that allocating a reduced budget \u201cinevitably leads to hard choices and unavoidable trade-offs\u201d.<\/p>\n She added:<\/p>\n double quotation markWe\u2019re focusing aid on the people and places that need it most, and we will still be a major player, and expect to be the fifth biggest funder in the world.<\/p>\n We will still use international leadership, such as our 2027 G20 presidency, to shape the global agenda for development and we will continue to use our other policies and levers so that lower-income countries benefit from trade and growth, and tackling flows of illicit finance and dirty money, which harm developing countries most and fuel crime on everyone\u2019s streets.<\/p>\n This modernised approach to international development and our allocation of ODA [official development assistance] reflects our values and our interests, because our driving force has been, and continues to be, working for a world free from extreme poverty, on a liveable planet.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n The rise of Reform UK is partly due to racism, Scotland\u2019s first minister has said.<\/p>\n John Swinney said people are also supporting Nigel Farage\u2019s party because they are \u201cangry\u201d and \u201cfed up with the state of our society\u201d.<\/p>\n The SNP leader said he does not believe in Reform\u2019s immigration policies and that there is no \u201crational argument\u201d against migration to Scotland due to the country\u2019s shortage of working-age adults.<\/p>\n Speaking to BBC Scotland\u2019s Scotcast podcast, the first minister said racism is one of the driving forces behind Reform UK.<\/p>\n \u201cI think that\u2019s a product of two things,\u201d he said. \u201cPart of it is made up of people who genuinely hold views with which I profoundly disagree.\u201d<\/p>\n He added:<\/p>\n double quotation markThere will be some views in there which will be intolerant of people from other countries and other races, racist views, which I don\u2019t hold, there will be some of them in there.<\/p>\n But there are also a lot of people in there who are angry, and they\u2019re fed up with the state of our society and our community, and I take some responsibility for that as first minister.<\/p>\n They\u2019re just finding life really tough, and they\u2019re angry. I try to explain to those people that the politics of Farage would be a disaster for our country if we go down that route.<\/p>\n Share<\/a> Nigel Farage described Welsh people as \u201cforeign speakers\u201d in a paid-for personalised video message that could prove awkward for Reform UK<\/a> in forthcoming elections in the country.<\/p>\n Farage made the remarks in a video he was paid to make on Cameo, a personalised video platform, to celebrate a wedding.<\/p>\n The video was unearthed by the Guardian among a tranche of more than 4,000 clips the Reform leader has produced on the platform, which enables public figures and celebrities to sell recorded messages for members of the public.<\/p>\n Farage\u2019s use of the platform has already come under intense scrutiny after a Guardian investigation revealed he had recorded videos supporting a rioter, repeating extremist slogans, and endorsing a neo-Nazi event<\/a>.<\/p>\n Users of Cameo write a short \u201cprompt\u201d for their chosen celebrity, who then charges them a fee for a clip that usually lasts less than a minute.<\/p>\n Farage\u2019s comment about Welsh people is in a video he made in July 2025, for which he charged \u00a3106. The Cameo user asked him to record a wedding message for \u201cToby and Sam\u201d and to follow a script that said: \u201cI really wanted to come, but when I heard that half the guests were Welsh, I thought: \u2018That\u2019s far too many foreigners for me\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n Share<\/a> Anna Turley, the Labour<\/a> chair, issued this statement after Kemi Badenoch\u2019s press conference.<\/p>\n double quotation markKemi Badenoch used her local election launch to back her shadow justice secretary when she should have already sacked him. It\u2019s shameful that she lacks any backbone and won\u2019t condemn his despicable comments on Muslims.<\/p>\n The Tories have now joined Reform in the gutter by adopting Tommy Robinson endorsed views over Muslims peacefully praying in London. The majority of Brits \u2013 including many Conservatives \u2013 will rightly be appalled by it. It shows just how far the Tories have sunk.<\/p>\n Tom Ambrose is now taking over the blog for a bit. I will be back later.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a007.54 EDT<\/p>\n Badenoch offers new explanation for Tory attack on Muslim prayer event, saying party objecting to gender segregation<\/p>\n Q: [From Peter Walker from the Guardian] Yesterday you backed what Nick Timothy said about the Ramadan event in Trafalgar Square. What was your objection to it? Yesterday your party said it was a segregation matter<\/a>. This morning the party chair, Kevin Hollinrake, said it was a general point about prayer in public. But in an article this morning Timothy said this was a specific point about Islam. What is the party\u2019s position?<\/p>\n Badenoch says they are both right.<\/p>\n She says the Tories believe in freedom of religion.<\/p>\n double quotation markBut this debate which Nick is having is not about freedom of religion. It is about how religion is expressed in a shared public space, and whether those expressions fit within the norms of British culture.<\/p>\n She says Keir Starmer<\/a> pulled out of an an event organised by the group that organised the Trafalgar Square event when he was opposition leader because they are \u201chighly controversial\u201d. He was \u201csucking up\u201d to British Jews. So his stance is \u201cthe mother of all hypocrisy\u201d, she says.<\/p>\n She says Timothy is a \u2018\u201cfantastic shadow justice spokesperson\u201d.<\/p>\n She says, as a woman from an ethnic minority, she is \u201cvery uncomortable seeing women pushed to the back in Trafalgar Square in an event which is exclusionary\u201d.<\/p>\n She says she is happy to see religious events in Trafalgar Square. But they have to be inclusive.<\/p>\n (Although this Badenoch is claiming that the Tories primarily objected to the Trafalgar Square prayer event because it involved gender segragation, Timothy did not mention this at all in his original tweet<\/a> attacking the event as \u201can act of domination\u201d, or in a subsequent defence of his stance<\/a>.)<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a007.46 EDT<\/p>\n Q: Do you think you will do better than last year? And what would be a good result?<\/p>\n Badenoch says a good result would be winning all seats.<\/p>\n She says that last year the party did not do well because it was still associated with the previous government.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Q: [From Martina Bet from the Sun] Is there a plan to bring new faces into your team? Many of your team are from the last government?<\/p>\n Badenoch does not accept that. But she says she needs new faces, and experience. The ex-ministers in her team are people who tried to stop the last government making the mistakes it was making.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Q: [From Ben Clatworthy from the Times] Can you really fund these pledges. Where are you going to get the money?<\/p>\n Badenoch says the Tories have identified savings worth \u00a347bn.<\/a><\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Q: [From Aaron Newbury from the Daily Express] Do you think Sadiq Khan\u2019s comments show Labour wants to betray the Brexit vote?<\/p>\n Badenoch replies:<\/p>\n double quotation markI came into parliament a year after the referendum, and I saw what happened when MP spent three years litigating a referendum where the public gave a very, very clear verdict. I do not want us to have that again. We need to start thinking about the future.<\/p>\n She says Labour<\/a> is going back to 2016 ideas because they don\u2019t have any new ideas.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Q: Are you really coming back? Or are you just being replaced?<\/p>\n Badenoch says the Tories are coming back for the country\u2019s sake.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Q: [From GB News\u2019s Christopher Hope] How bad could it get for you? Nigel Farage says you will be wiped out. And would you encouraging tactical voting against Reform UK<\/a>?<\/p>\n Badenoch says she does not care what Farage says. She says the Conservative party is coming back.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Q: [From Rob Powell from Sky News] You talk about the war causing prices to go up. Yet at the start of the war you said Britain should be more involved. Do you regret that?<\/p>\n Badenoch says she has not changed her mind. She has always favoured allowing the US to use British bases. She says it is Keir Starmer<\/a> who changed his position.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Badenoch is now taking questions.<\/p>\n Q; [From ITV\u2019s Harry Horton] The PM is unpopular, growth is low, we have had U-turn after U-turn, and yet your party is still polling worse than at the election. What would it mean for you if you lose seats at these elections?<\/p>\n Badenoch says this is a new party under new leadership. She is fighting to win, she says.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Badenoch also criticises other opposition parties.<\/p>\n double quotation markThe Lib Dems can\u2019t stand still for five minutes without breaking into a conga. The Greens say yes to crack pipes, but no to Nato.<\/p>\n And look at what Reform have done at Kent County Council. They came in with a new Doge team promising to cut people\u2019s council tax, only to find out that the Conservatives had already made the savings \u2026.<\/p>\n There\u2019s war in the Middle East pushing up prices and threatening our economy, British servicemen and women are already involved, yet Reform can\u2019t even be bothered to appoint a Foreign affairs or a defence spokesman.<\/p>\n Share<\/a>Badenoch says Labour holding shadow leadership contest because they don’t know what they stand for<\/p>\n Badenoch says Labour<\/a> came into power not knowing what it wanted.<\/p>\n double quotation markLabour\u2019s problem is that after 14 years in opposition, they came in without a single idea of how to fix anything. They\u2019re now having a shadow leadership contest, talking about what the party should stand for.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Kemi Badenoch says voters will get a choice at the election. They could vote for one of the many parties \u201cwhingeing\u201d, who have not bothered to do the work on policy and who would cost them more, or for the only party with a plan.<\/p>\n She says the Tories are on the side of \u201chard-working people\u201d. They would abolish business rates for pubs, restaurants and high street shops, cut energy bills, allow more North Sea oil drilling, and scrap stamp duty on family homes.<\/p>\n And they would make sure people who aren\u2019t contributing \u201cget what they deserve\u201d. She makes it clear she is talking about criminals, saying the Tories would hire more police officers. And they would triple stop and search, she says.<\/p>\n The police would be told to stop e-bikes being ridden on pavements. And they would be told not stop allowing people to smoke drugs in public places.<\/p>\n She says she would put the rights of ordinary people above the rights of the \u201csmall minority\u201d making life a misery for everyone else.<\/p>\n![\"Severin](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/severin_carrell_140x140.jpg\")
Severin Carrell<\/p>\n![\"Henry](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Henry_Dyer.png\")
Henry Dyer<\/p>\n![\"Andrew](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Andrew_Sparrow,_R.png\")
Andrew Sparrow<\/p>\n