Father of killed Nottingham student in the hall as Badenoch speakspublished at 12:38 BST
12:38 BST
Moving on to crime and policing, Badenoch mentions the death of 18-year-old Henry Nowak as well as those of teenagers Barnaby Webber and Grace O’Malley-Kumar.
She points out that O’Malley-Kumar’s father is sitting in the audience, to applause.
“There has to be proper accountability for those who are
responsible. We have to do better”, Badenoch says.
She goes on to criticise the government’s early prisoner release scheme, saying that “criminals need to face the full force of the law”.
If they win the next election, Badenoch adds, the Conservatives will build 50,000 more prison places and introduce tougher minimum sentences for the “worst crimes”.
For context: The government’s early prison release plan had initially included those convicted of manslaughter, though that was ruled out after public outcry. Valdo Calocane, who carried killed O’Malley-Kumar, Webber, and Ian Coates in Nottingham in 2023, was convicted of manslaughter.
Image source, ReutersImage caption,
Dr Sanjoy Kumar was in the hall for Kemi Badenoch’s conference speech