'Treat everybody the same': Kemi Badenoch vows to sweep away public sector race rules warning they are 'creating separatism'

By JAMES TAPSFIELD, UK POLITICAL EDITOR Published: 10:39, 9 June 2026 | Updated: 10:59, 9 June 2026 Kemi Badenoch vowed to eradicate the 'perversion' of identity politics from the public sector today. The Tory leader used a speech to launch a searing attack on racism rules that have been helping 'separatism and tribalism' to run riot in Britain. Mrs Badenoch insisted the UK is not a 'racist' country, and bias against white people was just as unacceptable as against ethnic minorities. Pointing to the case of Henry Nowak, she said the murdered teenager's family wanted 'something good' to come from the outcry at his treatment by the police.  A 'box ticking' approach towards equality had created 'perverse' and 'ludicrous' outcomes, she argued. But in a swipe at Nigel Farage, Mrs Badenoch said 'rage' was not a solution and abolishing equalities legislation wholesale would only leave everyone vulnerable to prejudice. She insisted she would fight 'identity politics' from both the Left and the Right. 'We are not choosing one identity group over another,' she said.  Kemi Badenoch launched a searing attack on racism rules that have been helping 'separatism and tribalism' to run riot in Britain In a major intervention, the Conservatives are committing to scrap the 'public sector equality duty' which has been blamed for the spread of identity politics. In a speech in London, Mrs Badenoch said modern Britain is the 'least racist country on Earth'. But she said there had been an 'over-correction' precisely because people were so eager to do the right thing. The time has come to 'sweep away this rubbish and bring back common sense', she added. Mrs Badenoch warned that whatever the original intention of the duty 'in practice, it has become a minefield that exposes almost every public decision to legal challenge' and is leading to 'ludicrous outcomes'. The public sector equality duty is a central plank of Labour's controversial Equality Act. It requires public bodies to consider how they impact on people with protected characteristics like race and gender. Critics warn it has been used to drive through divisive diversity initiatives. Mrs Badenoch said Henry's family 'could not have been clearer' that they do not want his murder to be used to divide. She added: 'What they want is for something good to come out of the outpouring of public shock … they want the police to become an institution that we can trust again. 'And if we want to honour that wish, to honour Henry's memory, we need to ask the right question. I believe that question is why did police take an accusation of racism more seriously than the claim that Henry had been stabbed?' Mrs Badenoch went on: 'In March, I gave a speech explaining that the Conservative Party will remove identity politics from all public bodies. The speech I'm giving today is the result of work we have been doing over many months.' The Nottingham stabbings, the Southport attack and Manchester Arena bombing 'could have been stopped if people had intervened instead of having a fear of being called racist'. The Conservative leader said: 'If the security guards at the Manchester Arena weren't afraid of being accused of racial profiling, we wouldn't have seen a bomber walk into the venue unchecked. 'If authorities weren't concerned that black people were overrepresented in mental health events, three people would not have been murdered in Nottingham by a man who should have been detained under the Mental Health Act. 'And if authorities hadn't chalked up Axel Rudakubana's violent behaviour to autism, if his head teacher hadn't been accused of racial stereotyping when she raised concerns about him bringing a knife to school, three little girls might still be here with us.' Public institutions have 'spent so long worrying about institutional racism that they have become institutionally incompetent', Mrs Badenoch added. The Tory leader will highlight the case of convicted terrorist Sahayb Abu who successfully sued the government last year after he and others were segregated in prison following a brutal attack on prison guards by Hashem Abedi, brother of the Manchester Arena suicide bomber. The case hinged in part on the fact that all those segregated were Muslim – a fact that Abu claimed breached the public sector equality duty. Mrs Badenoch will describe the ruling as 'madness', saying the duty is 'compromising security decisions like isolating dangerous criminals… in case terrorists call us racists'. However, she is adamant that the Act itself is not the problem. Mrs Badenoch said: 'The Equality Act protects you as a white man as much as me as a black woman. It is those who are perverting that act into protecting groups that are causing the problem. There is no hierarchy of groups, there is no hierarchy of characteristics. 'What is happening is that people assume that racism is something that only happens to minority groups. I want that to be gone. It is something that anyone can do to anybody else.' Earlier, Mrs Badenoch told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: 'We're a multi-racial country. Yes, white people are the majority but if you start creating different rules for different people you create separatism, you create tribalism, people split up.' Mrs Badenoch said the key was to 'treat everybody the same' and show 'common sense'. 'Just because there are different outcomes between races for example doesn't mean that the cause is racism or discrimination, she said. 'Black people are in a minority in this country. But we should not have different rules for different groups.' Police body cam footage showed innocent victim Henry Nowak, 18, being forced into handcuffs by officers after he was stabbed repeatedly by a knife-obsessed Sikh man  Mrs Badenoch raised the example of a black police officers' association. She insisted people were free to associate but there was a problem with pressure groups trying to influence policy.  'We do not want identity groups doing this,' she said. 'Would people be comfortable if there was the white police officers' association making policy for white people? I don't think so. We need to have the same rules for everybody.' Mrs Badenoch said her policies would aim to ensure 'people have one shared identity, one shared culture - and that is being British'.  In a swipe at Nigel Farage, Mrs Badenoch said that the right stance when instances of failure emerged in the public sector was to support institutions to improve, not condemn them. The comments below have not been moderated. 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