UK Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch has issued a scathing critique of Prime Minister Keir Starmer and the Labour-led government, accusing them of failing to deliver meaningful immigration reform and calling on them to support the Conservatives’ Deportation Bill.
In a video message shared on her official X (formerly Twitter) account on Saturday, Badenoch expressed frustration with what she described as watered-down proposals from Labour, warning that they fall far short of the “systemic change” needed to fix Britain’s broken immigration system.
“I think Labours are taking us for a fool. Quite frankly, they are taking us for fools. This is nowhere near the scale of the change we need to see,” she said.
Okay.ng reports that Badenoch criticised Labour for blocking previous immigration reforms, yet now proposing measures that resemble what they once opposed. She cited Labour’s reversal on issues such as immigration caps, which she claimed were previously resisted but are now being floated without a clear plan or timeline.
“Many of the things he was announcing are part of the things they are voting against right now,” she said, referencing Starmer. “I’m talking about putting serious things into legislation, like a cap on the number of people coming into the country.”
Badenoch further argued that key Conservative proposals, including the extension of the time required to obtain British citizenship and modifications to the Human Rights Act, had been diluted by Labour.
“Take indefinite leave to remain—we wanted it to be 15 years. It’s too quick the rate at which people get British citizenship. He’s watered that down to 10 years and again kicked it into the long grass,” she added.
She linked the immigration crisis to mounting pressure on the UK’s public services, warning that existing infrastructure is overstretched.
“There’s not enough housings, people can’t get GP appointments,” she noted, citing visible consequences of what she described as “a system in crisis.”
Reinforcing her stance in a follow-up post on X, Badenoch wrote:
“Labour have blocked every serious step to stop illegal and legal migration. Today’s vague promises come with no plan and no timetable. Our Deportation Bill is tougher and ready to deliver. They should stop taking the public for fools and back it.”
The Deportation Bill, central to Conservative immigration policy, seeks to enforce stricter controls on both legal and illegal migration, and includes measures to override certain protections under the Human Rights Act.
