Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has claimed that the Nottingham stabbings, the Southport attack and the Manchester Arena bombing could have been prevented if public authorities had not feared being labelled racist. Speaking in central London, she announced that her party would seek to abolish the Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED), which requires teachers, nurses and police officers to consider protected characteristics such as age, sex, sexuality, religion and race in their daily work.
Badenoch's claims on equality law
Mrs Badenoch argued that equalities law played a role in several high-profile crimes. She stated: "All these crimes could have been stopped if people had intervened instead of having a fear of being called racist." She specifically referenced the 2017 Manchester Arena bombing, the 2023 Nottingham stabbings and the 2024 Southport murders. She added that "we would not have had so many girls abused by rape gangs if local authorities had not looked away because they were too scared to point out the obvious."
Manchester Arena bombing
Referring to the inquiry into the Manchester bombing, she noted that a security guard had a "bad feeling" about suicide bomber Salman Abedi but did not approach him for fear of being branded racist. She 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."
Nottingham attacks
Regarding the Nottingham attacks, where triple killer Valdo Calocane was not detained after a 2020 incident, she claimed mental health professionals considered research into the over-representation of young black men in custody. She said: "If authorities weren't concerned that black people were over-represented 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."
Southport murders
On the Southport murders, Mrs Badenoch referenced head teacher Joanne Hodson, who was accused by social services of racial stereotyping after raising concerns about Axel Rudakubana's behaviour. She said: "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."
Institutional incompetence
Mrs Badenoch argued that public institutions have "spent so long worrying about institutional racism that they have become institutionally incompetent." She made the remarks a week after a political row over the police response to the murder of Henry Nowak in Southampton, where officers handcuffed the dying student after his killer claimed to be the victim of a racist attack. She agreed with Mr Nowak's family that his death should not be used to divide communities, saying: "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."
Criticism of Reform UK
Mrs Badenoch also appeared to criticise Reform UK leader Nigel Farage's call for "pure, cold rage" in response to the killing. She acknowledged public anger but said: "Institutions are not perfect, but we want to fix a broken system, not smash it to pieces because we are angry. Rage is not a strategy, rage is not a solution."
Labour response
Science Secretary Liz Kendall criticised Mrs Badenoch's plans, saying they would "turn the clock back." She told Sky News: "What she's saying is she wants to repeal a duty which stops pregnant women being sacked, women on maternity leave being sacked, which prevents discrimination against disabled people, which prevents discrimination on age grounds." She added: "She needs to set out which protections she's going to remove, because I tell you, there are women out there still who get worried that if they get pregnant or they're on mat leave that they're going to lose their job, and Labour is standing for them."
