Kemi Badenoch says Tories made ‘mistakes’ on Brexit and left EU ‘without plan for growth’ | Politics News

The Tories mishandled Brexit and left the EU “without a plan for growth”, Kemi Badenoch has admitted.

In her first speech of the year, the Conservative leader attacked the Labour government but also listed a series of “mistakes” made by her party during its 14 years in office.

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She said that included Brexit, immigration, and net zero targets, accusing her predecessors of announcing policies with no plan to follow them through.

“I will acknowledge the Conservative Party made mistakes and I understand why the British people made it so clear in July that we needed to change,” Ms Badenoch told an event in central London.

“We were making announcements without proper plans. We announced that we would leave the European Union before we had a plan for growth outside the EU.

“We made it the law that we would deliver net zero carbon emissions by 2050. And only then did we start thinking about how we would do that.

“We announced year after year that we would lower immigration, but despite our efforts, immigration kept going up.

“Those mistakes were made because we told people what they wanted to hear first and then tried to work it out later. That is going to stop under my leadership.”

Ms Badenoch served as a minister under three Conservative leaders – Boris Johnson, Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak, including in the trade department.

She supported Brexit in the EU referendum and backed Mr Johnson and Theresa May’s withdrawal agreements after becoming an MP in 2017.

Throughout the campaign, Vote Leave argued that exiting the EU would boost trade by allowing the UK to strike its deals outside of Europe.

But numerous reports have found Brexit has led to a decline in exports and rising food costs, with one study estimating it will leave the UK worse off by £311bn by the mid 2030s.

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‘More we could have done’

Asked what she would do differently on Brexit if back in government, Ms Badenoch said there was “a lot more we could have and should have done” to exploit areas where the UK has a competitive advantage – like technology and AI.

She said she would “back” Sir Keir Starmer if he “does the right thing” on Europe but added: “What I worry about with Labour is they are looking to copy what is out there and stay aligned with that the EU is doing.”

The prime minister has committed to strengthen ties with the EU and said he wants a “better deal” for Britain post-Brexit – though he has repeatedly ruled out rejoining the single market or customs union.

The Liberal Democrats are pushing for this option, saying it is the “single biggest thing” the government could do to turbocharge the UK’s flatlining economy – especially amid concerns of a Trump tariff war.

Badenoch defends ‘joyless’ approach

Ms Badenoch, who was elected as the Tory leader in November, has previously said she will focus on rebuilding voters’ trust before announcing her policies.

She opened her speech by saying Britain is “getting poorer” and has “lost its way”, saying “from now on we will be telling the British public the truth”.

She claimed she was different from Sir Keir in that he “does not believe he’s ever made a mistake”, as she attacked Labour for announcing policies without a plan to back them up.

Asked by Sky News’ deputy political editor Sam Coates if her “joyless” approach risked alienating voters, she said her party had just suffered their greatest ever defeat at the ballot box and the public won’t trust them “if I turn up looking like I’m having a great time and everything is fantastic”.

However, Labour chairwoman Ellie Reeves said that “far from rebuilding trust”, the Tory leader “can’t bring herself to be honest about the true litany of mistakes the Conservatives made over 14 years of failure in government” – citing the Liz Truss mini-budget.

Reform pact ruled out

Ms Badenoch was also asked about whether she would merge with Reform UK to beat Labour at the next election, given Nigel Farage’s party is edging ahead in the polls.

“Nigel Farage says he wants to destroy the Conservative Party. Why on earth would we merge with that?”

She added: “Nigel Farage has been knocking around for 20-plus years. He’s been leading all sorts of different parties, so he has had a head start.

“I’ve been leading the Conservative Party for 10 weeks. Let’s see where we are in a few months and years.”