As British politics is dragged remorselessly to the right by a toxic coalition of far-right agitators, social media titans and hostile states, the Conservatives under Kemi Badenoch are trying to carve out a distinctive position while flirting with some of the darkest forces in society.
Last week was typical on this populist tightrope: she called for an end to the duty placed on public bodies after the racist murder of Stephen Lawrence to fight discrimination, while carefully avoiding going as far as her foes in Reform UK, who want to scrap the entire Equality Act.
Never mind that this culture warrior did nothing to roll back the Public Sector Equality Duty while serving as equalities minister. After all, most Tory proposals are etched in hypocrisy after their own pathetic stint in power. But now Badenoch claims white working class boys to be among the country’s most disadvantaged children and, in the wake of some gruesome killings, pushes populist assertions about “two-tier policing” with officers blinkered by woke mindsets.
Note how missing in all these attacks on concepts of diversity, equity and inclusion – as in the United States, from where so much of this poisonous brand of politics is imported – is any discussion of people with disabilities. Badenoch insists she does not see the need to treat any groups differently to ensure fairness – yet when BBC presenter Justin Webb pointed to a need for wheelchair access to public buildings during a Today programme interview last week, she responded bizarrely by talking about putting rapists in women’s prisons. “We must not create special categories of people,” she pontificated.
