The UK Conservative Party’s leader, Kemi Badenoch, has caused controversy with her opinions on immigration and cultural blending. Badenoch made the case in a recent CNN interview that immigrants from nations whose values run counter to those of the UK, such as criminalizing LGBTQ+ people and allowing child marriage, shouldn’t be accepted.
“Culture matters more,” she stated. “Certainly, in the UK, there is something that people from around the world are coming there to get.
“It is that system, you know, enlightenment values, equality under the law, freedom of speech, you know, freedom of association, women having equal rights, the rule of law, our legal systems; so much of that is what draws people from around the world.
“It is what has made us a successful country. But if you have a large number of people who don’t believe in those things, eventually your country will change.” “Some people may not like to hear that, but cultures where there’s child marriage, where homosexuals, gay people are treated criminally and killed. Those are not equal cultures. I will not accept that,” she said.
Additionally, Badenoch attacked the UK’s immigration system, saying that some asylum seekers take advantage of it by posing as LGBTQ+ or changing their religion in order to obtain asylum. She claimed, “They’re abusing the laws we have.” We have people pretending, for instance, to be homosexual so that they can claim asylum, and then they go on to get married and have children. They’re abusing the laws that we have,” Badenoch stated.
“We have people who go through false conversions. The parish priests, they’re very excited ‘Oh, these Muslims want to convert to Christianity.’ They convert so that they can claim asylum and say, ‘If I went back to my country, I can be persecuted.’
“This is exploitation of a system that was not designed for this sort of thing. You have to be honest about that.”
Badenoch shared her personal experience with Nigerian citizenship laws, claiming that because of gender-based laws in Nigeria, she is unable to pass Nigerian citizenship on to her children. Under her leadership, she suggested that obtaining British citizenship be made more challenging, arguing that immigrants should support the UK economy rather than rely on social assistance.
“It’s virtually impossible, for example, to get Nigerian citizenship. I have that citizenship by virtue of my parents. I can’t give it to my children because I’m a woman,” she remarked. “Yet loads of Nigerians come to the UK and stay for a relatively free period of time, acquire British citizenship. We need to stop being naive.”
Her comments have sparked a heated discussion, with some praising her direct approach to cultural integrity and others cautioning that her opinions may further polarize immigrant communities.
