Fear of being called racist meant authorities did not stop tragedies – Badenoch

The Nottingham stabbings, the Southport attack and Manchester Arena bombing could have been stopped if public authorities did not fear being called racist, Kemi Badenoch has said.

The Conservative leader made the claim as she announced her party would seek to abolish a duty for teachers, nurses and police officers to consider protected characteristics enshrined in equality law as they undertake their day-to-day jobs.

The Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED) requires all public sector workers to consider how their work might have an impact on people because of their age, sex, sexuality, religion and race.

The 2017 Manchester Arena bombing, the 2023 stabbings in Nottingham, and the 2024 Southport murders were all examples of crimes in which equalities law had a factor, the Conservative leader claimed.

In a major speech in central London, Mrs Badenoch said: “All these crimes could have been stopped if people had intervened instead of having a fear of being called racist.

“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.”

She added: “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.

“If authorities weren’t concerned that black people were overrepresented 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.

“And if authorities hadn’t chalked up Axel Rudakubana’s violent behaviour to autism, 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.”

Public institutions have “spent so long worrying about institutional racism that they have become institutionally incompetent”, Mrs Badenoch added.

Mrs Badenoch’s speech comes just a week after a political row broke out over whether the police response to the murder of Henry Nowak in Southampton last December was influenced by equality law.

The 18-year-old student was handcuffed by police officers who ignored his pleas that he had been stabbed as he lay dying after his British-born killer, Vickrum Digwa, claimed to have been the victim of a racist attack.

The Conservative leader said she agreed with Mr Nowak’s family that his death should not be used to divide communities.

“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,” she said.

Mrs Badenoch also appeared to criticise Reform UK leader Nigel Farage’s claim that the response to the killing should be “pure, cold rage”.

She acknowledged public anger as she spoke of a need to “rebuild trust in failing institutions, not undermine them”.

But Mrs Badenoch added: “Institutions are not perfect, but we want to fix a broken system, not smash it to pieces because we are angry.

“And don’t get me wrong, we are angry, I am angry, but rage is not a strategy, rage is not a solution.”

Science Secretary Liz Kendall had earlier claimed Mrs Badenoch’s plans to abolish the PSED would “turn the clock back”.

The Technology Secretary 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: “So, 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.”

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