Kemi Badenoch calls on Labour Government to make it more difficult to obtain British citizenship
Kemi Badenoch has warned that Britain could end up like France (Image: Philip Coburn/Reach plc)
Britain will end up like France – engulfed in civil unrest – if we don’t tighten our borders, Kemi Badenoch has warned. The Conservative leader called on the Government to make it more difficult to gain British citizenship.
It comes as France has been rocked by violent riots after weeks of student protests snowballed into a nationwide revolt. Mrs Badenoch also hit out at Andy Burnham for wanting to drag Britain back into the EU, warning that civil unrest in France and a German chancellor on the brink of being ousted are not a great advertisement for the bloc.
Speaking at a press conference, Mrs Badenoch admitted that too many people came into the UK under the previous Tory government, with those individuals now qualifying for indefinite leave to remain. Mrs Badenoch added that she “knows we made a mistake” and “holds [her] hands up to it”.
She added: “What I am interested in is how we fix this problem. It should not be so easy to get British citizenship, which is what ILR basically fast tracks you to.”
She added: “Being a British citizen is a privilege – it is not something you get like a ‘buy one, get one free’ in a supermarket. We have to do better than that, and Labour need to focus on how to make sure that our immigration system is fit for the world we live in.”
When asked about immigration reform, she added: “We will support Shabana Mahmood if she toughens up the system.” The Tory leader suggested that the Home Secretary is “not going far enough”, but warned Labour ministers not to bow to pressure from their own MPs to water down reforms.
Mrs Badenoch added: “I am afraid we are going to see a lot more problems in the country. I don’t want us to end up with how France is ending up, with so much civil unrest. Politicians need to take responsibility – we will help Shabana if she takes responsibility.”
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The Tory leader’s comments come after a Cabinet row over immigration reforms intensified when Energy Secretary Miatta Fahnbulleh attacked plans to make foreigners wait longer for permanent residency.
The Home Secretary wants to double the time migrants must live in the UK before being eligible for indefinite leave to remain from five to 10 years and apply it retrospectively to those already here. But Ms Fahnbulleh warned that extending the wait was a threat to “building cohesion” and said Labour must “challenge divisive rhetoric”.
Mrs Badenoch also took aim at Mr Burnham’s desire to drag Britain closer to the EU. She blasted: “This belief that absolutely nothing good can happen to us unless we are in the EU, is for the birds.
“France is in the EU, it is on fire. Germany is in the EU, look what is happening to their economy […] their government is falling apart.
“We need to stop pretending that the EU is the answer to every single problem. Just as we need to stop pretending that all of the problems that we had in the EU would have been solved by leaving.
“Both of these positions are nonsensical – there are many things that we can do out of the EU.”
Meanwhile, in France, cars are being set alight, and shops ransacked as thousands of protesters and rioters take to the streets. French leaders and mayors have imposed curfews across several major cities as they fight mob chaos on the country’s embattled streets.
WW3 conscription to target one UK group as Brits who refuse face humiliating punishment
An expert has explained what a new conscription policy might look like.
An expert has given his thoughts on conscription. (Image: Getty)
One particular group of Brits could be targeted for conscription as others face fines for not complying, an expert has warned. Fears that the UK may need to introduce compulsory military service have surged in recent weeks amid escalating threats from Russia. One of Putin’s closest allies cautioned that he could not “100% exclude” the possibility of “semi-military” action against British installations, after the Armed Forces provided Volodymyr Zelensky’s troops with the blueprints to produce their own Storm Shadow missiles.
A UK security source has acknowledged that Russia is “preparing something”, with Prime Minister Andy Burnham going so far as to suggest a Russian attack is “inevitable”. This follows a direct threat to London issued by Putin’s regime.
If a conflict breaks out, the UK may be forced to introduce conscription to bolster its Armed Forces, particularly after a retired Army major warned the military is in its weakest state for over 70 years.
Conscription is when a government imposes mandatory enlistment of citizens into military service. Over the past 126 years, there have been only two instances of conscription in the UK.
The first ran between 1916 and 1920, and the second spanned from 1939 to 1960. Author and historian David Swift suggested a new conscription policy would likely exclude workers in two particular sectors.
There could be fines for people who don’t comply. (Image: Getty)
Speaking to the Express, he said: “Today, since there is such an urgent need to rebuild Britain’s defence industries and industrial capacity, I would expect that people in these important occupations would be exempt.
“Or even that people could be ‘conscripted’ into working in these industries.”
He also gave an indication of which group could be first to face conscription, adding: “Military conscription would target unemployed graduates – this would be very popular with lots of people.”
Mr Swift detailed the penalties that could be imposed on Brits who fail to comply with a conscription order. he suggested that fines, rather than custodial sentences, would likely be handed to those who refuse to register.
He explained: “I imagine it would be fines rather than imprisonment or anything like that, due to lack of prison capacity, difficulty enforcing and lack of legitimacy, and that ‘conscription’, if introduced, would be very much focused around monetary reward.”
Mr Swift proposed that Britain might mirror Greece’s approach. In Greece, failing to register resulted in a €6,000 (£5213.19) fine, though in 2019 the country contemplated abolishing the penalty altogether.
In 2024, former British Army chief General Sir Patrick Sanders called on the UK to prepare for “national mobilisation” and a “citizen army” in light of the threat posed by Russia.
However, successive UK governments have instead maintained that a highly skilled, professional volunteer armed force remains the most effective means of defending the country.