The Conservative leader has declared that public bodies have “spent so long worrying about institutional racism that they have become institutionally incompetent” – and vowed to scrap the legal requirement that forces them to consider equality in every decision.
Kemi Badenoch, who served as equalities minister from 2020 to 2022, said the Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED) had led to some groups being “preferred over others”. In what her party described as the first step in a programme to “restore common sense”, she called for the duty’s repeal, arguing that equality law “properly designed should protect us all in the same way” and “should be a shield, not a sword”.
“Badenoch says public bodies are 'institutionally incompetent' and vows to scrap the equality duty.”
Her speech came after the murder of 18-year-old Henry Nowak and the police response fuelled questions about equality policies. Badenoch pointed to her own experience as a child living on three different continents, declaring: “Modern Britain is the least racist country on Earth.” She added: “It is because we are not racist, because we care so much about equality that we have overcorrected and actually brought in rules that are actually discriminatory.”
The PSED, which applies in England, Scotland and Wales, requires public bodies and those carrying out public functions to have “due regard” to eliminating unlawful discrimination and to “advance equality of opportunity” between people with and without protected characteristics – including age, disability, race, pregnancy, sex and sexual orientation.
The move is widely seen as an attempt by Badenoch to win back voters from Reform UK, which wants to go further and scrap the entire Equality Act while still protecting people in the workplace. Labour has strengthened equality protections under Keir Starmer, and Science Secretary Liz Kendall accused the Conservatives of wanting to “turn the clock back”. She claimed the Tories intended to “repeal a duty which stops pregnant women being sacked, women on maternity leave being sacked”.
The Conservatives hit back, with shadow equalities minister Claire Coutinho insisting that protections against discrimination were a “totally separate” part of the Equality Act and would remain in place under their plan. Badenoch argued: “We do not need to replace the duty, we need to explain to people that they should do their jobs.”
The Trades Union Congress accused the Tory leader of wanting to “legalise discrimination”. Badenoch rejected that, saying the understanding that equality laws should protect people from being treated differently is being “perverted”. But with Reform UK pressing for even more radical change and Labour accusing her of rolling back hard-won rights, the question is whether her message can win back the voters who have abandoned the Conservatives – or simply deepen the political divide.