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Kemi attacks mass immigration proposals

(Photo by Leon Neal/Getty Images)

To the Think Tent, home of the IEA and Taxpayers’ Alliance. Who would the free market thinkers be cheering this year, now that their heroine is running the country? To no one’s surprise, Kemi Badenoch was the star speaker, following her impressive leadership bid earlier this summer. Some wags suggest that Kemi’s campaign never actually ended, with the Tory rising star keen to boost her credentials as a right-wing tonic to the soggy centrist ails of recent years.

And the newly appointed Trade Secretary did little to dispel such talk, with a crowd-pleasing speech that contained a pointed critique on the idea of using increasing immigration numbers to boost GDP. Declaring that ‘I love preaching to the choir,’ Badenoch set out to her audience her diagnosis of Britain’s condition:

What is the problem that we’re trying to solve? And that problem is an economic and a cultural malaise that has set into this country over the last few decades.

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Steerpike

Steerpike is The Spectator's gossip columnist, serving up the latest tittle tattle from Westminster and beyond. Email tips to steerpike@spectator.co.uk or message @MrSteerpike

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