Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch (Image: CPS)
was interrupted by protesters as she delivered a major speech today.
A woman holding a banner that said “Abolish Billionaires” got up and shouted as the Conservative leader gave her address at the Centre for Policy Studies’ Margaret Thatcher conference.
She was soon ejected by members of the audience at London’s Guildhall.
A second protester then shouted about the cost-of-living crisis as she was also kicked out of the room.
At the event, which marked 50 years since Margaret Thatcher helped to set up the think tank, Mrs Badenoch could be heard to say: “I hardly think Mrs Thatcher can be blamed for the cost-of-living crisis.”
A group called Climate Resistance have claimed responsibility for the demonstration.
They have started a campaign called Abolish Billionaires, according to the first protester who interrupted the Conservative leader’s speech.
She said the had “allowed extreme wealth to be amassed by a tiny minority, fuelling climate crisis and poverty.”
She would not give her name, but added: “We’re calling for a wealth tax we need to make the super rich pay to redistribute their money for public services and climate action.”
The protester went on: “It’s just shameful that this event exists. We should not be celebrating this person.”
She added: “She put us on the path that we’re on right now to this mass inequality we’re seeing, the crisis, the housing crisis, the climate crisis, it’s all connected to her.”
In her speech, Mrs Badenoch said that she would be launching “the Conservative Party’s biggest policy renewal programme in 50 years” tomorrow.
She told the Centre for Policy Studies’ Margaret Thatcher conference: “We’re not announcing detailed policies tomorrow, but we know where we need to get to.
“We know that we will cut taxes and scrap burdensome regulations so businesses can grow jobs can be created and hard work is rewarded.
“We know we will fight for secure borders and law and order because a country that cannot defend itself at home or abroad is a country in decline.
“We know we must shrink the size of the state and end Government waste and dependency because people should decide how to spend their money, not politicians
“And we know we must must stand up for Britain’s values and history because we should never apologise for our success.”