Braverman’s immigration speech disrupted by protesters after Rees-Mogg interrupted on stage

Published

2 years ago

May 15, 2023

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Suella Braverman was heckled by protesters as she delivered a speech on reducing net migration at the National Conservatism conference.

Hours after an address by Tory heavyweight Jacob Rees-Mogg was interrupted by a stage invader, security had to eject two more people from the room.

Climate group Extinction Rebellion (XR) have claimed responsibility for the disruption, calling the activists “ordinary people speaking out against fascism”.

Analysis:
Braverman hints at leadership hopes with unusually personal pitch

National Conservatism is a global, right-wing movement which claims that traditional values are being “undermined and overthrown”.

The home secretary had barely begun speaking when a man stood up and started shouting about her small boats plan.

Moments later a woman stood up and started asking questions to boos from the audience.

The pair were swiftly hauled out of the room with Ms Braverman joking: “Anyone else? It’s audition day for the shadow cabinet.”

Mr Rees-Mogg also made light of the situation after a man joined him at the lectern during his speech and told the audience: “I would like to draw your attention to a few characteristics of fascism.”

The former business secretary said Conservatives believed in freedom of speech and that the activist “can have his national loony convention next week and see how many people show up”.

Shortly afterwards, Extinction Rebellion posted on Twitter: “XR disrupts the National Conservatism Conference, calling out the fascist ideologies of senior Cabinet members and MPs.”

‘Not racist to control our borders’

Ms Braverman used her speech to say the Conservative party needs to deliver on its manifesto promise to reduce immigration, arguing “it’s not racist” to want control of our borders.

“There is no reason why we can’t train up enough truck drivers, butchers, fruit pickers or welders,” the home secretary said.

“Brexit enables us to build a high skilled, high wage economy which is less dependent on low skill foreign labour.

“That was our 2019 manifesto pledge – and it’s what we must deliver.”

The speech will be seen as a warning to cabinet colleagues against relaxing immigration visa rules in a bid to boost growth.

There has been speculation of a split in government on immigration, with some members – including Chancellor Jeremy Hunt – more keen than others to stress the benefits of migration for the economy.

The Conservatives’ 2019 manifesto promised “fewer lower-skilled migrants” and that “overall (migrant) numbers will come down”.

But when the latest net migration figures come out next week, it’s suggested by researchers it could reach 700,000 or even a million at the highest.

Yvette Cooper, the shadow home secretary, suggested Ms Braverman was “auditioning” for the Tory leadership and distancing herself from the policies for which she is responsible.

Referencing a cropped photo which reduces the National Conservatism logo to “national con”, the Labour frontbencher tweeted: “Yep – that’s exactly what all this is. Suella Braverman criticising Govt immigration policies – wait til she finds out who’s in charge of them!”

Voter ID attempt at ‘gerrymandering’, Rees-Mogg suggests

Earlier, Mr Rees-Mogg used his speech to criticise prime minister Rishi Sunak for breaking his promise to complete a “bonfire” of remaining EU-era laws by the end of the year.

Fewer than 600 laws will be revoked under the bill by the end of the year instead of the 4,000 or so pledged – in a move the North East Somerset MP called “pathetically under-ambitious”.

“Rishi Sunak made a specific promise to scrap thousands of EU laws,” he said.

“He’s broken that promise. This is very unfortunate as one of his virtues is his trustworthiness and the surrender to the blob risks exposing the government to ridicule.”

The senior Tory MP also appeared to describe the introduction of voter ID as an attempt at “gerrymandering” that backfired against the Conservatives.

He said the policy, which he defended when a government minister, had made it harder for elderly Tories to vote.

“Parties that try and gerrymander end up finding their clever scheme comes back to bite them, as dare I say we found by insisting on voter ID for elections,” he said.

“We found the people who didn’t have ID were elderly and they by and large voted Conservative, so we made it hard for our own voters and we upset a system that worked perfectly well.”

National Conservatism is a fringe event which has brought together supporters and representatives on the right of the Conservative party.

Tory MP Miriam Cates opened the three-day conference in London on Monday, saying that falling birth rates are “the one overarching threat to British conservatism and indeed the whole of western society”.

She also claimed “cultural Marxism” was “destroying our children’s souls” – something which has been criticised by the government’s antisemitism tsar.

John Mann, a former Labour MP who now serves as the government’s adviser on antisemitism, said: “The use of the term is rooted in Goebbels’ cultural Bolshevism and is a conspiracy theory with antisemitism at its core.

“No UK politician should be comfortable in using it and needs to understand where it comes from and why that is problematic.”

World

Donald Trump sending ‘top of the line’ weapons to support NATO in Ukraine war

Published

16 hours ago

July 15, 2025

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Donald Trump sending 'top of the line' weapons to support NATO in Ukraine war

Donald Trump has agreed to send “top of the line weapons” to NATO to support Ukraine – and threatened Russia with “severe” tariffs if it doesn’t agree to end the war.

Speaking with NATO secretary-general Mark Rutte during a meeting at the White House, the US president said: “We’ve made a deal today where we are going to be sending them weapons, and they’re going to be paying for them.

“This is billions of dollars worth of military equipment which is going to be purchased from the United States, going to NATO, and that’s going to be quickly distributed to the battlefield.”

Follow the latest here

It comes as Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he had a “very good conversation” with Mr Trump late on Monday. He thanked him for the “willingness to support Ukraine and to continue working together to stop the killings”.

Weapons being sent from to Ukraine include surface-to-air Patriot missile systems and batteries, which the country has asked for to defend itself from Russian air strikes.

Mr Trump also said he was “very unhappy” with Russia, and threatened “severe tariffs” of “about 100%” if there isn’t a deal to end the war in Ukraine within 50 days.

The White House added that the US would put “secondary sanctions” on countries that buy oil from Russia if an agreement was not reached.

Mr Zelenskyy previously criticised Vladimir Putin’s “desire to drag [the war] out”, and said Kyiv was “working on major defence agreements with America”.

It comes after weeks of frustration from Mr Trump over Mr Putin’s refusal to agree to an end to the conflict, with the Russian leader telling the US president he would “not back down” from Moscow’s goals in Ukraine at the start of the month.

During the briefing on Monday, Mr Trump said he had held calls with Mr Putin where he would think “that was a nice phone call”, but then “missiles are launched into Kyiv or some other city, and that happens three or four times”.

“I don’t want to say he’s an assassin, but he’s a tough guy,” he added.

Earlier this year, Mr Trump told Mr Zelenskyy “you’re gambling with World War Three” in a fiery White House meeting, and suggested Ukraine started the war against Russia as he sought to negotiate an end to the conflict.

After Mr Trump’s briefing, Russian senator Konstantin Kosachev said on Telegram: “If this is all that Trump had in mind to say about Ukraine today, then all the steam has gone out.”

Meanwhile, Mr Zelenskyy met with US special envoy Keith Kellogg in Kyiv, where they “discussed the path to peace” by “strengthening Ukraine’s air defence, joint production, and procurement of defence weapons in collaboration with Europe”.

He thanked both the envoy for the visit and Mr Trump “for the important signals of support and the positive decisions for both our countries”.

World

Trump announces weapons deal with NATO to help Ukraine – as he gives Putin 50-day ultimatum

Published

1 day ago

July 14, 2025

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Trump announces weapons deal with NATO to help Ukraine - as he gives Putin 50-day ultimatum

Donald Trump has agreed to send “top of the line weapons” to NATO to support Ukraine – and threatened Russia with “severe” tariffs if it doesn’t agree to end the war.

Speaking with NATO secretary general Mark Rutte during a meeting at the White House, the US president said: “We’ve made a deal today where we are going to be sending them weapons, and they’re going to be paying for them.

“This is billions of dollars worth of military equipment which is going to be purchased from the United States,” he added, “going to NATO, and that’s going to be quickly distributed to the battlefield.”

Follow the latest here

Weapons being sent include surface-to-air Patriot missile systems and batteries, which Ukraine has asked for to defend itself from Russian air strikes.

Mr Trump also said he was “very unhappy” with Russia, and threatened “severe tariffs” of “about 100%” if there isn’t a deal to end the war in Ukraine within 50 days.

The White House added that the US would put “secondary sanctions” on countries that buy oil from Russia if an agreement was not reached.

It comes after weeks of frustration from Mr Trump against Vladimir Putin’s refusal to agree to an end to the conflict, with the Russian leader telling the US president he would “not back down” from Moscow’s goals in Ukraine at the start of the month.

During the briefing on Monday, Mr Trump said he had held calls with Mr Putin where he would think “that was a nice phone call,” but then “missiles are launched into Kyiv or some other city, and that happens three or four times”.

“I don’t want to say he’s an assassin, but he’s a tough guy,” he added.

Earlier this year, Mr Trump told Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy “you’re gambling with World War Three” in a fiery White House meeting, and suggested Ukraine started the war against Russia as he sought to negotiate an end to the conflict.

After Mr Trump’s briefing, Russian senator Konstantin Kosachev said on Telegram: “If this is all that Trump had in mind to say about Ukraine today, then all the steam has gone out.”

He thanked both the envoy for the visit and Mr Trump “for the important signals of support and the positive decisions for both our countries”.

World

At least 30 dead and 100 injured as armed groups clash in Syria, officials say

Published

2 days ago

July 14, 2025

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At least 30 dead and 100 injured as armed groups clash in Syria, officials say

At least 30 people have been killed in the Syrian city of Sweida in clashes between local military groups and tribes, according to Syria’s interior ministry.

Officials say initial figures suggest around 100 people have also been injured in the city, where the Druze faith is one of the major religious groups.

The interior ministry said its forces will directly intervene to resolve the conflict, which the Reuters news agency said involved fighting between Druze gunmen and Bedouin Sunni tribes.

It marks the latest episode of sectarian violence in Syria, where fears among minority groups have increased since Islamist-led rebels toppled President Bashar al Assad in December, installing their own government and security forces.

The violence reportedly erupted after a wave of kidnappings, including the abduction of a Druze merchant on Friday on the highway linking Damascus to Sweida.

Last April, Sunni militia clashed with armed Druze residents of Jaramana, southeast of Damascus, and fighting later spread to another district near the capital.

But this is the first time the fighting has been reported inside the city of Sweida itself, the provincial capital of the mostly Druze province.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reports the fighting was centred in the Maqwas neighbourhood east of Sweida and villages on the western and northern outskirts of the city.

It adds that Syria’s Ministry of Defence has deployed military convoys to the area.

Western nations, including the US and UK, have been increasingly moving towards normalising relations with Syria.

Concerns among minority groups have intensified following the killing of hundreds of Alawites in March, in apparent retaliation for an earlier attack carried out by Assad loyalists.

That was the deadliest sectarian flare-up in years in Syria, where a 14-year civil war ended with Assad fleeing to Russia after his government was overthrown by rebel forces.

The city of Sweida is in southern Syria, about 24 miles (38km) north of the border with Jordan.