The comments made by Kemi Badenoch, the Secretary of State for Trade, on 8 October 2022.
Seeing our world-class lamb back on American menus is fantastic news for our farmers. Now they can sell to a consumer market of over 300 million people, which support jobs and growth in a vital British industry.
It also shows our two nations working together to remove barriers and boost trade, building on recent resolutions on steel tariffs, and whisky exports.
The speech made by Kemi Badenoch, the Secretary of State for International Trade, in New York on 28 September 2022.
Thank you and good afternoon everyone.
How wonderful it to be at the Atlantic Future Forum.
This a superb event organised by the Royal Navy and our teams from the Department for International Trade, the Ministry of Defence and of course the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office.
It is particularly poignant being on HMS Queen Elizabeth given the events of the last few weeks.
To say it’s been emotional would be an understatement. For everyone in the UK, young or old Her Late Majesty had been ever presence of force in British Life. Many of us here were more than her subjects we were Her Majesty’s Ambassadors, Her Majesty’s Civil Service, Her Majesty’s Armed Forces, Her Royal Navy, Her Government.
Our late sovereign was also, of course, a stateswoman, who devoted herself to deepening the special relationship.
So it is a particular privilege to stand on this vessel which she named at Rosyth Dockyard 8 years ago, as we begin the Carolean age in the service of His Majesty.
And talk about an important aspect of the US and UK’s shared future and by that I mean…our economic partnership.
I lived briefly in the US, and learned very quickly that Americans and New Yorkers especially, like to cut to the chase.
So, I’m going to get straight to the point:
Right now, there’s a global growth slow-down underway.
And if you’ll forgive the pun, we need all hands on-deck to get the world economy’s wheels spinning again.
And that’s why in the UK we’re going for growth in a big way. And in fact some of you may have heard some major reforms we announced on Friday, to achieve this:
But before I go into what we are doing, it would be odd not to address the elephant in the room.. and the financial instability in markets over the last few days.
You would by now have heard the Bank of England taking short-term measures to provide stability – as is their job.
My colleagues, including the Chancellor, continue to work very closely with our institutions to support them in their aims while maintaining their independence. And we must look at all of this in the context of the fundamentals, which are that the UK economy is strong and we have a plan – a Growth Plan to cut taxes, promote enterprise and cut red tape for business.
So what are some of the things we’re doing?
We’re keeping corporation tax at the lowest in the G20 at 19% not cutting keeping.
We’re creating low tax investment zones around the country, to make it quicker and easier to build and get things done because the regulatory environment has not kept pace with our economic needs.
We’re accelerating critical infrastructure projects in sectors like transport, energy, and telecoms…to ensure we invest in our future and deliver for the next generation.
We’re also going to be spending 3% of GDP on defence by 2030. Something I know looking at all of the uniforms in the room is especially relevant to all of you here today.
We’re rolling out significant financial services reforms that will make the UK an even better place to do business and much more.
There is radical change happening on our side of the Atlantic. It’s the kind of radical change that we’ve not seen for 40 years.
We know it is bold.
We know it comes with risk.
But in these volatile times, every option, even the status quo is risky.
And the Prime Minister, my predecessor but one in my role as Trade Secretary gets trade and knows that our global economic relationships have got to be at the heart of this work.
Right now, US-UK trade is booming. Sadly, not enough people know this or hear the message enough. So I want to make sure they do and I’ll continue to bang the drum.
But it’s the investment story that’s even more interesting.
Increasing numbers of American firms are realising that backing the UK is a great move.
I could make your eyes glaze over by trotting out an endless list of statistics! Don’t worry I’m not going to do that today
….. but the numbers speak for themselves:
US businesses already invested £479 billion pounds into in our economy –To put that figure into context it’s more than Sweden’s annual GDP.
Every day just under 1.5 million Britons go to work for an American firm.
And in the year to March alone, American investment created 27,000 British jobs.
I know to some extent I’m preaching to the choir here.
Because I don’t have to look far around this room to spot businesses that are boosting their UK operations.
In fact, Lockheed Martin and Raytheon, are just some of the American firms here today that have said they will do precisely that. And we look forward to working with them.
Undoubtedly, factors like good infrastructure, our legal system and a lack of red-tape, are part of the UK’s attraction.
But there’s another reason too. We are fast becoming the world’s innovation destination.
Just like Manhattan, we’re an island full of dynamism and ingenuity.
We’re the nation with big ideas.
We’re Europe’s unicorn factory.
And the first quarter of this year our tech start-ups attracted more global investment than anywhere bar the US…..and partnerships between UK and American firms are pushing forward progress…..
For instance, there’ s a really interesting story taking place right now involving a firm in Cambridge called PhoreMost and a business named Polaris Quantum Biotech from North Carolina.
Together, they want to cut the time it takes to create cancer therapies. That’s not only a great business partnership, it’s literally a life-saving collaboration.
But I want to do even more to make sure American ambitions collide with British ideas or vice versa.
So here’s my elevator pitch. The UK is pro-ambition, pro entrepreneur, pro-growth and home to top-flight talent fizzing with extraordinary ideas.
And we are more determined than ever before to turn the country into the place to come if you want your business to succeed.
Of course, we mustn’t pretend everything is perfect or easy. We know that, sometimes trading our way to growth can be more difficult than it needs to be.
But it’s because the US and UK are close that we can fix problems wherever we find them.
Look at the way we recently solved the Section 232 tariff dispute on UK steel and aluminium exports and reached an understanding on the Airbus-Boeing dispute.
Very soon, Americans will be able to pick up a leg of Welsh lamb at their local store for the first time in decades, after a long-standing rule was removed.
That’s obviously big news for British farmers. And it’s arguably even better news for Americans who get to tuck in on some of the finest grass-fed lamb in the world…
And, of course, we’re delighted that bourbon is fully back on the drinks menu, in Britain, following the Section 232 resolution.
I know that behind the scenes we’re working hard to resolve issues and make it quicker, easier and cheaper for our firms to do business.
The UK also sees the huge potential to develop our relationships with individual states as another huge opportunity.
In May, under the stewardship of my predecessor, Anne-Marie Trevelyan, who is also here today, we signed a Memorandum of Understanding on trade and economic cooperation with Indiana – a state that already buys $1.4 billion worth of UK goods every year.
North Carolina followed in July.
And I know the DIT team is working hard on continuing Anne Marie’s legacy with me and securing more this year…so watch this space.
Given we’re anchored not far from the Statue of Liberty, I want to end by saying a few words about trade as a force for progress and a force for good.
Free markets and fair trade are very personal to me.
Too many people trot them out as cliches and platitudes, but a world without these freedoms is not just poorer it’s also more dangerous.
I grew up in Nigeria. And I saw first-hand what happens when a nation can’t trade or worse embraces protectionism.
Not long ago, the government there banned rice and tomato not tomayto tomato imports to support local industry. The result was not a boom in production, but supply shortages, price rises and people smuggling in tomatoes like they were diamonds.
I will never forget the sight of my mother a university professor stuffing her suitcase with Tesco Value Rice when she visited me in London because it was cheaper there than back home for her.
One of the many reasons I’m so frustrated by the trope that Brexit was the UK retreating from the world, is because it is completely untrue. I voted to leave the European Union and I saw Brexit as a once in a generation opportunity for the UK to embrace the world and trade was and still is at the heart of that.
So I want to make sure that we use our freedoms to build better and fairer trading relationships with emerging economies.
When trade is open and free and everyone plays by the rules, we will win and developing countries gain an alternative to authoritarian regimes.
But at a time when weaker economies are being exploited by those who don’t share our values, it’s not enough to talk about why free and fairtrade matters, we need to show why too.
Last month, my department launched the Developing Countries Trading Scheme. It’s one of the most generous initiatives of its type in the world and it’s going to give a boost to businesses in 65 countries by cutting red tape and lowering tariffs.
It’s early days but I’m already hearing how the scheme is giving entrepreneurs in countries like Bangladesh the opportunities they need to grow their businesses. And closer to home, I’m very much focused on exploring how trade can support the reconstruction of Ukraine.
Of course, the UK-US trading relationship couldn’t be a better illustration of capitalism’s power to influence, unite and act as a counter to protectionism and authoritarian regimes.
And We’re already using trade to tackle some of the biggest issues facing the world.
At last year’s G7 we renewed our Atlantic Charter; originally signed by Churchill and Roosevelt pledging UK and US economic and security collaboration.
Through our Future of Atlantic Trade dialogues, we’re working on critical issues, such as developing and diversifying our supply chains in response to the war in Ukraine and the pandemic.
We’re deepening our ties in the Indo-Pacific through our AUKUS pact.
Our response to the Indo Pacific region’s rapid growth and China’s growing assertiveness, is another shared challenge.
And I know we’re both committed to opposing economic coercion, and the unfair trade practices that choke competition and penalise countries that follow the rules.
President Ronald Reagan once said: ‘Free trade serves the cause of economic progress and it serves the cause of world peace.’
And the UK-US economic partnership is the clearest possible example of why free trade and free markets are not just integral to our growth but to the freedoms we share.
Next month, we’ll mark the 75th anniversary of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade – the forerunner of today’s multilateral system.
Our nations helped to forge that deal after WW2, following long negotiations.
At GATT’s heart was an acknowledgement that free and fair trade would be key to our future.
Again today, we face unprecedented challenges.
Again, at times, we may have differences…
But just like the American and British teams who gathered round the negotiating table three quarters of a century ago.
I know we are committed to deepening our transatlantic economic partnership.
Building our businesses’ bonds of commerce.
And demonstrating, unequivocally, how through free trade we can together create a better world. Thank you.
The comments made by Kemi Badenoch, the International Trade Secretary, on 28 September 2022.
The US is our single most important trade, defence and security partner. We share the same values – freedom, free trade and the rule of law. Our special relationship means together we are a force for progress as we face down countries who threaten these values.
The Atlantic Future Forum represents an incredible opportunity for our two nations to exchange skills, ideas and technology. Every morning, over a million people get up and go to work for British companies in America, and over a million do the same for American companies in the UK.
The UK is a low-tax, high-talent, innovation nation and I will show America’s biggest companies that we are ready to be their investment partner of choice.
The statement made by Kemi Badenoch, the Secretary of State for International Trade, in the House of Commons on 23 September 2022.
The first round of United Kingdom-Israel free trade agreement negotiations took place between 12 and 20 September.
In parallel, the third round of United Kingdom-Canada free trade agreement negotiations commenced on 12 September and concluded on 16 September.
Following the death of Her late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, these rounds proceeded, with appropriate adjustments.
The round of negotiations with Israel was conducted in a hybrid fashion; a small group of United Kingdom officials travelled to Jerusalem for in-person discussions, with further officials attending virtually from the United Kingdom. During this initial round, talks focused on gathering insights on key interests and priorities across policy areas as well as building a shared understanding of each other’s initial positions. Technical discussions focused on 29 policy areas in over 50 sessions.
A new agreement with Israel—with services and innovation at its heart—will build upon our existing trade and partnership agreement. It will cement our relationship with a rapidly growing economy and take our trading relationship to the next level. It will support United Kingdom jobs, and update outdated trade rules, unleashing our high-tech innovative economies.
The negotiations with Canada were conducted in a fully virtual format. Technical discussions were held across 26 policy areas across over 50 separate sessions.
Talks focused on reaffirming the United Kingdom’s positions, having tabled and presented text across the majority of chapters in the previous round. The United Kingdom’s negotiating team made progress on understanding areas of policy convergence and divergence with Canada. They agreed text where possible and in the United Kingdom’s interests and objectives to support economic growth.
The negotiations continue to reflect a shared ambition to secure a progressive deal which looks to build on the United Kingdom-Canada trade continuity agreement, and strengthens our existing trading relationship, already worth over £21 billion in 2021.
We are clear that any deals we sign will be in the best interests of the British people and the United Kingdom economy. We will not compromise on our high environmental and labour protections, public health, animal welfare and food standards, and we will maintain our right to regulate in the public interest. We are also clear that during these negotiations, the NHS and the services it provides are not on the table.
We are working towards holding a second and fourth round of negotiations with Israel and Canada respectively in due course.
Parliament will be kept updated as these negotiations progress.
The comments made by Kemi Badenoch as part of her leadership bid, published by the Telegraph as part of a longer article on 16 July 2022.
We need new homes in the right places. We need them to spread prosperity, give the next generation a stake in the future and allow families to grow. We also need to recognise that pressure on housing comes from increased migration and from families breaking up. Solving these interlinked questions needs honesty and rigour.
On housing, we’ll never get the homes we need where we need them if we insist on ever-higher inflexible top-down housing targets. We need to bring people with us by delivering infrastructure first and insisting new homes are built to a higher standard and look more beautiful. We need to break the stranglehold of the identikit cartel of land banking house builders.
But we need to consider the demand side of housing, not just the supply side. People – rightly – recognise that building more homes while doing nothing to bring immigration down is like running up the down escalator. We’ll never get to where we need to with that approach, and we won’t persuade people to accept more homes if it is being done due to immigration failures. If we can bring immigration down to a sustainable level, we can then protect green spaces for our children and precious agricultural land.
The maiden speech made by Kemi Badenoch, the Conservative MP for Saffron Walden, in the House of Commons on 19 July 2017.
It is with humility and excitement that I make my maiden speech representing the constituency of Saffron Walden, the jewel of Essex. I am honoured to serve the people of this beautiful constituency and hope I can repay the faith they have placed in me.
I am also burdened by the weight of expectation. You see, Madam Deputy Speaker, Saffron Walden has not had a maiden speech since Rab Butler’s in 1929. He held three of the great offices of state, but I am most proud that, as a Conservative Minister, he introduced the Education Act 1944, which gave every British child a statutory right to free secondary education.
I also pay tribute to my most recent predecessor, the right hon. Sir Alan Haselhurst, who served Saffron Walden with distinction for 40 years. He is well known to many of us here as a former Deputy Speaker and one of the kindest Members to grace this House—the ultimate gentleman. He is much loved in the constituency, and I am forever grateful to him for being a brilliant mentor and helping every day of the campaign, come rain or shine. I am still bowled over whenever I remember that Sir Alan became a Member of Parliament 10 years before I was born. It has been a joy to follow in his footsteps—except when we were out delivering leaflets and I found myself consistently outrun by an 80-year-old man.
Like you, Madam Deputy Speaker, I am proud to be an Essex girl. Saffron Walden is a great place and was judged the best rural place to live by no less than the Daily Mail. After seven years of Conservative-led Government, unemployment is at an all-time low of 0.7%, and 99% of children go to a good or outstanding primary or secondary school. We also boast the UK’s oldest land college in Writtle.
The constituency covers rural Chelmsford and the major settlements of Thaxted, Great Dunmow and the medieval market town of Saffron Walden itself. It was called Saffron Walden because of its large saffron crop. The spice was worth its weight in gold and was used in medicine, in perfume and even as an aphrodisiac. Like the saffron crocus, I am not a native of the great county of Essex—I come from more exotic climes. While I may not have all the attributes of this versatile flower, I hope that I will equally take root in the area, bring prosperity to the local people and add some colour and spice to this Chamber.
Much has changed since then, but more change is needed—change to the rickety network on which mobile phones operate, change to the inadequate broadband service that has left parts of the constituency with little access to the outside world, and change to the railway line that has become synonymous with being late for work. We cannot claim to offer opportunities to rural areas if basic infrastructure is not provided. My constituents are more likely to get to Spain faster than London, because we have Stansted, the country’s fourth-largest airport. It has brought jobs—and noise—and growth to the area on a huge scale, and has cemented my constituency’s position as the epicentre of business, travel and wealth in Essex.
I am often inexplicably confused with a member of the Labour party—I cannot think why. I am a Conservative. To all intents and purposes, I am a first-generation immigrant. I was born in Wimbledon, but I grew up in Nigeria. I chose to make the United Kingdom my home. Growing up in Nigeria I saw real poverty—I experienced it, including living without electricity and doing my homework by candlelight, because the state electricity board could not provide power, and fetching water in heavy, rusty buckets from a borehole a mile away, because the nationalised water company could not get water out of the taps. Unlike many colleagues born since 1980, I was unlucky enough to live under socialist policies. It is not something I would wish on anyone, and it is just one of the reasons why I am a Conservative. I believe that the state should provide social security, but it must also provide a means for people to lift themselves out of poverty.
As a woman of African origin, I also believe that there is a lot that Africa can teach us. Sound money is not just a catchy phrase. The lesson of Zimbabwe is salient for us today. Money cannot be printed and redistribution cannot be successful without first creating wealth. Edmund Burke said that society is a contract between the dead, the living and those yet to be born. I say to colleagues who are wavering on tackling the debt and the deficit, “Hold your nerve.” This is part of that contract that we owe to our descendants. To leave our children carrying the burdens of our debt and excesses is morally wrong.
I believe in free markets and free trade. But there is more to conservatism than economic liberalism—there is respect for the rule of law; personal responsibility; freedom of speech and of association; and opportunity through meritocracy. Those freedoms are being subtly eroded in an era when emotion and feeling are prized above reason and logic. It is those freedoms that I will seek to defend during my time in this House.
There are few countries in the world where you can go in one generation from immigrant to parliamentarian. Michael Howard spoke of the British dream—people choosing this country because of its tolerance and its opportunity. It is a land where a girl from Nigeria can move, aged 16, be accepted as British and have the great honour of representing Saffron Walden.
There are some in this country, and this Chamber, who seek to denigrate the traditions of this Parliament, portraying this House as a bastion of privilege and class, that “reeks of the establishment”, as someone said. It is no coincidence that those who seek to undermine the institutions of this island—Parliament, monarchy, Church and family—also propagate a world view that sees Britain, and the values we hold dear, as a force for bad in the world. Growing up in Nigeria, the view was rather different. The UK was a beacon, a shining light, a promise of a better life.
Often we hear the radical reformer John Bright misquoted as saying that the House of Commons is the mother of all Parliaments. What he actually said was that this country is the mother of all Parliaments. Our political institutions may not always be held in high esteem, but I believe that politics is a mirror held up to society. Yes, it can sometimes be unedifying. Yes, we see human weakness on display. But it also embodies much that is great in our country. When I walk down these corridors and stand in this Chamber, once graced by my heroes, Winston Churchill, Airey Neave and Margaret Thatcher, I am filled with nothing but awe, respect and pride for all that it stands for.
As Woody Allen said about sex, “If it’s not messy, you’re not doing it right.” The same is true of democracy. It is not always predictable; its results are not always elegant; it can throw up results that no one expected—but we adjust. The British Parliament always has adjusted, and that is why it is the oldest in the world: it takes its lead from the British people.
We live in difficult times and face historic challenges. People are rightly concerned about what Brexit will mean for the country, for their jobs and for their families. But I do not believe that winter is coming. I believe that the vote for Brexit was the greatest ever vote of confidence in the project of the United Kingdom: that vision of a global Britain to which the Minister referred. It is a project that, as a young African girl, I dreamed about becoming part of. As a British woman, I now have the great honour of delivering that project for my constituents in the greatest Parliament on earth.
The comments made by Kemi Badenoch, the Communities Minister, on 15 October 2021.
I want to congratulate Basil Watson on being selected to design the National Windrush Monument. The government is very pleased to be sponsoring this commemoration.
His design will celebrate and honour the contribution of the Windrush generation, right at the centre of our nation’s capital.
The Monument will become a permanent place of reflection and inspiration for all, reminding us of our shared history and heritage.
The speech made by Kemi Badenoch, the then Minister for Equalities, in the House of Commons on 19 November 2020.
Thank you Madam Deputy Speaker I am pleased to be standing at the Dispatch Box on International Men’s Day. I thank the Backbench Business Committee for granting a debate on this important subject and I thank all the hon. and right hon. Members who have made heartfelt contributions today.
I also welcome the member for Warrington South to her position as shadow Minister.
International Men’s Day is an opportunity to celebrate men and boys in all their diversity, and to shine a spotlight on the issues which affect men, from shared parenting to health and wellbeing.
This Government is committed to levelling-up opportunity and ensuring fairness for all.
As Minister for Equalities, I want to ensure no one is left behind, regardless of their sex or background. Both men and women in the UK benefit from us having some of the strongest equality legislation in the world. The Equality Hub will consider sex along with factors like race, sexual orientation, geography and socio-economic background so we can ensure we are levelling up across the country.
This will support data driven policy to reduce disparity across the Union and make the UK the best place to live, work and grow a business.
Levelling up is the mission of this government and every one of us should be free and able to fulfil our potential. The Member for Carshalton and Wallington mentioned the Coronavirus, which we all know is the biggest challenge the UK has faced in decades – and we are not alone. All over the world we are seeing the devastating impact of this disease.
We know that men have been disproportionately impacted by Covid, and that after age, sex is the second largest single risk factor.
However, not all men are the same, and not all men will be affected in the same way. My report into Covid disparities showed, for example that the job you do, where you live, who you live with and your underlying health, all make a huge difference to your risk of Covid.
We recognise how important it is that each individual understands how different factors and characteristics combine to influence their personal risk. The Chief Medical Officer commissioned an expert group to develop a risk model to do just this, and DHSC are working at pace on how to apply the model.
As well as the impact on lives, Covid has had a huge impact on Britain’s livelihoods. Those livelihoods which give us pride and a way to support our families.
Because, of course, men and women do not exist separately and in isolation – we are part of families, businesses, and part of our communities. Which is why our support is targeted at those most in need and looks at how issues are impacting individuals not homogenous groups, so that we ensure a fair recovery for everyone.
As a Treasury Minister, I am particularly proud of our comprehensive package to protect jobs, which the IMF highlighted as ‘one of the best examples of coordinated action globally.’
We have given unprecedented support, as this house has heard time and time again, through the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) and the Self-employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS), to ensure people can get the support they need, especially those in sectors most affected by COVID-19.
The members for Watford, Ipswich and West Bromwich East spoke passionately about mental health.
The challenges this year have no doubt taken their toll on many people’s mental wellbeing.
It is very understandable during these uncertain and unusual times to be experiencing distress or anxiety or to be feeling low – and we know this affects many men. These are common reactions to the difficult situation we all face. Anyone experiencing distress, anxiety, or feeling low, can visit the Every Mind Matters website and GOV.UK for advice and tailored, practical steps to support wellbeing and manage mental health during this pandemic.
We know that some men are less likely than women to seek help with their mental health and some can be reluctant to engage with health and other support services. This is why I say to every man that the NHS is open for business. We really want to stress this.
I would urge any man who is struggling to speak to a GP and seek out mental health support delivered by charities or the NHS. Services are still operating and it’s better to get help early.
The NHS this week launched its ‘Help Us Help You’ campaign – a major campaign to encourage people who may be struggling with common mental health illnesses to come forward for help through NHS talking therapies, also known as Improving Access to Psychological Therapies, which are a confidential service run by fully trained experts.
I would also like to remind people that the ‘Help Us Help You’ campaigns have sought to increase people coming forward with worrying cancer symptoms, including for testicular cancer and prostate cancer.
I know the member for Bracknell spoke movingly about his friend who tragically lost his life and urged men to seek the help that they need, as did the member for Glasgow East.
The current campaign will run throughout the winter to ensure that men feel able to come forward and get tested and treated early.
I believe the honourable lady asked about rough sleeping. I just wanted to answer her question on what the Government is doing.
On the 18 July we launched the Next Steps Accommodation Programme which makes funding available to support Local Authorities and their partners to prevent previous rough sleepers from returning to the streets. The programme comprises £161M to deliver 3,300 units of longer-term, move on accommodation in 2020/21. And £105M to pay for immediate support to ensure that people do not return to the streets.
On 17 September we announced local authority allocations for the short-term funding aspect of this programme. £91.5M was allocated to 274 councils in England to help vulnerable people housed during the pandemic. And recently, on 29 October we announced allocations to local partners to deliver longer-term move on accommodation. More than 3,300 new long term homes for rough sleepers across the country have been approved and this is backed by Government investment of more than £150M. So as she can see there is quite a lot that is being done on this issue which we take very, very seriously indeed.
Madame deputy Speaker I would like to close by taking a moment to celebrate the contribution men and boys make to our society. The member for Rother Valley talked about men and boys in his constituency feeling like they have been forgotten. It therefore seems opportune to celebrate our fathers and our sons, our brothers and our friends and indeed our colleagues this week, and the progress we have made in supporting them under this Government.
For example since 2010 we have seen the introduction of Shared Parental Leave, allowing mothers and fathers to share the highs and indeed the lows of caring for their new babies.
This Government is also committed to making it easier for fathers to take Paternity Leave, as set out in our 2019 Manifesto. And subject to further consultation, we are committed to introducing measures to make flexible working the default for men and women, unless employers have good reason not to.
As someone who only came back from maternity leave this year myself, I can tell you Madam Deputy Speaker that my husband was able to take paternity leave and it made my return to work much easier, having two ministerial responsibilities as well as my work in my constituency. So this is a policy that I’m very very passionate about.
Phillip Davies MP:
Would the member also look to make it easier for absent fathers to actually have access to their children and to speed up the process through the family courts, which is often a tortuous one, which causes so much heartache for so many fathers?
Kemi Badenoch MP:
My honourable friend is right and yes, this is something I think we can look into. I also want to recognise the work that he has done to raise awareness of fathers who feel a sense of alienation from losing access to their children. He will be pleased to see that the statutory guidance of the Domestic Violence Bill currently recognises parental alienation as an example of coercive and controlling behaviour – no doubt in part due to his representations on this issue.
I would like to thank him and my honourable friend for Mansfield again for their tireless work on these issues, and for securing this debate today.
I therefore pay tribute to my honourable friend, the member for Mansfield, for his vigorous campaign to support boys from white working-class backgrounds.
He raised many issues about the way the Equality Act is interpreted, as protecting groups when actually what it protects is characteristics which we all have. I think some of his questions, especially about whether we should have a Minister for Women, are above my pay grade! But I think this is something that I will definitely raise with the Minister for Women and Equalities and with the Prime Minister on his behalf as well.
I want to assure him that the Commission I sponsor on race and ethnic disparities is currently studying how we improve outcomes for these boys in the towns and regions of our country.
I’d also like to pay tribute to the Equalities Whip, the member for Finchley and Golders Green, who rarely gets the chance to speak these days as a whip, for his successful campaign to get the HPV cancer jab given to men and boys. We’re very proud of the work that he has done.
I am honoured to have taken part in today’s debate on International Men’s Day to mark the progress we have made, and to highlight what more needs to be done.
The speech made by Kemi Badenoch, the then Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury, on 3 November 2020.
Good morning everyone.
First, may I say that it’s been a real pleasure to hear from the experts on the Natural Capital Committee today, including Dieter Helm.
I’ve only been Exchequer Secretary for the past six months but I know the NCC’s work has proven to be invaluable to my predecessors.
And I wanted to start off by saying a big thank you for all its efforts over the past decade.
While my role is focused on developing economic policy for this country, increasingly it also involves fighting climate change and safeguarding the environment.
And I believe a natural capital approach is going to be integral to achieving those goals. That’s going to be particularly the case, as we start our country’s recovery from Covid-19.
Firstly, because the scientific evidence increasingly points to the fact that biodiversity loss puts us at greater risk of future pandemics.
Secondly, because we need to find new ways of driving clean growth – so we can build back better, greener and stronger after the pandemic.
Today I’m going to briefly outline where this government sees the economic opportunities from preserving and protecting our natural capital. Before turning to how we plan to seize them.
But first I wanted to take this opportunity to talk about some of the NCC’s achievements over the past years.
As you might know, its advice was instrumental in the development of the Government’s 25-Year Environment Plan, which includes a vision for protecting and improving our natural capital.
This is going to mark a real step change in the way we safeguard our natural resources.
It’s down to Dieter and the Committee’s efforts, that very soon, that vision will be given a statutory footing through the Environment Bill.
But as well as helping to leave a better world for our children and grandchildren, the NCC has made an enormous contribution to instilling natural capital principles into present day decision-making, including in areas of economic policy.
One of the best illustrations of this is the Committee’s updates to our 2018 Green Book.
For those of you who aren’t closely involved in government – the Green Book gives our officials a framework against which they can evaluate the costs and benefits of a policy.
And the NCC’s work has given officials the tools to do this more thoroughly when it comes to policies relating to natural capital.
But undoubtedly one of the NCC’s biggest achievements has been deepening our understanding of how the environment supports our economy. We’ve seen a fantastic example of that in the way the NCC has helped the Office for National Statistics create some of the most complete natural capital accounts of any country.
These figures place an economic value on everything from our fossil fuels and agricultural biomass, to the impact that living near a green space has on house prices.
You don’t have to be a fan of spreadsheets to find these ONS reports fascinating reading. So do take a look if you have a moment.
However, a natural capital approach is not just about attributing a financial value to rivers, forests and peatlands – although this is a good start.
It’s about recognising that these resources must be intertwined in our financial system and not stand distinct from it.
It’s about continually improving our policies so that they drive sustainable growth.
And it’s about understanding that protecting the environment is integral to both a thriving economy and society for people today and generations tomorrow.
I think a good example of that point is the value of the carbon capture service provided by the world’s trees.
According to a report by the Paulson Institute and the Nature Conservancy, that figure could be as much as $262 billion a year.
That’s a number that left me astonished.
It underlines that if we fail to protect our forests, we’ll not only find it far harder to prevent global warming… We’ll also end up spending vast amounts more on tackling greenhouse gas emissions. Money that could be spent on schools, hospitals, transport infrastructure or any number of things.
The chance to become both green and prosperous, is an enticing vision.
But to echo Dieter’s words in the NCC’s most recent report, it ‘won’t happen by default’.
That’s why the need to generate green jobs and build clean industries is at the very heart of this government’s recovery agenda.
You saw a sign of that commitment when last month the Prime Minister announced our plans for a green industrial revolution.
And over the past months, we’ve made some important progress towards not only safeguarding our natural capital but maximising its economic potential.
As the Chancellor announced earlier this year, we’re using the £640 million Nature for Climate Fund, to turn an area larger than Birmingham into forest and to restore 35,000 acres of peatland.
While we’ve also launched our £40m Green Recovery Challenge Fund, to support environmental charities deliver natural capital improvement projects across England.
This money will not only protect the natural environment for years to come…
It will generate and protect thousands of jobs, both in more traditional areas such as forestry and timber production and in new green industries of the future.
We’re not just taking action, we’re thinking carefully about how it should be best focused.
Just as nature’s processes don’t respect national borders, the government recognises that biodiversity loss is a global problem that requires coordinated action between countries.
That’s why at the recent UN Biodiversity Summit, the Prime Minister committed to protect 30 per cent of the UK’s land within the next decade.
And it’s why we will shortly publish Professor Sir Partha Dasgupta’s independent, global review on the economics of biodiversity.
This important report will not only provide an opportunity to help us better understand how to engage sustainably with nature, while enhancing our collective wealth and well-being…
It will allow the UK to demonstrate thought leadership on the global stage, just as we did through the ground-breaking Stern Review into the economics of climate change, nearly 15 years ago.
So, as I’ve outlined, we’re making progress on embedding a natural capital approach.
But I’m all too aware that government investment, regulation and pledges can only take us so far.
We also need to encourage the private sector to join the cause.
There’s already some great initiatives underway.
HSBC is planning to launch a natural capital asset management company.
While increasing numbers of landowners are signing up to the Woodland Carbon Code, which aims to build a market for carbon credits from British woodland.
But we want to achieve even more. That’s particularly the case in areas like water quality, biodiversity and carbon capture.
We’ve recently taken a major step forward on this front, with the launch of a £10 million fund to help environmental projects generate revenue and attract private sector investment.
And I know the Committee has given excellent guidance in this respect, arguing for the creation of stable, long-term regulatory frameworks…
To facilitate the flow of private capital into the natural environment and to reduce the burden on the public sector.
We’ve taken this on board and we’re continuing to seek ways of encouraging private sector involvement in natural capital initiatives.
As a final note, I know the Committee has also called for a Natural Capital Baseline Survey to help provide data on the location and condition of our natural capital assets – work that could play an important part in stimulating a green recovery.
We’ve listened to that request and we’ve made £5 million available to help pilot the idea this year.
So, I’ll end by once more thanking the Committee for all its work. You have indeed been a strong ally and a critical friend to the Government over the past decade.
And while the NCC may be winding down, rest assured that our commitment to embedding natural capital principles in our decision-making remains as strong as ever.
Of course, the task ahead of us isn’t easy.
But let’s remind ourselves of what we can achieve by harnessing natural capital principles.
A better environment, both for people today and generations to come.
A thriving economy.
And a greener, bolder and more prosperous Britain.
Thank you.
The comments made by Kemi Badenoch, as part of a longer article in the Daily Telegraph, on 26 June 2021.
The phrase “white privilege” is unnecessarily antagonistic. Much as some theorists think it is essential for tackling racism, there is an active and fairly toxic political debate around it. All the more reason why the phrase should not be taught in schools unless it is explained that it is also contentious.
It is important to tackle racial discrimination. But these matters must be handled sensitively. Normalising the term “white privilege” does not eliminate racism, it reinforces the notion that everyone and everything around ethnic minorities is racist and makes the majority white population more conscious about their race and exacerbates feelings of difference, creating a less cohesive society.