Kemi Badenoch criticizes labour government, says UK falling behind while China builds nuclear

Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch has accused the Labour-led UK government of neglecting serious national priorities while global competitors surge ahead in innovation and industrial growth.

Speaking at the Conservative Party’s annual conference in Manchester, Badenoch warned that Britain is becoming “stagnant” as other countries focus on technological progress and economic expansion.

“While Britain was redefining what a woman is, China was building five nuclear reactors,” she said, drawing a contrast between the UK’s culture wars and China’s rapid infrastructure development.

Badenoch argued that the UK is losing ground to nations such as India and Poland, where economic growth and industrial ambition are on the rise.

“Britain is stagnating while the world around us moves on.

“We’re competing with a billion Indians striving for middle-class status and with countries like Poland that are growing twice as fast as we are.

“Fifteen years ago, Polish workers came here for opportunities, now Poland is outpacing us.” she said

As part of her economic revival plan, Badenoch announced a proposal to abolish stamp duty on property purchases, saying it would help stimulate growth and “benefit people of all ages.”

She claimed the move would be funded by £47 billion in identified savings, a figure disputed by Labour officials.

The announcement comes as Badenoch faces mounting pressure to revive Conservative fortunes, with the party currently sitting in third place in national polls.

Responding to Badenoch’s remarks, Labour Party chair Anna Turley dismissed the Conservative leader’s comments as “political denial,” accusing her of ignoring the failures of previous Tory governments.

“Kemi Badenoch is in complete denial,” Turley said.

“After 14 years of failure, the Conservatives still won’t apologise for the mess they created. She set a new ‘golden economic rule’ today and broke it immediately. It’s the same old Tories with no real plan.”

Turley added that Labour’s government has already delivered stronger real wage growth in ten months than the Conservatives achieved in a decade, insisting that “only Labour can renew Britain, grow the economy, and make working people better off.”