INTERVIEW: Badenoch condemns Guardian column as ‘cover for disgusting antisemitism’
Speaking to Jewish News during a visit to Golders Green, the Tory leader said: 'People know where I stand - 100 percent behind the Jewish community'
Kemi Badenoch has described a Guardian newspaper column that suggested the presence of a Jewish-founded Gail’s bakery close to a Palestinian cafe was “heavy-handed high street aggression” as “a cover for disgusting antisemitism.”
Speaking to Jewish News as she joined party activists to campaign in Golders Green ahead of May’s local elections, the Conservative Party leader condemned the column in the strongest terms. “I think it was an utterly ridiculous column… appalling, actually,” Badenoch said.
“What it was insinuating, in my view, was based on antisemitism. We are a country where it hasn’t mattered where you’ve come from… we have always been open and tolerant. I think this openness and tolerance of our society is being exploited, and is targeting Jewish people.
“It’s extraordinary that Gail’s bakeries are being attacked now, supposedly because they are Israeli-owned. This is just a cover; it’s antisemitism. It is disgusting. We need to stamp out this culture. We need more enforcement, more punishment for people who carry out these violent acts… they are trying to intimidate people.”
On Monday, the Guardian responded to widespread anger about a column written by Jonathan Liew, headlined headlined ‘A corner of north London where food has become a battleground in the Israel-Gaza war’ by telling Jewish News: “Complaints about Guardian journalism are considered by the internally independent readers’ editor under the Guardian’s editorial code and guidance.”
But as she spoke to us during her visit to Golders Green, Badenoch also responded with anger to a survey by the Union of Jewish Students, laying bare the extent of antisemitism on university campuses.
The UJS study showed one-in-four students had witnessed harassment of Jewish students, and one-in-five said they would not want a Jewish housemate.
The Tory leader, who visited the Kosher Kingdom and Coco bakeries in Golders Green on Monday as she joined activists and senior Jewish Tory figures to boost the local election campaign, said the findings alarmed her deeply.
“I’m very worried about this,” she said. “This was not what things were like 20-25 years ago when I was at university. It would have been unconscionable for people to even express these views.
“I think this goes beyond some of the things which we’ve traditionally done – banning things here and there, and proscribing groups.
“This is a culture that is seeping into the general population, and that actually means government talking about the sorts of things that it hasn’t traditionally talked about.
“I gave a speech a couple of weeks ago on this issue, talking about rising separatism. We cannot afford for communities to be withdrawing into separate groups. I think that there are certain ideas that have come from cultures where these attitudes are typical, which have taken hold, and they have found fertile soil in a very old, sort of almost forgotten antisemitic way.”
Linking rising antisemitism on campus with the impact of columns written by the Guardian journalist, she added:”I believe in free speech.
“When those columns do come out, you need to be very forceful in condemning those so that those sorts of students who are saying those things can hear that these views are actually not acceptable in the country.
“”You can have your free speech, but be very, very ready for the counter, which is that we don’t do here. “
Badenoch was joined on Golders Green high street by around 35 activists, along with high-profile communal party supporters, including Conservative Friends of Israel president Lord Polak, the group’s vice-chair Adam Cannon and local councillors such as Dean Cohen, who organised the visit as chair of the Conservative Jewish Alliance.
Unsurprisingly, she firmly rejected suggestions that the local Tory Group faced a challenge from Reform to secure Jewish votes in May.
“My view is that Reform is only a spoiler in these elections,” said Badenoch. Asked about the possibility that a split in the vote between Reform and Conservatives could allow the Labour Group back into power again in Barnet, she said: “We certainly don’t want the Labour Party coming back.”
She continued: “People can see that I’ve been consistent. Even before I was an MP, as a London Assembly member, I was calling for the banning of groups like Hezbollah, flags that they were carrying back in 2015, for a very long time.
“People know where I stand – 100 percent behind the Jewish community. I do think that we need to do more in government. We’re mostly focused on terrorism and Islamist extremism. I think that more now needs to be done on draining the swamp.”
Badenoch said this was why she had set up a new commission on culture and integration. “I was very vocal about how Jews, in particular, are most impacted by this increasing intolerance that is exposed in our own society,” she explained.
“One of the strands is about Islamic extremism, but also what’s happening in schools – not just the curriculum, but a lot of the things that happen in the periphery of schools.
“One of the things that I am actually doing is I’m thinking now about what I will do in government three years from the election. The commission is making sure that the work is going to be done, so we’re ready on the date. That’s what Keir Starmer did not do.”
Asked about the Prime Minister’s claim, made in a speech again on Monday, that her initial response to the conflict in Iran had shown Badenoch to be a “follower and not a leader” she was quick to hit back.
“I know what I stand for, I know what I believe in,” Badenoch insisted. “ I have my conviction, and I’ve been very clear that, well, we may not have agreed with these strikes, but if there is ever a conflict between the US and Israel versus Iran, we are not on the side of Iran.
“And actually, we rely on the US and Israel for a lot of our security briefings and intelligence. “So if they ask for help in using air bases, we should give them that help.
“That’s different from having offensive strikes at the outset, and eventually Keir Starmer did have to allow them to use those bases.
“But when Iran started striking at British bases, I think that we should have taken the missile launch capability out.
“I don’t think we should just sit there and try to catch the arrows. We should stop the archer. “Keir Starmer is the one who’s following because he’s looking at the polls. “
“This war is not popular. I’m not surprised. It’s not popular,” Badenoch insisted, “we need to be explaining to the public how much we rely on certain countries, how Iran has carried they’ve tried to carry out terrorist activities on our soil , that it would blow us out of existence if it got in terms of nuclear weapons.
“This issue is going to have an impact on our oil supplies and shipping. This stuff is big. It’s not just about Labour backbenchers not liking this sort of stuff. These are big issues.
“And I think that he is starting from the wrong place; even if there is more public support for a particular position that he’s taken, you can’t rely on the position he’s taken, because he hasn’t started from conviction.”
Keep community journalism free.
Jewish News is free for everyone. No paywall. No barriers. Just trusted journalism for anyone who wants to stay connected to Jewish life in Britain.
If you value that, please support us.
From as little as £5 a month, you can help keep our journalism free and accessible to all.
Every day, we report on the issues that matter to our community. We celebrate achievements, support charities, challenge antisemitism and ensure Jewish voices are heard more widely.
From as little as £5 a month, you can help us continue to:
- Report on the stories shaping Jewish life in the UK and beyond
- Bring our community together through shared stories, events and campaigns
- Celebrate the people, culture and moments that define our community
- Support organisations doing vital work across Jewish Britain
You can make a one-off donation or become a regular supporter. Every contribution helps keep our journalism free, independent and accessible to all.
If everyone who values Jewish News gave a small amount, it would make a real difference to our future.
