Climate protesters interrupt Kemi Badenoch’s speech at Thatcher conference

Climate change protesters have interrupted a speech by Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch at an event to commemorate Margaret Thatcher.

Two women from a campaign group called Climate Resistance shouted out during Mrs Badenoch’s keynote speech at the Centre for Policy Studies’ Margaret Thatcher conference.

The event at central London’s Guildhall was centred around commemorating the legacy of Baroness Thatcher, a founder of the think tank.

As Mrs Badenoch began to speak, a woman held up a banner that said “Abolish Billionaires” and began to shout.

She was ejected from the hall by members of the audience before another protester began to call out about the cost-of-living crisis.

Mrs Badenoch could be heard to say that Baroness Thatcher could “hardly” be blamed for the rising cost of living.

But outside, the first protester to be ejected disagreed, telling the PA news agency the Conservative Party had “allowed extreme wealth to be amassed by a tiny minority, fuelling climate crisis and poverty”.

She would not give her name to PA, 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.”

Speaking about the Thatcher conference, the protester said: “It’s just shameful that this event exists. We should not be celebrating this person.

“She put us on the path that we’re on right now, to this mass inequality we’re seeing, the cost-of-living crisis, the housing crisis, the climate crisis, it’s all connected to her.”

During her speech, Mrs Badenoch said she would be launching “the Conservative Party’s biggest policy renewal programme in 50 years” on Tuesday.

She told the 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.”