Kemi Badenoch pointedly criticized Conservative backbenchers who said raising children was a “two-person job” and suggested they were too “preoccupied with children” to become party leader.
In an interview with The Times, the front-runner for the Conservative leadership said there needed to be more discussion about the role of fathers in raising children, saying the party had too often focused on single mothers in the past. added.
She said: “I remember early on as a member of Congress doing quite a lot of casework on absentee fathers who were being tracked by the Children’s Services Agency. I think once you have a child, you should have them look after the child. Family. is important.
“And when you look at the prison population, the majority of the male prison population doesn’t grow up with a father. If fathers take good care of their children, their children are less likely to end up in prison. And , these are the kinds of things we need to talk about more.”
Sir Christopher Chope says Kemi Badenoch is “distracted” by telling ITV he “can’t spend all the time with his family” while he’s Opposition Leader (Chris McAndrew /British Parliament/Pennsylvania)
Her interview came after a spat over comments made by veteran Conservative party Sir Christopher Chope, a supporter of Mr Badenoch’s rival Robert Jenrick. In it, Chope said mother-of-three Badenoch was “preoccupied” and told ITV: “I can’t spend the money.” “I will always be with my family,” the opposition leader said.
Mr Jenrick distanced himself from Sir Christopher’s comments, saying they were “patently wrong”.
Meanwhile, the former Immigration Secretary gave an interview to the Sunday Telegraph in which he promised to repeal the Climate Change Act and the Equality Act when he becomes Prime Minister.
Mr Jenrick has already said Britain should withdraw from the European Convention on Human Rights, but he extended his attack to a range of Blair-era laws that he said were preventing ministers from taking the decisions they wanted. .
He said: “The next Conservative government must work harder to deliver a truly conservative country. We will repeal and amend the Climate Change Act, the Equality Act and the Human Rights Act; Decision-making must be returned to ministers who are accountable to parliament.”
