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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Politics
Lizzy Buchan & Dave Burke

Two protesters dragged out after disrupting Suella Braverman immigration speech

Two protesters were dramatically hauled out of a speech by Suella Braverman - the second major flashpoint of a controversial right-wing conference in London.

The pair, who identified themselves as members of climate activists Extinction Rebellion, were dragged out by security guards moments after the Home Secretary started speaking.

They heckled the Tory frontbencher as she addressed the National Conservatism Conference, just hours after a similar disturbance during a speech by Jacob Rees-Mogg.

Tory MP Danny Kruger later likened conference organisers to UK Border Force for their inability to keep intruders out.

The chaos came as Ms Braverman - who is believed to be positioning herself for a future leadership challenge - gave a speech ranting about immigration, despite being in charge of controlling it.

She attacked Keir Starmer as she attempted to stoke the culture wars, quipping: "Given his definition of a woman, we can’t rule him out from running to be Labour’s first female Prime Minister."

A protestor is removed from the audience during Home Secretary Suella Braverman's speech (PA)

She also appeared to take a swipe at Rishi Sunak as she demanded a cut in immigration - not long after being dismissed as "all talk" and "pathetic" by Labour.

The Home Secretary said the Tories "must deliver" on its 2019 pledge to cut the number of migrants arriving in the UK.

Awkwardly for the Government, figures set to be published next month are expected to show this at an all-time high, and cabinet members are understood to be split on what to do about it.

Defending policing at the Coronation last week, which saw the Met Police draw heavy criticism over the arrest of republican protesters, Ms Braverman said: "The people’s right to freely enjoy that day trumped any claim of reckless, selfish people that they should be free to disrupt whatever they want without effective consequence."

Elsewhere she rallied against the "radical left" who demand reparations for countries which suffered as a result of colonialism and slavery, saying: "White people do not exist in a special state of sin or collective guilt.

"Nobody should be blamed for things that happened before they were born.

"The defining feature of this country’s relationship with slavery is not that we practised it, but that we led the way in abolishing it.

Earlier today Labour leader Mr Starmer blasted Ms Braverman for being “all talk” ahead of her speech.

Ms Braverman addressed the conference as the Government licks its wounds following a local election drubbing which saw the Tories lose more than 1,000 council seats.

She said she backed Brexit so Britain could control its borders and argue for less dependence on "low skilled foreign labour".

"High-skilled workers support economic growth. Fact," she said.

Home Secretary Suella Braverman was interrupted during a speech by protesters (Getty Images)

"But we need to get overall immigration numbers down. And we mustn't forget how to do things for ourselves.

"There is no good reason why we can't train up enough HGV drivers, butchers or fruit pickers. Brexit enables us to build a high-skilled, high wage economy that is less dependent on low-skilled foreign labour."

The Home Secretary claimed that Brits are "forgetting to do things for themselves" and insist it's not racist to want control of Britain's borders.

It comes amid a fresh bout of Tory infighting after the party's dire local election results, where they lost more than 1,000 councillors.

Speaking on the opening day of the conference, Mrs Braverman said: "It's not xenophobic to say that mass and rapid migration is unsustainable in terms of housing supply, service and community relations."

Figures are expected to be published later this month showing net immigration hit 700,000 people last year.

Downing Street insisted Ms Braverman's comments were in line with the Government's approach.

The Prime Minister's official spokesman said: "She continues to represent the UK Government views on all issues relating to the Home Office, as you would expect."

A senior Tory accused Mrs Braverman of “whipping up” the issue of immigration.

Keir Starmer said the Home Secretary was 'all talk' (PA)

“It is all well and good saying that we can train more butchers, HGV drivers and fruit pickers but people do not want to do those jobs,” they said,

“That is a fact. Come to agricultural constituencies and people do not want to do those jobs.”

Mr Starmer said it was "pathetic" that the Home Secretary was giving posturing speeches rather than getting a grip.

He told LBC: “Suella Braverman, the Home Secretary, is today making a speech about what she thinks ought to happen on immigration.

"She is the Home Secretary. They have been in power for 13 years.

"This is like (Arsenal manager Mikel) Arteta doing a speech this afternoon on, ‘this is what Arsenal ought to do’.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Home Secretary Suella Braverman (PA)

"If you’re in the job, it’s your job to do it. She is all talk and that is a major part of the problem.”

Mr Starmer branded the Government's Rwanda deportation scheme as "morally unacceptable".

He said: "The Rwanda scheme is morally unacceptable. It's impractical. It hasn't worked. It isn't going to work.

"And I'll tell you what, I accept the challenge. That's not enough me simply saying that.

"I've said until I'm blue in the face - break the criminal gangs that are doing this work, that are forcing people into this position in the first place."

The Labour leader said the Government needed to clear the backlog of asylum claims, which topped 160,000 for the first time in December.

Mr Starmer said: "This is pathetic. Honestly, I'd say to the Home Secretary 'Stop the speech, cancel that. Get back to the office and sort out the processing of these claims.'"

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