White BLM protester called a black police officer guarding Downing Street a 'pet n****r', reveals minister Kemi Badenoch as she slams it as a 'political movement' and warns teaching children that 'white privilege' is a fact is ILLEGAL

  • Kemi Badenoch said teaching pupils white privilege as fact was breaking the law
  • Also warned against decolonising of the school curriculum in Commons debate 
  • Comes as schools are asked to 'decolonise' the curriculum and examine courses

A white Black Lives Matter protester called a black police officer guarding Downing Street a 'pet n****r', a top Tory minister claimed in Parliament yesterday.

Repeating the racial slur word-for-word in a Commons debate on Black History Month, Kemi Badenoch, who is black, urged Labour to condemn 'many of the actions' of Black Lives Matter - which she labelled as a 'political movement'.

The Conservative MP also branded the group 'anti-capitalist', while warning that teaching children about 'white privilege' as a fact without offering balance was 'illegal'. 

She said: 'Some schools have decided to openly support the anti-capitalist Black Lives Matter group often fully aware that they have the statutory duty to be politically impartial.

'Black lives do matter, of course they do, but we know that the Black Lives Matter movement is political.

'I know this, because at the height of the protest, I've been told of white Black Lives Matter protesters calling — and I apologise for saying this word — calling a black armed police officer guarding Downing Street a "pet n***er".

Women and equalities minister Kemi Badenoch warned that teaching pupils that white privilege was fact was breaking the law

Women and equalities minister Kemi Badenoch warned that teaching pupils that white privilege was fact was breaking the law

'That is why we do not endorse that movement on this side of the House.

'It is a political movement and what would nice would be for members on the opposite side to condemn many of the actions that we see of this political movement.'

During the debate she also said that teaching pupils about 'white privilege and their inherited racial guilt' would see a 'dangerous trend in race relations'.  

Her comments come as schools and universities across the UK are urged to 'decolonise' the curriculum and examine their courses in the wake of the Black Lives Matter protests. 

Ms Badenoch, who was responding to the Labour MP Dawn Butler's calls to decolonise history, said: 'We do not want to see teachers teaching their pupils about white privilege and their inherited racial guilt. 

'And let me be clear, any school which teaches these elements of political race theory as fact, or which promotes partisan political views such as defunding the police without offering a balanced treatment of opposing views, is breaking the law. 

'But why does this issue mean so much to me? It is not just because I'm a first generation immigrant, it is because my daughter came home from school this month and said ''we're learning Black History Month because every other month is about white history''.

'This is wrong and this is not what our children should be picking up. These are not the values I have taught her.'

During the Commons debate, the Tory MP called out 'the teaching of contested political ideas as if they are accepted facts' and 'an ideology that sees my blackness as victimhood and their whiteness as oppression'. 

She also rebutted claims that the curriculum needed decolonising and argued that 'making race the defining principle of what is studied is not just misguided but actively opposed to the fundamental purpose of education'. 

She told MPs: 'Our curriculum does not need decolonising for the simple reason that it is not colonised.

'We should not apologise for the fact that British children primarily study the history of these islands, and it goes without saying that the recent fad to decolonise maths, decolonise engineering, decolonise the sciences that we've seen across our universities to make race the defining principle of what is studied is not just misguided but actively opposed to the fundamental purpose of education.

'I want to speak about a dangerous trend in race relations that has come far too close to home in my life and it is the promotion of critical race theory - an ideology that sees my blackness as victimhood and their whiteness as oppression.

'I want to be absolutely clear: this Government stands unequivocally against critical race theory.'  

The Tory MP said schools teaching 'elements of political race theory as fact' were breaking the law

The Tory MP said schools teaching 'elements of political race theory as fact' were breaking the law

Her comments come as schools and universities across the UK are urged to 'decolonise' the curriculum in the wake of the Black Lives Matter movement

Her comments come as schools and universities across the UK are urged to 'decolonise' the curriculum in the wake of the Black Lives Matter movement

Speaking about Black Lives Matter, she told MPs: 'Some schools have decided to openly support the anti-capitalist Black Lives Matter group - often fully aware that they have the statutory duty to be politically impartial.

'Black lives do matter, of course they do, but we know that the Black Lives Matter movement - capital B, L, M - is political. 

'It is a political movement and what would be nice would be for members on the opposite side to condemn many of the actions that we see of this political movement, instead of pretending that it is a completely wholesome anti-racist organisation.

'There is a lot of pernicious stuff that is being pushed and we stand against that.'  

During the debate, Conservative MP for Ipswich Tom Hunt told MPs that while he agreed that individuals who harbour racist views within key organisations needed to be 'rooted out', people should be 'a little bit careful' about using the term institutional racism. 

Ms Badenoch was responding to the Labour MP Dawn Butler on the decolonising of the curriculum

Ms Badenoch was responding to the Labour MP Dawn Butler on the decolonising of the curriculum

Mr Hunt also criticised some of the leadership figures of the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement for 'straying into cultural Marxism'.

Mr Hunt told MPs: 'Touching upon current issues in the media, like other honourable members, I was appalled by the death of George Floyd. I was absolutely appalled.

'But I would say I found it slightly disappointing... I think that the vast majority of people who have gone on the protests I think are well-meaning and I agree with (Tory MP Steve Baker) that we should listen to their strength of feeling and how they feel.

'But I do think it is unfortunate that some of the leadership figures of BLM have at times strayed beyond what should be a powerful yet simple and unified message in opposition to racism that still exists in our society, straying into cultural Marxism, the abolition of the nuclear family, defunding the police, overthrowing capitalism.

'So in some senses, I find it quite regretful that a message and an agenda that should have been used to unify at times has been allowed to become very divisive.

'But ultimately it is our duty to make sure the right messages are learnt from that horrific incident, and I think it needs to be one of unity and moderation and looking to improve upon the situation we have today where we know that racism still exists.'

The Ipswich MP added: 'I'd also, looking at a petition, like to be a little bit careful about the term institutional racism.

'Yes, I think we need to be alive for the fact that there will be individuals who harbour racist views within key institutions, whether they be schools or the police, and they need to be rooted out.

'But I think to smear an entire organisation as being institutionally racist, again I think is incredibly unhelpful and divisive.' 

How Kemi Badenoch grew up in Nigeria before returning to the UK aged 16 and worked her way from McDonald’s to the House of Commons 

Born in Wimbledon to Nigerian parents, Kemi Badenoch spent most of her young life in Nigeria.

After returning to Nigeria - her mother came to London for medical treatment - Ms Badenoch grew up in the capital Lagos, where her father was a GP and her mother a professor of physiology.

After spending some time in America, while her mother was lecturing, Badenoch came to the UK aged 16 to study A-levels in Morden, south London. 

During this time she worked at McDonald's to help pay her way, before going on to become an apprentice computer engineer, studying at Sussex University. 

Kemi Badenoch (centre) grew up in the capital Lagos where her father was a GP and her mother a professor of physiology

Kemi Badenoch (centre) grew up in the capital Lagos where her father was a GP and her mother a professor of physiology

Ms Badenoch was awarded a prize by the Department for Trade and Industry for her work on Thermal Analysis at ElektroMagnetix Ltd, an incubator growth company, before later became Chartered in 2007.

In 2009 she received an LLB in Law from the University of London and she has previously worked as a director at The Spectator magazine.

But her path to mainstream politics began in 2010, at first unsuccessfully.

In 2010 she contested Dulwich and West Norwood against Labour MP Tessa Jowell - coming third behind the Lib Dems -  and in 2012 she was unsuccessful in her bid to win a seat on the London Assembly.

She remained undeterred and three years later, she was selected after Suella Braverman and Victoria Borwick declined their seats - having been elected as MPs at the 2015 election.

Ms Badenoch would join them at the House of Commons in 2017, being elected as the Conservative member for Saffron Walden, following the retirement of Alan Haselhurst.

She is married to City worker and former Conservative councillor Hamish Badenoch and they have two daughters and one son.

She is a patron of several charities in the constituency including Support 4 Sight, The Stroke Club and CVSU. She is also a member of the British Computer Society and the Women’s Engineering Society.  

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