Kemi Badenoch's keynote speech ahead of tomorrow's major policy announcement has been disrupted by hecklers just seconds after she began speaking to attendees of the event in Westminster.
The Conservative leader was speaking at the Centre for Policy Studies conference when she was interrupted by a pair of protesters.
Just seconds after Badenoch mentioned former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, a heckler could be heard shouting: "How could you?"
The interruption was met with boos and jeers by supporters in the crowd.
A pair of hecklers interrupted the speechPA/GB News
The heckler was escorted out
GB News
Activists from Climate Resistance protest during Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch's keynote speech
PA
The Conservative leader began to speak when a woman holding a banner that said “Abolish Billionaires” held up a banner and began to shout.
The protester was soon ejected from the hall, with a second woman interjecting to shout about the cost-of-living crisis.
At the event, which marked 50 years since Margaret Thatcher co-founded the think tank, Badenoch said: "I hardly think Mrs Thatcher can be blamed for the cost-of-living crisis."
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Activists from Climate Resistance protest during Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch's keynote speech
PA
Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch speaking at the Centre for Policy Studies
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One of the protesters involved said they came from the Climate Resistance protest group.
They have started a campaign called Abolish Billionaires and believe the Conservative Party has "allowed extreme wealth to be amassed by a tiny minority, fuelling climate crisis and poverty".
One of the protesters, who declined to give her name, said: "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."
The protester later claimed: "It’s just shameful that this event is exists. We should not be celebrating this person.”
WATCH: The moment a heckler is bungled out of Kemi Badenoch speech
She added: "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."
Speaking after the incident, Climate Resistance spokesman Sam Simons also said: "The future of conservatism is the same as the past: exploitation and climate breakdown for the many, obscene wealth for the few.
"For 50 years, neoliberalism has robbed working people, deepened inequality, and accelerated the climate crisis.
"Thatcher’s legacy isn’t something to celebrate. Today’s Conservatives are clinging to an ideology designed to stuff the pockets of the super-rich while the planet burns and people struggle to pay their bills.
"It’s time to tax billionaires out of existence and use the resources to fund social services and climate action."
