'The UK's not a hotel!' Badenoch tears into soaring migration in first speech of 2025 - 'No ifs, no buts'

"No ifs, no buts, we simply cannot take all the millions of people who want to come here from elsewhere," she said.

"Our country is our home, it is not a hotel. If people arriving don't want to integrate into British culture, they shouldn't be here. And it is not controversial to say that."

Badenoch also took a series of swipes to her right and left, claiming that Sir Keir Starmer is "what is wrong with politics" and dismissing calls to merge with Reform UK.

Addressing the threat to the right of the Tories, Badenoch said: "Nigel Farage says he wants to destroy the Conservative Party. Why on earth would we merge with that?"

Reform UK chairman Zia Yusuf also downplayed talks of a merger - comparing the populist party joining forces with the Tories to Netflix merging with Blockbuster.

Despite Badenoch's objections, critics of the Conservatives point out the population explosion during the post-Brexit years.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) recently estimated that net migration to the UK reached a peak of 764,000 in 2022, up from 184,000 in 2019.

Channel crossings also skyrocketed from just 8,466 in 2020 to 36,816 in 2024, with a massive 45,774 embarking on the 21-mile journey in 2022.

Responding to the Leader of the Opposition's speech, Labour Party Chair Ellie Reeves said: “Kemi Badenoch is in complete denial. Far from rebuilding trust, Kemi Badenoch still can’t bring herself to be honest about the true litany of mistakes the Conservatives made over 14 years of failure in government.

“Where was the apology for her role in Liz Truss' disastrous mini-Budget that crashed the economy and sent mortgages spiralling, or the £22billion black hole left in the public finances?

"The Tories haven’t listened and they haven’t learned and Kemi Badenoch should own up to the damage she and the Conservative Party have done to the country.

"This Labour Government is getting on with delivering our Plan for Change to grow our economy and put more money in people’s pockets, build an NHS fit for the future, make streets safer, deliver clean energy and increase opportunity for all.”

A Reform UK spokesman added: “The Tories deceived voters time and time again for 14 years. Kemi Badenoch was at the forefront of this failure.

“The British people will never forget what the Tories and Kemi Badenoch did to this country.
“Only one party can be trusted to control immigration and that’s Reform UK. Britain is broken, Britain needs Reform.”