A TWO-TIME Conservative Party candidate in Reading has expressed “significant concerns” about Equalities minister and called for her resignation.
Casey Byrne, Conservative candidate for Tilehurst ward in 2022 and 2023, has penned an open letter to the Equalities minister, Kemi Badenoch, addressing concerns about her suitability in the role.
Ms Badenoch was appointed as Minister for Women and Equalities in October 2022, as well as secretary of state for the Department for Business and Trade in February last year.
Mr Byrne cites a number of issues following recent statements from the minister on the Gender Recognition Order and criticism of government stances on equality, referring to a number of written and spoken statements by the minister.
In the 14-page letter, Mr Byrne says that Badenoch has engaged in culture wars because she believes they are a “vote winner.”
He described this as “misguided and wrong,” and explained that it “weaponises” social issues at the expense of vulnerable communities.
The letter cites Badenoch’s speech at the Conservative Party Conference last year, in which she said “we will not apologise for fighting for common sense” –a comment Mr Byrne criticised as “deeply insulting and patronising” to ordinary people.
He explained that culture wars were inherently harmful through their reduction of complex issues down to a “binary… us VS them narrative” with “little regard” for the harm it causes.
He also added that it is not one of the priority concerns for most of the population, who “care about food not being on the table, struggling to get a job, or reliable public transport.”
In this, Mr Byrne cited research conducted by King’s College London and Ipsos UK which suggests more than half of voters believe culture wars to be invented as a distraction from other issues, as reported back in November last year.
As well as Badenoch’s stance on wider social issues, the letter also lays out a number of corrections to the minister’s statements, which Byrne says contradicts her focus on “facts and data.”
He lays out a number of instances in which Badenoch criticised leader of the House of Commons Penny Mordaunt but was corrected repeatedly.
The letter says that Badenoch persisted with her criticisms “despite repeated corrections.”
Mr Byrne also posits that the minister has wasted taxpayers’ money through her request for an Ofsted inspection after reports that a child at a school “identified as a cat.”
He explained that while safeguarding issues should be duly investigated, he did not feel that the minister dealt with the issue with the “due care [she] was required to,” and cited that the inspection found that the minister’s concerns “didn’t reflect the pupils’ normal experiences.”
This, he added, caused undue stress on the pupils and staff at the school through the associated news coverage.
The letter also lays out a number of criticisms of Badenoch’s statements on transgender people, which she described as being an “epidemic.”
Byrne argued that this was “dog-whistle” politics, which constitutes a coded or suggestive phrase designed to appeal to those in certain groups without provoking opposition.
He further notes that the minister’s supposition that “nobody loves children more than their parents” is not true in all cases, citing the prevalence of LGBTQ+ children disowned by their families, as well as the hard work and care given by foster parents.
This, he explains, “ignores the very real threats” faced by LGBTQ+ children, and further adds that her view that “no child is born in the wrong body” is simply “false.”
He concedes that “few people disagree that single biological sex spaces are important,” that transgender people are also the victims of the crimes which form many of the concerns around gendered spaces seek to address.
As such, he suggests that the minister “misidentifies the threat” and “demonises” LGBTQ+ people, while “lack[ing] any policies” to address issues of safety.
Similarly, the letter criticises recent guidance laid out by the government around gender identity in schools.
The guidance, he argues, is a directive to out children who disclose personal information to teachers– a “break of trust” which causes issues for children later in life.
He also explains that it puts those children at risk from parents or families who do not accept their status, which leads to disowning, or even abuse, in many cases.
In the letter’s closing pages, Mr Byrne cites his own experiences with abuse over his identity as perceived by others, noting an emboldening of perpetrators.
This, he says, is a direct result of political and media dehumanisation of transgender people.
Mr Byrne called for the minister to apologise for a number of the corrections and concerns laid out in the letter, as well as to meet with representatives of a number of groups to help educate her on LGBTQ+ issues.
It also questions how involved the minister was in the schools guidance released surrounding the identities of pupils.
It concluded by urging the minister to “do the right thing” and resign from her post.
Following the publication of the letter, Mr Byrne said: “I believe the Conservative Party is the party of stability, delivery and champions of freedom for all.
“That is why I joined the party under Theresa May and that is the party I will fight for.
“Kemi Badenoch’s conduct, as Equalities Minister, falls short of the very high standard I expect my party to set and she has not only let down her country, but also her party.”
The full open letter is available to read via: casey-byrne.co.uk/badenoch-letter
