Reform UK’s Deputy Leader Richard Tice has blasted the Conservatives for borrowing his party’s stance on the Equality Act.
He took to social media to express his criticism, writing: “Copycat Conservatives strike again. First they borrowed Reform’s stance on the ECHR. Then they turned on the Net Zero agenda they created. Now they’re saying the Equality Act isn’t fit for purpose.
“They had 14 years to act. They chose not to. Never forget. Never forgive.”
In an accompanying video to the post, Mr Tice said: “You have to laugh. The out-of-touch, toxic Tories are so desperate once again they are copying brilliant Reform UK policies.”
This comes after Kemi Badenoch announced her party will abandon rules requiring public servants, such as police, nurses and teachers, to consider equality issues as part of their daily work in a move to get rid of “identity politics” in the sector.
She said in a press conference today the party will dismantle the public sector equality duty – not to be confused with the Equality Act – which is a legal requirement which requires all public entities to assess how their operations impact people with protected characteristics.
The Conservative leader also said Britain was the “least racist country in the world”.
She said: “Modern Britain is the least racist country on earth. I speak from experience. As a child, I lived on three different continents.
“I have seen what life is like for ethnic minorities in other places. There is nowhere else on Earth I’d rather be.
“There is nowhere else on Earth that I would be doing the job that I’m doing right now as a black woman in a majority white country.”
