Don't tell me my kids aren't English! Kemi Badenoch lashes out at Reform UK over 'Englishness' row as she urges Tories to not let Nigel Farage's party 'take us backwards'

Tory leader Kemi Badenoch today lashed out at Reform UK as she warned the party's senior figures to not 'debate whether my mixed-race children are English'. In her keynote speech to the Conservative conference in Birmingham , Mrs Badenoch condemned Nigel Farage 's outfit for 'openly questioning people's identity'. 'We must not let these people take us backwards. That is not the country we are,' she told Tory members. Mrs Badenoch, a mother of three who was born in London to Nigerian parents and is married to banker Hamish Badenoch, said her party was 'different' to Reform. It follows remarks by Reform MP Suella Braverman , who has suggested that British Asians like herself can't be English. In an appearance on BBC 's Question Time last week, Mrs Braverman said she is 'British of Asian ethnicity' rather than English because of her family's heritage. Tory leader Kemi Badenoch lashed out at Reform UK as she warned the party's senior figures to not 'debate whether my mixed-race children are English' Mrs Badenoch, a mother of three who was born in London to Nigerian parents and is married to banker Hamish Badenoch, said her party was 'different' to Reform Suella Braverman, who was home secretary in the previous Tory government before defecting to Reform UK, has suggested that British Asians like herself can't be English The former Tory home secretary, who defected to Reform at the beginning of this year, has been widely attacked over her stance by senior Conservatives. In her own criticism, Mrs Badenoch told Tory members on Wednesday: 'I don't want to live in a country run by people who threaten journalists, call veterans "traitors" and debate whether my mixed-race children are English. 'I don't want to explain to my son when we're watching our brilliant England team play football that some people don't think our black players are English. 'I remember back in the day when Ian Wright and John Barnes were playing, nobody was questioning whether they were English. 'We certainly didn't have sitting MPs questioning whether they were English. We must not let these people take us backwards. That is not the country we are. 'Reform MPs are openly questioning people's identity. They are not like us; we are not like them. We are different. We are the Conservative Party. 'Back in the day, we were the ones who put out a poster saying Labour says he's black, we say he's British. We are still that same party. 'I don't know whether you've noticed, but I am black. I am British. I'm proud of my country, I'm proud of our history. 'All that we have done, and all that we will do in the world. Our best days are not behind us, and we will not let this country go backwards.' Mrs Badenoch pictured shopping for a Christmas tree in Stansted Mountfitchet in her Essex constituency with her children last year Your browser does not support iframes. Mrs Badenoch also reiterated her opposition to doing a deal with Reform, despite some Tory figures continuing to call for the parties to work together to take on Labour. 'To those who say "unite the Right," we are not uniting with that ,' she said, to a standing ovation from Conservative members. Her conference speech came after Reform deputy leader Richard Tice earlier refused to answer when asked whether he would question Mrs Badenoch's Englishness. 'Frankly, this whole Englishness debate is something we just haven't got time for,' Mr Tice told Times Radio on Wednesday morning. 'It's fine if the economy is growing and everyone's feeling rich and nothing better to do than to navel-gaze.' Pressed again on whether he would question Mrs Badenoch's Englishness, Mr Tice replied: 'I'm just not talking about it. I think it's a complete waste of time.' He added: 'I'm focused on cutting bills, growing the economy, and cutting draft regulations, and not ridiculous navel-gazing.'