Suella Braverman wages a new war on woke as she vows only the Tories can stop political correctness strangling Britain in her party conference speech

Suella Braverman ignited a new war on woke yesterday – vowing that only the Tories could stop political correctness strangling Britain.

The Home Secretary told the Tory party conference the country would 'go properly woke' under a Labour government.

To a packed auditorium in Manchester, she mocked 'Keir 'take the knee' Starmer', predicting that wokery would 'run riot' if he won the keys to No 10.

She also launched attacks on the 'luxury beliefs brigade in their ivory towers', a stinging reference to those in privileged positions, such as Sir Elton John, who have taken her to task over her strong language on migration.

In a speech that ranged far beyond the scope of her Home Office role, and won a minute-long standing ovation, Mrs Braverman called political correctness 'pernicious nonsense'.

She told the gathering of party activists that whole institutions – including parts of government – had been 'distorted' by wokery. 'Things are bad enough already,' the Home Secretary said. 'We see it in Whitehall, in museums and galleries, in the police, and even in leading companies in the City.

'Under the banner of diversity, equity, and inclusion, official policies have been embedded that distort the whole purpose of these institutions. Highly controversial ideas are presented to workforces and the public as if they are motherhood and apple pie.

'Gender ideology, white privilege, anti-British history. The evidence demonstrates that if you don't challenge this poison, things just get worse. Whole institutions become captured.'

It had already led to people being 'chased out of their jobs for saying that a man can't be a woman' and 'disciplined for using the wrong words'.

Mrs Braverman said Sir Keir was the Tories' secret weapon because he 'believes in nothing' and 'will say anything to anyone'.

'Imagine what would happen if he became prime minister,' the Home Secretary said. 'Britain would go properly woke.

'This Conservative Government has begun the task of clearing out this pernicious nonsense. The British people will get to decide if they want to curb woke with Rishi Sunak, or let it run riot with Keir 'take the knee' Starmer.'

Also at the Conservative Party conference:

Rishi Sunak will today pledge billions of pounds to pay for transport links in the Midlands and North to quell a rebellion over the scrapping of HS2's northern leg; Health Secretary Steve Barclay vowed to protect women's rights in the NHS; Levelling Up Secretary Michael Gove labelled Sir Keir the 'jellyfish of British politics'; Cabinet minister Michelle Donelan announced a review of the 'slow creep of wokeism' into scientific research and statistics.

In her Manchester speech, the Home Secretary took aim at the Humans Rights Act, branding it the 'Criminal Rights Act' and blamed it for tying Tory hands on tackling illegal migration.

On immigration, Mrs Braverman predicted it will turn into a 'hurricane' that could bring millions of people to Britain. 'The wind of change that carried my own parents across the globe [from Kenya] in the 20th century was a mere gust compared to the hurricane that is coming,' she told party delegates at the Manchester Central Convention Complex.

'Because today, the option of moving from a poorer country to a richer one is not just a dream for billions of people.

'In poll after poll, the British people have been very clear: immigration is already too high. And they know that the future could bring millions more migrants to these shores, uncontrolled and unmanageable, unless the government they elect next year acts decisively to stop that happening.

'Be under no illusion, we will do whatever it takes to stop the boats and deter bogus asylum seekers.'

She blamed Labour for leaving ministers hamstrung.

'The biggest reason why Conservative governments have struggled to get illegal migration under control is because Labour governments passed laws that inhibit effective action,' the Home Secretary said. 'Our country has become enmeshed in a dense net of international rules that were designed for another era.

'And it is Labour that turbocharged their impact by passing the misnamed Human Rights Act. I'm surprised they didn't call it the Criminal Rights Act.'

Mrs Braverman criticised the 'luxury beliefs brigade' who want to reverse Brexit, support open borders and advocate soft sentences for criminals.

'They think patriotism is embarrassing and have no use for a British passport if it doesn't entitle them to live in their second homes in Tuscany or the Dordogne,' she said.

'For these people, I have a simple message: You are entitled to your luxury beliefs, but the British people will no longer pay for them.'

She vowed that the Conservatives would 'confront the challenge of global migration' while Labour wanted to 'open the borders and then cry racism at anyone who objects'.

'The choice between Conservatives and Labour is the choice between strong borders and no borders,' Mrs Braverman said.

In further pledges, she vowed to reform laws on vagrancy, to prevent sex offenders from changing their names to dodge criminal records checks, and to step up moves to remove foreign criminals.

Mrs Braverman joked that she sometimes received a 'modicum of criticism' – particularly from Labour. But she insisted: 'I take their abuse as a compliment. They have tried to make me into a hate figure because I tell the truth.'

One Cabinet source said the Home Secretary's attack on human rights laws was 'unhelpful'.

'We have a Supreme Court hearing next week on the Rwanda judgment which we have a good chance of winning,' the source said. 'This does not seem like the right moment to risk antagonising people with this sort of rhetoric – it is pretty unhelpful.'

The Home Secretary was accused of showing party leadership ambitions last week, when she criticised international refugee laws during a trip to Washington.

Shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said yesterday's speech by Mrs Braverman was 'devoid of practical policies'.

She added: 'The country deserves a Home Secretary who cares more about tackling the problems facing the country than launching a Tory leadership bid.'