Kemi Badenoch: 'We should stop and search more - it saves young black men's lives'

By JASON GROVES, POLITICAL EDITOR Published: 23:48, 9 June 2026 | Updated: 23:48, 9 June 2026 Police should stop and search more young black men, Kemi Badenoch said on Tuesday as she warned that political correctness is getting in the way of tackling knife crime. The leader said a future Tory government would triple the number of police searches and dismissed concerns that black youths are four times more likely to be stopped in the street by police. 'I'm afraid it doesn't matter if more black boys are searched, because it means more black lives will be saved,' she said.  Mrs Badenoch acknowledged the issue made some people feel 'uncomfortable'. But she said that 'when black boys are searched for knives, more knives are found'. Left-wing campaigners have branded stop and search policies racist.  But Mrs Badenoch said the biggest supporters of more searches were black mothers worried about their sons. Tory leader Kemi Badenoch said on Tuesday: 'I'm afraid it doesn't matter if more black boys are searched, because it means more black lives will be saved' She said young black men 'are killing each other, they're not going to look for other people from other communities to kill'. She added: 'I want to save those lives. I want to save the people who are most at risk, whatever their background, and if that means doing some tough stuff, then I'm going to do some tough stuff. 'I'm not going to run away from an outcry and allow other people's children to be killed just so I can have a quiet life.'  The Conservative leader also criticised the activities of so-called staff networks in the public sector, such as the National Black Police Association.  She said it was a mistake to allow groups to try to 'change policy on the basis of race'. No comments have so far been submitted. Why not be the first to send us your thoughts, or debate this issue live on our message boards. By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual We will automatically post your comment and a link to the news story to your Facebook timeline at the same time it is posted on MailOnline. To do this we will link your MailOnline account with your Facebook account. We’ll ask you to confirm this for your first post to Facebook. You can choose on each post whether you would like it to be posted to Facebook. Your details from Facebook will be used to provide you with tailored content, marketing and ads in line with our Privacy Policy.