A Conservative government would tackle the rise of “separatism” in the UK by uniting people “around a common culture and a common identity”, Kemi Badenoch has announced.

In a speech laying out a series of planned commissions focused on integration, the leader of the Opposition said Britain has become “too tolerant of those weaponising identity politics for their own gain”.

She defined separatism as “a way of living that keeps a group apart from the wider society” which leads to sectarianism and “the politics that follows when people are taught to think in blocks”.

Mrs Badenoch claimed separatism was “most visible in some Muslim communities, with extremism its most violent expression,” but said the issue was also emerging elsewhere.

Concerns have been raised about people forcing family members to vote in a certain way in the recent Gorton and Denton by-election, with Nigel Farage claiming it was a victory for “sectarian voting and cheating” after Green Party candidate Hannah Spencer won the seat.

Mrs Badenoch said she did not believe women were “marched into the voting booth to stop them from voting Reform”, but claimed something “much deeper and disturbing” was happening.

She added the by-election featured campaigning “designed to mobilise voters on ethnicity and religion, not domestic priorities”.

“People were voting not based on who would increase their wages or fix their schools, but on who would protect the interests of their identity groups and punish those who they disagree with. This is not healthy and it is not British,” she said.

Mrs Badenoch added her party’s approach would be “bold” and “brave” but strike the “right tone” to avoid fermenting division.

She added: “It is about bringing people together around a common culture and a common identity.

“There is a vacuum of competence on this issue right now and that is why Conservatives have to lead. No-one else will do this properly. We have to.”

Mrs Badenoch said: “British culture exists. We live it. We benefit from it and we have a duty to defend it and pass it on.

“The answer to this is integration, but for integration to work people have to know they are integrating into a culture which is strong and self-confident.

“It does not work if Britain is a mess of competing cultures and it cannot work if we are not brave enough to say who we are and what we expect.”

She said her party would launch a commission to recommend an integration and cohesion plan that “sets out the culture that we want people to assimilate into, what we expect and what we will enforce”.

She added: “But first we must do away with what has failed. Integration being treated as an administrative process has not worked. That era is over.

“We will act on a simple doctrine. We will end identity politics in the state full stop. No racial preferences, protected characteristics will not be used as criteria for hiring, promotion, admissions or procurement.”

Mrs Badenoch promised to establish “universalism”, described as “one set of rules for everyone, enforced fairly”.

Expanding on the concept, she added: “Universalism will run through every aspect of government policy, from education to policing, welfare to immigration.

“We will review every single code of practice to ensure standardisation across public bodies and prevent them from doing their own thing.

“We will replace the promotion of multiculturalism in schools with a national story, one that is inclusive of the many people who have come to Britain, but without the grievance or the guilt which is corroding our cultural confidence.

“We will not teach our children that all cultures are equal. Instead we will teach them why Britain’s civic culture matters.”

She also said her party would “end institutional self-censorship that stops people from doing the right thing”.

Lord Toby Young has been asked to lead a review on this element of the plans.

A commission will be established to assess how to overhaul the Equality Act “so it prioritises meritocracy and strengthens integration”, Mr Badenoch said.

This is the text of a letter that was sent into the Times today after the shocking pictures of young Aylan Kurdi on a Turkish shore with his small shoes on, as though he was just resting.

Dear Sir,

The pictures of the young Aylan Kurdi washed up on the shores of Bodrum are a shameful indictment of the lack of co-ordinated action by the European Union when the whole purpose of the European Union was to co-ordinate a joint response to issues affecting European states. This country has a proud heritage of providing shelter to refugees, including the Huguenots, Jewish communities, the Ugandan Asians and Kurdish refugees, to name just a few.

The Prime Minister recently talked about British values. It is precisely the value of protecting human life and human rights that the rest of the world attaches to us as a country and by inaction and the closing of borders at a time of need, we are tarnishing the most beautiful of values on the assumption that we cannot cope. Yet, we are one of the wealthiest nations of the world and what use is such wealth when some in the world do not know where their next meal is coming from.

We ask for compassion and care at this time of need instead of rhetoric and inaction.

Yours sincerely,

Fiyaz Mughal, Director – Faith Matters,
Natan Levy, Chair – Jewish Social Action Forum,
Mark Lewis, Partner, Legal Specialist,
Baroness Rabbi Julia Neuberger,
Dr Musharraf Hussain, Chief Imam – Karimia Institute,
Dr Imam Mamadou Bocoum,
Murad Qureshi, Labour London Assembly Member,
Yusuf Hanza, Chair – Noor-Ul-Islam mosque,
Judge Laurence Brass,
Esmond Rosen, Chair – Barnet Multi-faith Forum
Rev Rana Khan – Patron of Faith Matters