The Kent County Council leader has made some shocking comments about how she wants the police to operate
Linden Kemkaran, leader of Kent County Council and a former BBC journalist, has said that the police should be given “proper backing” to shoot people who pose a threat to officers or members of the public.
Kemkaran, who has shared other controversial opinions, has now said police “should be able to shoot people if necessary”.
Speaking to Times Radio, she said: “We must give our police force the proper backing to be able to do their job, to catch the criminals, to shoot people if necessary, if they feel that that person is going to present a real and present danger to either themselves and the police or to members of the public.”
Kemkaran described it as “disgusting” that officers are “dragged through the courts simply for doing their job”, adding: “I think what we need to do, if a police officer discharges their firearm because they genuinely think that either their life, their colleagues’ life or members of the public lives are about to be put in danger, that police officer should not be dragged through the courts and be held up like a criminal when they’re not.”
Kemkaran said when she sees a police officer she feels sorry for them “because I know that if they do their job, if they actually try and stop a crime from being committed, the chances are they’ll find themselves in court being held up for gross misconduct”.
She appeared to be referring to cases like the trial of firearms officer Martyn Blake for fatally shooting Chris Kaba in 2022.
On the 20th anniversary of the 7 July London bombings, she posted ‘a message of division’ on X, which she was widely criticised for.
Kemkaran said: “If someone had told me 20 years ago that our borders would be utterly broken, Islamism would be on the rise, sectarianism in Parliament would be accepted & blasphemy laws on the way, I would have laughed in your face. Yet here we are.”
In 2019, while standing as a Conservative parliamentary candidate in Bradford East, she also shared a tweet claiming Muslims have a “nasty culture”.
It is unclear whether Kemkaran’s latest comments reflect Reform UK’s official policy and if party leader Nigel Farage would back giving officers greater powers to shoot people.
Reform UK has been approached for comment.
Olivia Barber is a reporter at Left Foot Forward
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