Kemi Badenoch has criticised “naive church leaders” who converted asylum seekers to Christianity in order to let them gain access to the country.

Speaking at a conference of right-wingers in the United States, the Tory leader warned that communists, socialists and so-called liberals have “hacked” the system in order to smuggle in extreme ideas that hurt Western democracies.

She cited the example of recent years where an illegal migrant converted to Christianity while in the country, then claimed he would be persecuted if returned to his country of origin.

The migrant then went on to carry out multiple sexual attacks in the UK, before throwing chemicals on a mother and her two young children in London.

Ms Badenoch blasted: “It turns out that over many years, we have had very naive church leaders converting people who had no interest in Christianity as a means to circumvent border control.”

“This is what I mean when I say that Liberalism has been hacked. When a system that has accommodations made for the vulnerable is being exploited by opponents of that system, something needs to change.”

“These aren’t features of the system, they are bugs and they need fixing.

“If Conservatives, and liberals, try to manage migration with simplistic tests and no overall vision of what kind of country we are trying to create, we will fail and the voters will punish us as my party found out in July.”

She praised the firebrand Argentine president Javier Milei, citing his argument that socialists no longer just aim to control the means of production but control everyone’s life with regulations, price controls and subsidies.

She said Mr Milei is “absolutely right”, going onto argue that leftist ideologies have “snuck into institutions across the western world”.

Ms Badenoch said her own experience growing up in Nigeria means she understands the value of freedom better than most.

The Tory leader warned: “We are giving away our freedoms away by stealth.”

“Because we don’t know the value of what we have, and we are failing to adapt as the world is changing and new threats emerge and we don’t recognise when opposing ideologies are taking over.

“Ideologies and beliefs that demand our tolerance even as they seek to undermine the very culture and institutions that create that tolerance.

“It is the question all of us in politics today must answer.”

Kemi Badenoch said she “loves” being called a “culture warrior” by left-wing media, joking that if she doesn’t defend Britain’s culture “who will?”

The Tory leader’s visit to the United States is aimed at renewing her links with the Republican Party ahead of Donald Trump’s inauguration in January.

Her speech was delivered at the International Democracy Union, a Washington think tank co-founded by Margaret Thatcher.

She is meeting with Republicans in the capital, although it’s unknown whether she will meet President-elect Trump.