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A “battle for the soul of the nation” is approaching, Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch will say as she closes her party’s conference later, claiming only the Tories can deliver a stronger economy.
Ms Badenoch will warn that “something is going to break” without better growth as she accuses Andy Burnham’s Labour of presiding over a “tax doom loop that is making us all poorer”.
The Tory leader is expected to say: “There is a fight coming in British politics. A fight that we have not seen in this country for more than half a century.
“It will be a battle for the soul of this nation. A battle of ideas.”
Ms Badenoch will hope the speech revives the electoral hopes of her party, which trails both Labour and Reform UK in opinion polls.
She said on Tuesday that if there were a hung parliament at the next election, she would rather fight two general elections in quick succession than form a coalition with Nigel Farage’s Reform UK.
Kemi Badenoch does want to ‘get rid’ of inheritance tax
Ahead of Kemi Badenoch’s speech later, deputy Tory leader Alex Burghart said Ms Badenoch does want to “get rid” of inheritance tax.
She wants to get rid of inheritance tax, but she’s only going to do it if we can afford it,” he told Sky News.
“That’s why she’s asked Andrew Griffith, shadow chancellor, and the economic team to see what the options are. But we’re not going to commit to anything unless we can afford it.”
Tax cuts top of the agenda at party conference
Kemi Badenoch is expected to unveil cuts to inheritance tax in her major speech at the Conservative Party conference later on Wednesday.
The announcement would come a year after her 2025 conference promise to abolish stamp duty for buying homes.
After suggesting over the weekend reducing inheritance tax would be “morally right”, she is set to place tax cuts at the heart of her address. The so-called “mansion tax” on properties in England with a value higher than £2 million would also be ditched.
She is further expected to cut employers’ national insurance for workers aged 21 to 24 to 7.5 per cent, in an effort to tackle the youth unemployment crisis.
It is thought welfare cuts of £30bn will pay for the policies.
Something will break without better growth, Badenoch to predict
Opposition leader Kemi Badenoch is set to warn in her conference speech that “something is going to break” without better growth as she accuses Andy Burnham’s Labour of wanting to “wind back the clock to failed ideas of the past”.
The Tories have put the economy top of their agenda at their party conference in Birmingham, focusing less on the so-called “culture wars” that dominated previous years.
Mrs Badenoch will accuse Labour of believing “growth is created by politicians” and presiding over a “tax doom loop that is making us all poorer”.
Fight is coming in British politics, Badenoch to warn
A fight is coming in British politics, Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch is set to warn, in her leader’s speech at the end of the party conference.
She is set to say it will be “a fight that we have not seen in this country for more than half a century”.
“It will be a battle for the soul of this nation. A battle of ideas.
“A battle that goes to the very core of who we are and what kind of country we want to be.”
She will pitch the Tories, who are behind Labour and narrowly trailing Reform UK in opinion polls, as the party “fighting again for the belief that what people earn belongs to them, not government.”
Source: UK Politics - www.independent.co.uk
