Couples would be able to leave £1m and family home exempt from inheritance tax under Tories, says Badenoch – UK politics live | Politics
Badenoch says Tories would also let couples leave £1m exempt from inheritance tax, as well as family home
Badenoch has more for her audience.
On top of that, couples will be able to leave an additional £1m tax free.
And these changes mean every inheritance tax bill will be cut and the number of families paying inheritance tax will fall by more than half.
Conference, my ambition, my ambition is to abolish inheritance tax altogether as soon as we can afford it.
That can only happen with a Conservative government. I believe the people who work hard and say should be rewarded for that effort.
Key events
Kemi Badenoch’s speech – snap verdict
Kemi Badenoch revived her personal approval ratings (but not her party’s) with her conference speech last year, which proposed abolishing stamp duty, and today she was under pressure to match that with another Big Idea. It is unusual for a party to place so much emphasis on a “retail offer” at this stage in the electoral cycle (because who knows what state the economy will be in by 2029), but there might be an election sooner and Tory electoral ratings are so poor that she probably cannot afford to play safe. Promising to abolish inheritance tax for homes will be hugely popular with her party, and with the rightwing media, and almost certainly with voters at large too.
But that does not necessarily mean it is good public policy. Badenoch seems to be incentivising older people to buy ever bigger homes at a stage in life where it would make more sense to downsize. It is a huge tax break for wealthy families living in London and the south of England, and coming after two other announcements aimed at exactly this demographic (see 10.14am), it means Tory conference 2026 has probably done more to widen social inequality than any other party conference in recent history. Or it would if these policies ever actually happen. “Retail offers” only work if voters think a party will be in a position to implement them, and the Tories may find that on this front doubts remain.
Badenoch’s speech was clear, and very, very confident. But there was more assertion, than argument; Andy Burnham’s was probably better in terms of telling a story about what has gone wrong with Britain over the past few decades. Burnham also exuded warmth; there was none of that from Badenoch, but plenty of force, and even nastiness. Around the world leaders like Donald Trump are getting elected on the basis that, although clearly unpleasant, they are at least tough. If Britain goes down that route, Badenoch will thrive. But recently we have tended to elect leaders who are at least likeable, and on this measure Badenoch does not score so well.
The speech was remarkable in part for the amount of time she spent lambasting her opponents. She was quite nasty about Keir Starmer and Burnham, contemptuous of the Greens and – in one of the most interesting passages of the speech – highly critical of Reform UK. (See 12.17pm.) This time last year, all the talk was of a possible pact. Now she dismissed them as criminal. (This passage did not fit very well with her tributes to Jeffrey Archer, who may have been great company but was also a scoundrel, and Ann Widdecombe, who was clear proof than not everyone in Reform UK is a rogue or a crook.)
The best passage in the speech was the attack on people like Suella Braverman in Reform UK flirting with ethnonationalism, and the claim that black people cannot be English. (See 12.20pm.) It has taken Badenoch a while to speak out on this, and she has been silent when some of her own MPs have dabbled in this territory. It was powerful and personal. But she was wrong to suggest that “when Ian Wright and John Barnes were playing, nobody was questioning whether they were English”. There was plenty of racism in football in that era and this was another example of a Badenoch assertion running ahead of the facts.
Badenoch wraps up speech claiming Tories offering ‘something for everyone’
Badenoch is now on her peroration.
If you run a business, we will get government out of your way and cut your taxes.
If you are a parent, you will make sure free childcare is never removed because of a pay rise.
If you want to own your home, we will scrap stamp duty and make houses cheaper to build.
If you’re a woman who knows biological sex is real like the Darlington nurses do, we will protect your privacy.
If you are a police officer who puts your life on the line like Sergeant Martin Blake did, we will back you.
If you’re a mother in a village threatened with a migrant camp like in Piddington, and you want your children to feel safe, we will deport illegal immigrants, not house them.
If you are worried about the threat of Russia or Iran, we will keep Britain safe.
If you’re leaving school, we’ll let you choose between work, university or a high quality apprenticeship.
If you’re a graduate paying over and above for your student loans, we will end the interest rate rip off.
If you are a farmer, we will end the family farms tax.
If you are a veteran, we will protect you from malicious prosecution.
If you are a victim of crime, the perpetrators will be locked up.
If you are on welfare, we will get you into work.
If you are under 25, we will make it easier for you to get a job.
If you have retired, we will protect your pension.
And if you want to pass on your home to your family, we will make sure you don’t pay a penny in tax.
We have something for everyone.
Badenoch goes on to explain her inheritance tax proposal.
So, conference, this is my guarantee.
No stamp duty when you buy your home, no mansion tax when you live in your home, and no inheritance tax on your home when you pass it to your children or grandchildren.
That is what the next Conservative government will deliver.
And I say this to everyone in our country. I want you to know that we are on your side and whoever you are, you will be better off under a Conservative government.
Badenoch says Tories would also let couples leave £1m exempt from inheritance tax, as well as family home
Badenoch has more for her audience.
On top of that, couples will be able to leave an additional £1m tax free.
And these changes mean every inheritance tax bill will be cut and the number of families paying inheritance tax will fall by more than half.
Conference, my ambition, my ambition is to abolish inheritance tax altogether as soon as we can afford it.
That can only happen with a Conservative government. I believe the people who work hard and say should be rewarded for that effort.
Badenoch says Tories would legislate to ensure no one pays inheritance tax on family home
Badenoch turns to inheritance tax.
She says she is not abolishing inheritance tax at this conference.
She goes on:
Everybody’s been asking me about inheritance tax.
So let’s talk about it.
We are not abolishing inheritance tax at this conference.
I know you’re disappointed.
We could do it, but not if we want to keep our country safe with the Britannia Shield. Not if we also want to keep people safe, with 50,000 new prison places. Not if we want to cut the deficit threatening to bankrupt our country and burdening our children.
Governing is about choices, tough choices, and Conservatives will not announce a tax cut without telling you how we are going to pay for it.
She says inheritance tax has become a tax affecting “ordinary middle class families in every corner of our country”.
She goes on:
So let’s go back to first principles.
What is the thing that most people want to pass on to their children and grandchildren? It is their family home.
Conference, the Conservatives are and always have been the party of home ownership. We understand why putting roots down and having a stake in society matters. Our homes are where we watch our children take their first steps. They are where we gather every Christmas to put up the same decorations.
Passing on your to your family is one of the most human instincts of all.
So, conference, the next Conservative government will legislate so nobody will ever pay inheritance tax on their family home.
And Badenoch confirms the plans announced last week for welfare reform.
Conservatives don’t believe in a something for nothing culture. The best welfare is a well-paying job. Cutting the welfare bill will allow us to fund our defence.
Badenoch confirms that the Tories would cut the interest on student loans.
They would get rid of “job-killing” measures in the Employment Rights Act.
And she confirms the plan to cut employer national insurance for young workers.
Badenoch stresses the need for growth, and she highlights plans already announced to cut regulation, saying these would help.
And she says energy is growth.
Energy is growth. Countries that have expensive energy are poor.
And Britain’s energy is pretty much the most expensive in the world.
Climate change is real, but importing oil and gas from countries that drill it in a dirtier fashion, that actually increases our emissions.
People in Aberdeen told me that their city is dying. The government’s energy policy is killing Aberdeen. No more.
We will drill in the North Sea, increase our tax revenues and drive down energy prices.
Badenoch says Tories have now identified cuts to government spending worth more than £70bn
Badenoch confirms that the Tories remain committed to their “golden economic rule”, which means spending 50% of any savings on debt reduction.
She claims the party has already identified savings woth more than £70bn.
For every pound we save, 50p will go towards cutting the deficit. We have already identified over £70 billion of savings. That means we will cut the deficit we inherit from Labour by more than £35 billion.
Restoring confidence in public finances is essential to economic growth.
(This is significant. Last year the Tories said they had identified cuts worth £47bn. That means there is an extra £23bn notionally available which means, allowing for the golden rule, Badenoch is in a postion to announce a tax cut worth around £10bn.)
Badenoch accuses Labour of taking UK into ‘tax doom loop’
Badenoch says the country is running out of money.
But Labour is just proposing a “tax doom loop that is making us all poorer”, she says.
Badenoch describes Burnham as ‘Paddington Bear PM’, saying ‘hope is not a strategy’
Badenoch says people think Conservatives are opposed to change. But that is wrong.
The world is constantly changing. New technologies, new challenges, new opportunities. It is only by adapting that we can preserve the very best of this country and hand something better onto the next generation. That is what being a Conservative means.
Andy Burnham says that we all just need to hope. Again. Hope is not a strategy. And since the last thing this country needs is a Paddington Bear prime minister hoping that the problems will just go away while Putin attacks our allies, while our economy flat lines.
Burnham wants to turn the clock back to the 1970s. Nostalgia is not a plan for our country.
Andy Burnham is promising a better yesterday. What I am promising is a better tomorrow.
Badenoch also attacks the Greens, saying the antisemitism at their conference was “disgraceful”. She goes on:
They are seeking to erase Jewish identity. Shame on the Green Party and shame on Zack Polanski.
Exactly three years ago today, we saw the horrific 7 October attacks, the worst slaughter of Jews since the Holocaust.
The Conservative party stands with the Jewish people. We will never stop fighting antisemitism.
Badenoch condemns Reform UK for suggesting black people can’t be English
Badenoch goes on to attack Reform UK over politicians like Suella Braveman suggesting that black people cannot be English. She says:
I don’t want to live in a country run by people who threaten journalists, who call veterans ‘traitors’ and debate whether my mixed-race children are English.
I don’t want to explain to my son when I’m watching our brilliant England team play football that some people don’t think our black players are English.
I remember back in the day when Ian Wright and John Barnes were playing, nobody was questioning whether they were English. We certainly didn’t have sitting MPs questioning whether they were English.
We must not let these people take us backwards. That is not the country we are. Reform MPs are openly questioning people’s identity.
We are not like us, we are not like them, we are different, we are the Conservative party.
This gets one of the loudest rounds of applause of the speech so far.
