Kemi Badenoch is expected to announce multiple tax cuts at her flagship Conservative Party conference speech on Wednesday, with Badenoch inheritance tax plans and changes to national insurance set to dominate the day’s announcements. The Tory leader is framing the pitch as a credible fiscal programme for the middle classes, not a spending spree.
Party officials have confirmed that a person involved in policy planning said there would be a number of tax cut announcements at the speech. A party spokesman, however, said reports on unannounced cuts represented ‘speculation’.
Badenoch inheritance tax plans draw attention ahead of speech
In interviews on Tuesday, Badenoch said she believed inheritance taxes were ‘a problem’, telling Sky News that many of the wealthiest families use trusts to avoid the levy while the burden falls on ‘the middle class’, many of whom have been drawn into higher tax bands after repeated threshold freezes. She stopped short of making a firm announcement, saying: ‘We are not announcing any tax breaks unless we can afford to pay for them. Whether it’s inheritance taxes or any kind of tax cuts, we are the party of fiscal responsibility. So we’re starting with the savings.’
At last year’s conference, Badenoch had surprised members with a proposal to abolish stamp duty on primary residences. The Badenoch inheritance tax plans now circulating ahead of Wednesday’s speech would represent a further move in that direction, though no formal commitment has been made.
On Monday, Jeremy Clarkson appeared at the conference in Birmingham to attack Labour’s decision to impose higher inheritance taxes on farmers, adding pressure on the party to set out a clear position.
National insurance cut carries a £2.3bn price tag
The centrepiece announcement of Tuesday was a pledge to halve employers’ national insurance contributions for workers aged between 21 and 24, bringing the rate down from 15 per cent to 7.5 per cent for that age group. The party put the cost at £2.3 billion and described it as one of its leading offers to tackle youth unemployment. Party officials said earnings above £50,270 would continue to face the standard rate, and that the measure would smooth what they described as a cliff edge, given that employers do not pay national insurance for workers below the age of 21.
Shadow chancellor Andrew Griffith said Labour was ‘destroying the future of our young people’, pointing to the governing party’s decision to raise employers’ national insurance contributions by £25bn. Griffith also said the party would reverse plans to impose mansion taxes and would scrap the controversial packaging tax.
According to BBC News, Griffith has said he hopes to scrap at least one tax every Budget if the Conservatives return to power. That ambition gives some shape to what could otherwise appear as a series of individual announcements: the national insurance cut, the expected Badenoch inheritance tax plans, and the stamp duty proposal from last year all point toward a running programme of tax reduction rather than one-off pledges.
Badenoch set out the governing principle plainly: ‘We need to make sure that where there are tax cuts, they are things that encourage people to go out and work, not just to bang, say, here’s a bit more money.’
Hung parliament warning adds to the pressure on Badenoch
Beyond the tax agenda, Badenoch used Tuesday’s interviews to warn that an early general election would produce a hung parliament. Polling has shown voting shares for Reform UK, the Conservatives and Labour to be divided by close margins. ‘If there’s an election now, there’d be a hung parliament,’ she said. ‘We are the only credible alternative to Labour.’
The conference is taking place in Birmingham. The Tory leader’s argument is that her party needs more time to build a programme voters can trust before any election is called, and that the tax platform being assembled this week is part of that case.
Wednesday’s speech will test whether the Conservative Party can turn a series of policy announcements into a coherent pitch, with Badenoch’s inheritance tax position the most closely watched commitment still to be confirmed.
