Badenoch says Tories will ‘battle for soul of nation’ in tax-cutting speech

Nina Lloyd and David Lynch – Press Association

The Tories will fight a “battle for the soul of the nation” at the next election, Kemi Badenoch will say in a major speech expected to be centred on tax-cutting promises.

The Opposition leader will warn 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.

Pledges announced over recent days include halving employer national insurance for workers aged between 21 to 24 and scrapping the so-called “mansion tax” on properties in England with a value higher than £2 million.

In her speech on Wednesday, she is also due to announce a cut to the 40% rate of inheritance tax which applies to property worth more than £325,000, according to the Times.

She is expected to tell the audience of Tory politicians and campaigners: “Conference, 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.

“A battle that goes to the very core of who we are and what kind of country we want to be.”

Mrs Badenoch 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”.

Echoing former Conservative prime minister Margaret Thatcher, she will say the Tories offer “the right way” and argue “no on else is going to deliver a stronger economy and a stronger country”.

“We are running out of money and running out of time to put it right,” she will say.

“Conference, we have a fight on our hands and we need to be ready.

“Unless we start creating more value, unless we start growing our economy, something is going to break.”

She will highlight what the Tories describe as their “golden economic rule”, which promises that 50p of every pound they expect to save through policy changes will go towards cutting the budget deficit.

Attacking Labour, she will add: “They think that your income, your pension and your savings are theirs to take and then hand out as they see fit.”

Mrs Badenoch sought to distil her key guiding principles in a booklet published on Sunday, arguing that Government should be strong only in areas in which “the state is required” such as “defence, borders, public order, the rule of law and essential infrastructure”.

Titled The Right Way and inspired by a similar document setting out the tenets of Thatcherism in the 1970s called The Right Approach, it says wealth must be “created before it can be distributed” and governments “restrained where people are better placed to decide for themselves”.

It seeks to draw a clear dividing line with Labour under Mr Burnham, who used the party’s annual conference to attack Baroness Thatcher’s record and pledge to reverse her ban on public ownership of water companies, paving the way for nationalisation of firms that do not “serve the public interest”.

Commenting ahead of Mrs Badenoch’s speech, Labour chairwoman Bridget Phillipson said the Conservatives have not “learned a single lesson” since their election defeat in 2024.

She said: “Kemi Badenoch’s top team don’t even think her leadership is the ‘right way’. The Tory Leader is living in an alternate reality.

“Tory Conference has blown open splits over the triple lock, her Shadow Chancellor’s secret plan for billions of extra cuts to public services, and plots to rip up hard-won renters’ rights.

“The Conservative Party hasn’t learned a single lesson since they were kicked out of office. Instead of finally apologising for Liz Truss’ disastrous mini-budget, Badenoch promoted its co-author as her Shadow Chancellor. Their credibility on the economy remains in tatters.

“Andy Burnham is bringing back hope to Britain. His Labour Government has a clear plan to drive good growth in every postcode, put power back into people’s hands and give people vital breathing space on the cost of living.”

Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey said: “Kemi Badenoch has spent half her conference making unfunded promises and half lecturing the country on fiscal responsibility. The British people are still paying the price for Conservative financial mismanagement, with skyrocketing mortgage rates, crumbling public services, and an economy being throttled by their shoddy Brexit deal.

“Liberal Democrats will fight tooth and nail to hold this Conservative Party accountable, and we will act as the firewall stopping Badenoch from handing the keys of Number 10 to Nigel Farage.”

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