Kemi Badenoch has suggested cutting inheritance tax would be \u201cmorally right\u201d, as the Conservatives begin their party conference with a raft of new policy pledges.<\/p>\n
The Tory leader suggested she was open to changes to inheritance tax, the levy paid on most estates worth more than \u00a3325,000, but only if it were fiscally responsible.<\/p>\n
Speaking to the Sunday Times ahead of the conference, Mrs Badenoch was asked if she planned to abolish the tax.<\/p>\n
She replied: \u201cIt is morally right that people don\u2019t get taxed twice. It is morally right that if you work hard and want to give something to your children the Government doesn\u2019t take it away.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kemi Badenoch has announced a suite of new policies. Credit: PA<\/p>\n
Mrs Badenoch later added: \u201cI am not going to announce tax cuts unless we can show how we pay for them\u2026 tax cuts are a good thing but you\u2019ve got to be fiscally responsible.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Conservatives have made a series of policy announcements in the days approaching the annual party conference in Birmingham, as they seek to broaden their platform for government ahead of the next general election.<\/p>\n
The party has pledged to end a childcare \u201ccliff edge\u201d, which currently means parents earning more than \u00a3100,000 do not qualify for the entitlement.<\/p>\n
All parents working 16 or more hours a week would be eligible to get 30 hours of free care a week under the Tories\u2019 proposals.<\/p>\n
The policy is estimated to cost \u00a3700 million a year, which party officials say could be funded by cutting the number of public servants at arms-length bodies.<\/p>\n
Mrs Badenoch told the BBC\u2019s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg programme: \u201cWhat we want to see is that people who work harder don\u2019t get punished for doing so.\u201d<\/p>\n
Elsewhere, the Tories also announced a plan to tighten access to student loans for non-UK nationals \u2013 a policy they say would save the taxpayer \u00a3900 million a year.<\/p>\n
The proposals would also block EU Settled Status (EUSS) claims, a system the Tories said is being \u201cabused\u201d.<\/p>\n
Mrs Badenoch arrived at the conference on Saturday afternoon, her second as Conservative Party leader.<\/p>\n
As she arrived, Mrs Badenoch was asked by reporters about the public\u2019s opinion of the Tories, who find themselves behind both Labour and Reform UK in the opinion polls.<\/p>\n