Badenoch says next Tory government will abolish stamp duty
Badenoch says, because of all the savings she has promised, she can afford one more announcement.
As the Conservative party, we know who our people are. They are people who work hard, they are the people who plauy hard, they are the people who understand the importance of putting down roots.
They are the people who make sacrifices today for a better life.
They are also people who want to own their own home, she says.
But there is a barrier – the tax you have to pay – stamp duty, she says.
Stamp duty is a bad tax, she says, an un-conservative tax.
We must free up our housing market, because a society where no one can afford to buy, or move is a society where social mobility is dead.
Badenoch says she looked at moving the thresholds. But decided against that.
Instead, the next Conservative government will abolish stamp duty, she says.
This gets a long round of applause.
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Badenoch is now winding up. Here is the peroration.
I stand for a government that takes less of your money and doesn’t interfere in your life, where the state does less but does it better, where those who create wealth are welcomed with open arms, not driven from our shores, where reward matches effort, where Britain stands tall in the world.
I stand for an economy where profit is not a dirty word, where enterprise is supported not crushed.
I stand for a country where what you put in determines what you get out, where excellence is celebrated.
I stand for a country where actions have consequences, where we talk about responsibilities as well as rights, where crime is punished and justice is served, where the welfare of victims outweighs the welfare of criminals.
I stand for a society where free speech trumps hurt feelings, where everyone knows what a woman is, where people are judged by the content of their character, not the colour of their skin, whether vulnerable or supported, but where freeloaders are told where to get off.
Conference, I stand for stronger borders and a stronger economy so that the young can fulfil their potential, the old can live out their years in dignity, and everyone can achieve their dreams, to own a home, run a business, raise a family.
This is the Britain I stand for.
If it is the Britain you stand for, then stand with me, and let’s build it together.
Badenoch says this move would “unlock a fairer and more aspirational society”.
People of all ages will benefit, she says.
And she says, every time people move, that generates other economic activity.
She says she can promise this while not breaking her golden rule.
According to this BBC explainer, the government raised £11.6bn from stamp duty in 2023-24.
ShareBadenoch says next Tory government will abolish stamp duty
Badenoch says, because of all the savings she has promised, she can afford one more announcement.
As the Conservative party, we know who our people are. They are people who work hard, they are the people who plauy hard, they are the people who understand the importance of putting down roots.
They are the people who make sacrifices today for a better life.
They are also people who want to own their own home, she says.
But there is a barrier – the tax you have to pay – stamp duty, she says.
Stamp duty is a bad tax, she says, an un-conservative tax.
We must free up our housing market, because a society where no one can afford to buy, or move is a society where social mobility is dead.
Badenoch says she looked at moving the thresholds. But decided against that.
Instead, the next Conservative government will abolish stamp duty, she says.
This gets a long round of applause.
Badenoch is now running through a list of Conserative policies.
Kiran Stacey explained the key ones here.
Badenoch says, by getting rid of net zero targets, the Conservatives could cut energy bills.
We will cut bills for families, slash costs for businesses and the madness that you have to tear out your boiler or disconnect your gas hob.
We are going to bring industry and jobs back home.
This is real action, conference, not slogans.
Badenoch confirms the plan to help high streets with a business rates cut.
And now she is on energy.
Countries with cheap energy grow faster. Countries with expensive energy decline.
Right now, we pay four times what industry in the US does for electricity. The result we are de-industrialising.
It’s not just manufacturing that is disappearing, not just steel, not just chemicals, not just ceramics, not just oil and gas. We are losing our farming industry. We are losing our fishing industry.
These are the foundations of a strong economy, and they are going all because we chose a slogan of net zero over a serious strategy for a stronger economy and a better environment.
So I am saying enough. I am reversing this.
And Badenoch confirms the “golden rule” annoucement.
Under our golden rule, half of those savings [from the proposed £47bn Tory cuts] will go towards reducing Labour’s deficit.
With the rest, we are going to unleash our economy.
That’s the Conservative way, responsibility today, opportunity tomorrow.
Badenoch confirmed the announcement about universities and apprenticeships. (See 8.11am and 8.49am.)
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And she says they would reverse the Labour’s schools bill.
In education, Labour have bent over to the teaching unions and are removing our academy freedoms, which have been so successful.
We will reverse this act as educational vandalism, and we will make sure that brilliant schools and teachers have the freedom to do what they do best, teach.
Badenoch turns to the police.
Right now, our police are spending 800,000 hours every single year waiting with mental health patients, 800,000 hours. That’s the equivalent of 400 police officers doing nothing else all year except waiting around.
She says the Tories will put an end to that, freeing officers from “pointless paperwork”.
We will put them back on our streets. We will send them after the shoplifters, making life a misery for high streets, and we will triple stop and search, because the more people we stop, the more people we search, the more knives we take off the streets.
Badenoch confirms that the Tories would cut the size of the civil service.
Since Brexit and Covid, the size of the civil service has swollen by over a threat a third. There are now more than half a million civil servants.
And have you noticed? Is government working a third better for you? I don’t think so.
Badenoch says the increase in the number of people on sickness benefits is “national tragedy”.
Five thousand new people are signing on each and every single day. Many are young people who are losing the chance to make something of themselves, never knowing what it’s like to pay their own way.
This isn’t just about saving money, important though that is. It’s far more than that. It is driven by our deep conservative conviction that work is a good in itself.
ShareBadenoch confirms Tories would cut welfare spending
Badenoch turns to welfare.
Right now, there are six and a half million working age adults claiming benefits instead of working.
You heard me right – six and a half million.
That is the entire population of Cardiff and Belfast and Glasgow and Manchester combined being paid to sit at home all day.
We cannot expect people to get up and go to work and pay more and more in taxes to subsidise millions of others not to work …
We have done the hard work, and we have a plan to cut welfare spending.
First, British benefits for British citizens. It is common sense that you should not draw out of a system that you haven’t paid into.
Second, we will restrict benefits to those with the more severe mental health conditions, not anxiety or mild depression. Yes, these challenges are real and people should get support, but they cannot be treated as a reason for a lifetime of work.
And third, we will restrict Motability vehicles to people with serious disabilities. Those cars are not for people with ADHD.
Badenoch says he has a plan for change.
First, the Tories will take the UK out of the European convention on human rights.
She says: “This is a plan, not a slogan.”