Kemi Badenoch has been accused of plotting a tax giveaway for the wealthiest families with a £6billion cut to inheritance levies. In a bid to win back voters who have deserted the Conservatives, Ms Badenoch said her party would abolish the tax on family homes entirely.
Setting out her vision in a keynote speech to the Tories’ annual conference, she said it was her ambition “to abolish inheritance tax altogether as soon as we can afford it” if the party ever wins back power.
Critics immediately pointed out that the vast majority of families do not pay inheritance tax. As it stands, fewer than one in 20 estates are hit by the existing 40% inheritance levy, which applies to people with an estate worth £325,000. The threshold rises to £500,000 if a home is passed on to a child or grandchild. A married couple has a combined tax-free property limit of £1million when they die, meaning many families are not touched by the levy.
Union and Labour criticism
Trades Union Congress (TUC) chief Paul Nowak said: “This is a tax paid only by the very richest estates - 95% pay no inheritance tax at all. Cutting it would do nothing for ordinary people. This is the same old Tory playbook: cutting taxes for their rich mates and leaving working people to pick up the bill. They are a party for inherited wealth, not workers.”
Labour chair Bridget Phillipson said: “The Tories haven't changed. Kemi Badenoch has shown that the Tories' choice is to do nothing to help ordinary families struggling with the cost of social care, prioritising the wealthiest instead.”
Executive director at Tax Justice UK, Faiza Shaheen, said: “Cutting inheritance tax, as trillions of pounds is going to pass between generations, is a reckless move by any politician that claims to be serious about getting Britain thriving. This is a policy that would take money from some of the poorest, to give to the wealthiest. And it would deprive public services of vital cash when the pressures on delivery are increasingly acute.”
Policy details and funding
Ms Badenoch also announced on Wednesday that couples would be able to leave behind £1million tax-free - alongside their family home - if the party wins power. The Tories claimed the shake-up of inheritance tax will cost £6billion per-year by 2029-30, with the funding largely coming from cuts to welfare, including sickness and disability reforms.
In plans announced last week, the party also plans to axe benefits from under 25s if they have not worked continuously for six months under a so-called “tough love” approach.
Ms Badenoch told the party's delegates: “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 home 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.”
Rejection of Reform coalition
After a downbeat few days in Birmingham, Ms Badenoch attempted to draw a line in the sand as she fiercely rejected uniting with Nigel Farage's Reform. Some Tory figures have been flirting with the idea of a coalition between the parties in a campaign to reunite the right, amid polls showing no party is currently on track for a majority.
But Ms Badenoch said: “I don’t want to live in a country run by people who threaten journalists … and debate whether my mixed-race children are English. I don’t want to explain to my son when we’re 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. They are not like us. We are not like them. We are different. We are the Conservative Party.”
It was aimed at Tory defector Suella Braverman, who sparked a row recently by claiming she was British but not English as she is of “Asian origin”. In another swipe at her ex-colleagues who defected to Reform, Ms Badenoch added: “The Conservatives have had an export boom of drama queens going to Reform. This party is now the no drama party. We are the no-nonsense party.”
