The Conservatives have pledged to scrap Labour's Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) packaging tax, which they blame for pushing up checkout prices on food and drink. The announcement forms part of a series of cost-of-living policies to be unveiled by Shadow Chancellor Andrew Griffith at the Conservative conference in Birmingham.
Mr Griffith will say: “No one else is coming to save our economy. Only we can inject reality, tell the hard truths and make this a country we are proud to hand on to the next generation.”
Scrapping the packaging tax
The Shadow Chancellor will vow to scrap the “green” packaging tax, which costs shops and manufacturers £1.6 billion. The policy was designed to ensure businesses pay the cost of recycling rather than local councils, but the Bank of England said in August 2025 that this could add an extra 0.5% to food inflation, with industry leaders echoing the warning.
Labour pressed ahead with the tax, which came into effect in October last year. Food inflation is currently running at 2.5%, and retailers have warned it will rise next year due to poor harvests linked to extreme weather and high energy costs.
Helen Dickinson, chief executive of the British Retail Consortium, welcomed the announcement, saying: “Packaging costs have soared, and producers are now paying three taxes to recycle the same materials to the tune of nearly £3 billion a year - costs which push up prices and hold back hiring. It’s high time to review these taxes and end the triple taxation once and for all.”
Karen Betts, Chief Executive of the Food and Drink Federation, added: “We’ve ended up with an alphabet soup of overlapping packaging taxes. They are adding billions to the cost of making food and drink. This is pushing up prices in shops and deterring investment in UK manufacturing.”
Housing and infrastructure plans
Mr Griffith will pledge to scrap net-zero housing red tape that he says is stopping developers from building and driving up costs, with the price of buying a new home set to fall by an estimated £50,000. This is on top of last year’s conference announcement that a Conservative government would axe stamp duty.
He will announce that a Tory government would reform the law to make it harder to mount a legal challenge against new infrastructure projects. Government bodies Natural England and the Environment Agency will be scrapped to stop them blocking housing and infrastructure, with the Department for the Environment taking on much of their work directly.
In an effort to cut fuel bills, Conservatives would speed up the delivery of new nuclear power stations and get Britain drilling by approving exploitation of the Jackdaw and Rosebank oil and gas fields in the North Sea.
Tax simplification and Heathrow
Mr Griffith will say: “Our task just got bigger. We face a Prime Minister that wants to return Britain to an imagined past. A socialist fever dream of the 1970s. Cheaper homes, lower taxes, and less red tape. This will be the most ambitious deregulation project in a generation. We will be more prepared than ever before. We will set out our plans line by line. Every bill, every regulation, every chapter.”
He will also pledge to simplify the UK tax system, calling it “one of the worst in the world.” Mr Griffith will say: “So, as well as cutting taxes, tax simplification will be a mission for every treasury minister.”
The Shadow Chancellor will back a third Heathrow runway, which is also supported by unions Unite and the GMB. Prime Minister Andy Burnham has suggested Manchester Airport should be expanded instead.
Heathrow Chief Executive Thomas Woldbye said: “We welcome the growing ‘can do’ consensus behind Heathrow expansion and the Conservative leadership’s recognition of the role we can play in driving growth across the UK. Heathrow and our investors stand ready to work with politicians from across the spectrum to finally get the third runway built.”
