Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch has said the Tories will turn the tide on the “destructive socialist agenda” of Andy Burnham’s Labour, as she seeks to set out clear battle lines with the ruling party ahead of the Conservative conference.
The Opposition leader accused the Prime Minister of being “obsessed with Westminster bubble politics” and seeking to “lock in the left” with his plans for electoral reform that could pave the way for proportional representation.
EU and Reform UK
She insisted rejoining the EU would not “solve all our problems” and accused Mr Burnham of reigniting the debate over UK membership as a “distraction” after he suggested Labour’s next election manifesto could include an in-out referendum.
But she also heightened her attack on Reform UK, saying its politicians – some of whom have defected from the Tories – are “not our kind of people”, and giving a “cast-iron guarantee” there would be no pact with Nigel Farage’s party at the next election to avoid splitting the right-wing vote.
In an interview with the Press Association, Mrs Badenoch confirmed the Tories are getting ready for an early general election, which she believes Mr Burnham is planning to call, and insisted they offered the “only credible alternative” to Labour.
“The Conservative Party is different. We have changed. We have new policies, new plans, new people coming on board,” she said.
“We’ve learned from the mistakes of the past, but we are also very different from Labour, who are offering a destructive socialist agenda that will bankrupt our economy.
“And we’re very, very different from Reform, who actually, when you look at the problems they have had recently, whether it’s their leader in Wales in prison, the one after him being arrested, not having any formed policies on anything outside of cryptocurrency, I think this shows that there’s only one credible alternative to Labour, and that’s what I hope the public will be seeing.”
Polling and electoral reform
Recent polling has placed Labour ahead of both the Conservatives and Reform UK, although a YouGov MRP survey last week projected a hung parliament with the Tories leapfrogging Reform to second place.
Asked whether she could give a cast-iron guarantee there would be no Tory-Reform pact, Mrs Badenoch said: “Yes, I’ve always said it so many times, nothing has changed since the last time I gave that guarantee.
“They are not our kind of people, and actually, those those who say doing a deal is what we should do forget that many people who would vote for us would not vote for us if we were in some kind of pact or deal with Reform.”
Questions have also been raised over the kind of post-Brexit EU relations the Opposition would pursue after Mr Burnham suggested it was possible Labour’s next election manifesto could include an in-out referendum or even a pledge to rejoin.
Asked whether the replacement of staunch Brexiteer Dame Priti Patel with former Remainer Tom Tugendhat as shadow foreign secretary was a sign the Tories are looking towards closer co-operation with Brussels, she said: “We’ve always been co-operating closely.
“Just last month, I met Italian Prime Minister Meloni, I met the Greek Prime Minister Mitsotakis, and the shadow foreign secretary was with me in Greece. We have good relationships, direct bilateral relationships.
“We have good relationships with the EU. When people talk about closer co-operation, they’re not actually being specific. Does that mean giving them money? Does that mean allowing them to make our laws? A lot of this is just vibes rather than seriousness.”
Asked whether she would rule out rejoining or returning to a customs union or single market, she said: “All of these things are being discussed by people who did not pay attention to what happened when we had the negotiations last time.
“We’re not going to get the same terms that we had. Does anybody really believe Andy Burnham is going to get Margaret Thatcher’s rebate back? This is all a distraction. We need to focus on sorting our economy out.”
Pressed on whether she believed the existing Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA) brokered with Brussels under Boris Johnson was fit for purpose, Mrs Badenoch said: “We have a free trade agreement with the European Union, and it’s the most comprehensive free trade agreement they have with any country.
“What I want to see is us fixing our problems. Many of the things going wrong in our country now are UK domestic policy, in the same way that some people believe leaving the EU would sort out all their problems, we have the same issue now with people thinking we rejoin the EU and it would solve all our problems – no, that’s not what’s going to happen.”
Economic priorities and triple lock
She said the UK needed to focus on lowering energy costs, cutting the tax burden for businesses and getting young people into work, adding: “It’s not because we were in the EU and left that young people have started losing their jobs.
“That’s because of Rachel Reeves and Keir Starmer’s jobs tax.”
Asked whether growing the economy would require a closer relationship with the EU, she said: “Co-operating closely with all countries is what I want to see, provided that it is in our national interest. That doesn’t mean joining the EU.”
Meanwhile, Mr Burnham has announced plans to adjust the pensions triple lock in a move he hopes will raise £15 billion a year by the end of the 2030s to help pay for a new national care service.
The Tories have criticised the move as unfunded, though senior party figures including former chancellor Jeremy Hunt and shadow foreign secretary Mr Tugendhat have individually suggested the current triple lock is unsustainable.
Asked whether the existing policy would stay in place if the Conservatives return to power, Mrs Badenoch told PA it was “current” Tory policy and in the “draft” manifesto.
Asked whether she was confident she could unite her party amid apparent splits over the current guarantee, she said: “Well, I’m the leader of the party, and we have been able to iron out much tougher things, like leaving the Convention on Human Rights and scrapping disastrous net-zero legislation, which had a cross-party consensus, and people can see that that is making the UK poorer. Those are my priorities.”
She was clear in rejecting the Prime Minister’s proposals for electoral reform, with the creation of a new national commission to explore changes to the voting rules that could pave the way for a form of proportional representation (PR).
Proponents argue such a system would better reflect the vote share overall, but critics say first-past-the-post offers more decisive results and some within the two main parties will have concerns PR would risk giving more ground to smaller rivals.
Asked about Mr Burnham’s proposals, which he has invited all other parties to take part in, Mrs Badenoch said: “This is yet again a sign that Andy Burnham is very obsessed with Westminster bubble politics.
“In all of the places I’ve been to, up and down the country, no one has put their problem down to changing the voting system. It is a distraction and something that he is trying to do to lock in the left.”
She added: “I don’t believe Andy Burnham when he says he’s not planning for an early election. I think he is planning for an early election because the things he announced were all happening in 2030: His announcement on social care. His announcement on changing the voting system.
“Why is he talking about things to do after an election? He should be talking about what he’s doing today.
“So I think he’s getting ready for an election, and so am I.”
