Kemi Badenoch pledges free childcare for high earners — follow latest

UK Politics Live Kemi Badenoch pledges free childcare for high earners — follow latest The Tory leader has played down speculation that she will make a key announcement around inheritance tax at the Conservative Party conference in Birmingham Steven Swinford , Political Editor , Aubrey Allegretti , Chief Political Correspondent , Daisy Eastlake , Political Reporter , and Joshua Thurston Share Share this article Email Twitter Facebook Link Save Kemi Badenoch arrived at the Conservative Party conference in Birmingham on Saturday STEFAN ROUSSEAU/PA What you need to know Kemi Badenoch has pledged to restore free childcare for high earners The Tory leader hinted at cutting inheritance tax on the eve of the party conference Other key policy announcements include a plan to tighten access to student loans Badenoch defended her support of the triple lock, saying it was “the right policy for pensioners” For updates throughout the day listen to Times Radio Politics newsletter Get our daily insider’s guide to Westminster, plus a rundown of PMQs every Wednesday. Sign up with one click You’ve successfully signed up to the Politics newsletter Explore our newsletters An error occurred. Please use the link below. Politics newsletter Explore our newsletters 1 minute ago 9:37am October 4 Mordaunt confirmed as Tory candidate Dame Penny Mordaunt Richard Lincoln/Alamy Dame Penny Mordaunt has been confirmed as a candidate for the Conservatives at the next general election. The former defence secretary and leader of the House of Commons had been the MP for Portsmouth North for 14 years but lost her seat at the last general election. She said: “I’m waiting to see what seats I can go for. But I have a full pass from the candidates committee.” 6 minutes ago 9:32am October 4 Early release scheme ‘playing with people’s lives’ Inmates leaving HMP Brixton on early release on Thursday Carl Court/Getty Images The Labour government “play with people’s lives” by releasing prisoners before the end of their sentences, Kemi Badenoch has said. The leader of the Conservative party said there was no “magic rehabilitation machine” and said there had been cases where prisoners released early went on to kill people shortly after. “I don’t want to play with people’s lives. I meet victims, the parents and families of people who have been killed by criminals, and my priority is public safety. I’m not going to be gambling with people’s lives. “Quite frankly, I’m sick and tired of chattering classes and people who are never at the end of these decisions making choices that have a horrible impact on other people’s lives.” She also admitted her party “did not do enough” to solve prison overcrowding when they were in government. 10 minutes ago 9:29am October 4 ‘Threat to politicians is increasing’ The Conservative leader said she had been subject to death threats. “There is a threat to politicians that is increasing,” Badenoch said. “It’s really tough”, but “you just have to get on with it”. She added that “the cumulative impact put a lot of people off politics, but I’m not going to be put off”. Advertisement 20 minutes ago 9:18am October 4 ‘The triple lock is our policy,’ says Badenoch Kemi Badenoch has defended her party’s policy to keep the triple lock, saying the government should focus on fixing growth instead. The leader of the Conservative Party said on the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg that “going after the triple lock is simply moving money around” as she said the focus should be instead on getting working-age people who are claiming unemployment benefits into jobs. “The triple lock and pensions are things that people have contributed to,” she said. “What we don’t want to see is people going after the elderly, chasing after vulnerable and disabled people, and then the extremely large cohort of people who can work but are not working are left alone.” She added: “The triple lock is our policy. We believe this is the right policy for pensioners.” 23 minutes ago 9:16am October 4 Badenoch pressed on childcare plans Kemi Badenoch, the Conservative Party leader, has defended her plans to increase the threshold at which parents get tax-free childcare. She said it was unfair that anyone who earns £1 over £100,000 loses up to £20,000 worth of free childcare, saying she did not want people to stop or reduce the amount they work because of that. Badenoch was pressed by Laura Kuenssberg on whether it is right for someone earning more than £1 million should get access to the taxpayer funded entitlement. She said that the number of people earning tens of millions with multiple children was “negligible”, and that “what we need to focus on is the reality of most people”. The policy is designed to support a deputy head teacher with three children who would be disproportionately hit by a salary rise from £85,000 to £110,000, Badenoch added. 32 minutes ago 9:06am October 4 Curbs on jury trials scrapped Alex Norris, the justice secretary, has confirmed on Sky News that he is scrapping plans for some trials to be heard by a judge alone . He said there were “other provisions” the government would find to reduce the backlog of trails going to court. He said that “the delay of justice is the denial of justice”, but he recognised there were “concerns particularly around this proposal”. Advertisement 37 minutes ago 9:02am October 4 Badenoch: I’ve moulded the Tories in my image Steven Swinford , Political Editor What a difference a year makes. At the last Tory conference Badenoch was fighting for her future. Since then she has cemented her leadership among Tory MPs. “Last year was about telling the party who I was,” Badenoch told The Times. “Now the party is going to be showing the country who we are: a strong team of people who actually like each other.” The Tory leader said she has now moulded the party in her image. “This is not Rishi Sunak or Liz Truss or Boris Johnson or Theresa May or David Cameron’s party: this is Kemi Badenoch’s party and we are going back to first principles,” she said. Her Conservative Party, she said, was more aggressive: “Certainly punchy, it’s aggressively fighting for those people who no one is speaking for.” 42 minutes ago 8:57am October 4 Is Badenoch’s big announcement around inheritance tax? Steven Swinford , Political Editor Will Kemi Badenoch cut or even abolish inheritance tax as her lead announcement? Speculation has been rife before the Tory conference and Badenoch has done her best to try to dampen it — without quite ruling it out. Pressed by The Times this weekend she said: “Until we find the money I’m not making any announcement. When we’re ready we’ll announce.” Asked about the principle of inheritance tax, however, and she was clear. She said it is immoral. “My principle is that inheritance taxes are unfair. The richest don’t pay them: it is just the middle class, mainly farmers who I’ve spoken to, including people who are committing suicide so their children don’t pay it. I mean, that’s immoral.” 48 minutes ago 8:50am October 4 Tory party conference set to begin Kemi Badenoch is due to address the conference in Birmingham this afternoon after appearing on the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg . The conference gets under way at 2pm following a blizzard of policy announcements over the weekend. Another trailed on Saturday night was a plan to tighten access to student loans for non-UK nationals. The party said the policy would save the taxpayer £900m a year. The proposals would also block EU Settled Status (EUSS) claims, a system the Tories said was being “abused”. Advertisement 49 minutes ago 8:49am October 4 Tory leader hints at inheritance tax cuts before party conference Kemi Badenoch has suggested cutting inheritance tax would be “morally right”. As part of a raft of new policy pledges as the Conservatives begin their party conference, the Tory leader suggested she was open to changes to inheritance tax, the levy paid on most estates worth more than £325,000, but only if it were fiscally responsible. “It is morally right that people don’t get taxed twice. It is morally right that if you work hard and want to give something to your children the government doesn’t take it away,” Badenoch told the Sunday Times. She later added: “I am not going to announce tax cuts unless we can show how we pay for them … tax cuts are a good thing but you’ve got to be fiscally responsible.” Read more: Cutting inheritance tax is morally right, says Kemi Badenoch 51 minutes ago 8:47am October 4 Badenoch pledges to restore free childcare for high earners The Conservative Party has pledged to end a childcare “cliff edge”, which currently means parents earning more than £100,000 do not qualify for the entitlement. Kemi Badenoch with Laura Trott, the shadow education secretary Ian Forsyth/Getty Images Under the Tories’ proposals, all parents working 16 or more hours a week would be eligible for 30 hours of free care a week. The policy is estimated to cost £700m a year, which party officials said could be funded by cutting the number of public servants at organisations such as Arts Council England and the Environment Agency. NHS bodies would not be included in the cuts. Badenoch told the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg : “What we want to see is that people who work harder don’t get punished for doing so.” Conservative Party Kemi Badenoch Conservative party conference Related articles Cutting inheritance tax is morally right, says Badenoch Ben Riley-Smith, Political Editor Badenoch spells out her six Tory principles: ‘I call it Kemistry’ Ben Riley-Smith, Political Editor Promoted Content 1 minute ago 9:37am October 4 Mordaunt confirmed as Tory candidate Dame Penny Mordaunt Richard Lincoln/Alamy Dame Penny Mordaunt has been confirmed as a candidate for the Conservatives at the next general election. The former defence secretary and leader of the House of Commons had been the MP for Portsmouth North for 14 years but lost her seat at the last general election. She said: “I’m waiting to see what seats I can go for. But I have a full pass from the candidates committee.” 6 minutes ago 9:32am October 4 Early release scheme ‘playing with people’s lives’ Inmates leaving HMP Brixton on early release on Thursday Carl Court/Getty Images The Labour government “play with people’s lives” by releasing prisoners before the end of their sentences, Kemi Badenoch has said. The leader of the Conservative party said there was no “magic rehabilitation machine” and said there had been cases where prisoners released early went on to kill people shortly after. “I don’t want to play with people’s lives. I meet victims, the parents and families of people who have been killed by criminals, and my priority is public safety. I’m not going to be gambling with people’s lives. “Quite frankly, I’m sick and tired of chattering classes and people who are never at the end of these decisions making choices that have a horrible impact on other people’s lives.” She also admitted her party “did not do enough” to solve prison overcrowding when they were in government. 10 minutes ago 9:29am October 4 ‘Threat to politicians is increasing’ The Conservative leader said she had been subject to death threats. “There is a threat to politicians that is increasing,” Badenoch said. “It’s really tough”, but “you just have to get on with it”. She added that “the cumulative impact put a lot of people off politics, but I’m not going to be put off”. 20 minutes ago 9:18am October 4 ‘The triple lock is our policy,’ says Badenoch Kemi Badenoch has defended her party’s policy to keep the triple lock, saying the government should focus on fixing growth instead. The leader of the Conservative Party said on the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg that “going after the triple lock is simply moving money around” as she said the focus should be instead on getting working-age people who are claiming