Kemi Badenoch pledges to abolish stamp duty on all home sales in Tory conference speech: Live updates – UK Times

Our political correspondent Archie Mitchell says:

Kemi Badenoch is enjoying the longest standing ovation of her speech yet after calling on Conservatives to stand with her in the fight to build a better Britain.

If there was before her speech, there is now little doubt she has the backing of her members and MPs to go on as leader – especially after her pledge to cut stamp duty.

She was facing major questions about the party’s directions under her leadership. But few will come away from the conference in Manchester feeling like they have not been answered.

Kmi Badenoch has promised to abolish stamp duty in order to make the “dream of home ownership open to all” and “unlock a fairer and more aspirational society”.

“The next Conservative government will abolish stamp duty on your home. It will be gone”, she said. “That is how we will help achieve the dream of home ownership for millions. Home ownership should be a dream thats open to everyone. Abolishing stamp duty on your home is a key to unlock a fairer and more aspirational society. We cannot unpick every tax.”

She added: “Scrapping stamp duty will benefit people of all ages because conservatism must speak to all generations. The young professional buying their first flat. The couple looking for somewhere to bring up their first baby. The growing family, hunting for their forever home. The pensioner who wants somewhere a little smaller or maybe to move nearer to the grandchildren.

“No longer will they be punished with a tax that is a barrier to doing the right thing for them, their family and for society.”

Our political editor David Maddox says:

Home ownership is the most Conservative of dreams so Kemi Badenoch’s announcement to abolish stamp duty is exactly what was needed to unite her party behind her.

She needed something big and this has been a speech laden with new policies but getting rid of one of the most hated taxes will be a challenge to Labour and also Nigel Farage’s Reform UK.

We were told we would need to wait two years for policies but Ms Badenoch in the end under pressure has delivered in less than a year.

Kemi Badenoch has pledged to axe stamp duty if she is elected as the country’s next leader.

“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”, Ms Badenoch says.

Stating that home ownership should be a “dream for everyone”, she said: “At the heart of a Conservative Britain is a country where people who wish to own their first home, can. But our housing market is not working as it should.”

The money for this policy will be found from the cuts previously announced in her speech

Motability cars are “not for people with ADHD”, Kemi Badenoch said as she told her party’s conference the Tories would restrict eligibility for them.

“We will restrict motability vehicles to people with serious disabilities. Those cars are not for people with ADHD,” she said.

She also criticised time “wasted” by police on non-crime hate incidents.

“Conference, we are going to free the police to protect the public, not to chase political correctness,” she said.

Kemi Badenoch has outlined £47bn of cuts an incoming Tory government would make.

The Tory leader pointed to her top team and the measures each of her shadow cabinet colleagues will make to save cash.

She said: “Priti (Patel) has earmarked £7bn from the overseas aid budget.

“Alex (Burghart) has identified £8bn of cuts to the civil service. And Helen (Whately) has found £23bn from welfare.”

She promised that under a new “golden economic rule” half of the savings would go towards paying down Britain’s deficit, while the other half will be used to cut taxes.

Our political editor David Maddox says:

The former prime minister’s formative years was in her father’s corner shop in Grantham.

So on the 100th anniversary of her birth it seems appropriate that her latest successor as Tory leader has announced an end to business rates for shops on the high street.

In reality, this is maybe a last roll of the dice to save high street shops being killed off by competition from Amazon and other online providers. Ms Badenoch noted that she started working life in a McDonalds on the high street.

Kemi Badenoch has promised to ban doctors from going on strike, telling the Tory party conference: “Enough is enough”.

She said the Conservative Party is developing “detailed plans to make things work better” across Britain’s public services.

“In the NHS, industrial action has kept waiting lists high for far too long. Enough is enough. We will ban doctors from going on strike”, she said.