Kemi Badenoch prepares for Tory party conference speech
Kemi Badenoch has drawn her battle lines with Labour, telling Tories they are in a “fight for the soul of the nation” as she tries to win back voters with her party languishing in the polls, reports BritPanorama.
In her Conservative Party conference speech in Birmingham on Wednesday, Ms Badenoch will attempt to create a sense of urgency while highlighting the sharp differences between Labour and Tory policies, warning, “there is a fight coming in British politics” not seen for 50 years.
The Tory leader has been emboldened by new Prime Minister Andy Burnham’s shift to the left in his Labour Party speech, feeling that there is a “battle of ideas” as her speech concludes a week where the party has promised tax cuts, deregulation, and the creation of a £10bn “Iron Dome” missile defence system.
However, following a poorly attended conference that has failed to ignite enthusiasm, and with the latest YouGov polling placing the Tories in third, seven points behind Labour, Ms Badenoch hopes a rousing address will galvanize her beleaguered party.
The urgency arises as the Tory leadership anticipates Mr Burnham may call an election as early as May next year.
In her speech, Badenoch is expected to declare: “Conference, there is a fight coming in British politics. A fight that we have not seen in this country for more than half a century.”
“It will be a battle for the soul of this nation. A battle of ideas. A battle that goes to the very core of who we are and what kind of country we want to be.”
Senior Tories compare this moment to 50 years ago when Margaret Thatcher took power amid a failing Labour government, prompting Ms Badenoch to reference the reforms of the 1980s and to argue that Mr Burnham plans to take Britain back to the 1970s.
She will assert: “On one side we have a government that wants to wind back the clock to failed ideas of the past. They believe economic growth is created by politicians. They think government knows best.”
“They think that your income, your pension and your savings are theirs to take and then hand out as they see fit. They claim that what they are doing is compassionate but we know that these ideas will make every single person in this country poorer.”
She warned: “Your taxes will be higher. Your bills will go up. You will find it harder and harder to make ends meet.”
In a critique of Mr Burnham’s campaigning style through social media, she will note: “Just because these ideas are delivered on TikTok doesn’t make them any less dangerous than they have always been.”
Last year she announced the Tories would cut welfare by billions and abolish stamp duty for home purchases. This year, she is considering reducing inheritance tax and dismantling public bodies like Natural England.
She will also claim that her policies will ensure that work pays, which includes ending the ban on receiving free childcare for parents earning £100,000 or more.
“On the other side of the battle is us. A renewed Conservative Party fighting again for the belief that what people earn belongs to them, not government.”
“That the collective wisdom of people in our country is greater than the central planning of bureaucrats and politicians. That spending money we don’t have on things we can’t afford is not kind, it is reckless.”
She will add: “This is a critical moment. The world is becoming more dangerous. Western economies are becoming more fragile. We are running out of money and running out of time to put it right.”
She will further assert: “Conference, the fundamental problem we have right now is that our country is running out of money. Almost everything else flows from this.”
“Our national debt currently stands at nearly £3 trillion and we are adding more than £100 billion every year. Last year, four in every five pounds borrowed by the Government was spent on debt interest alone.”
On Tuesday, Ms Badenoch issued a pointed warning to wavering Tory MPs, stating that anyone who defects to Reform UK will not be allowed back into the Conservative Party.
While she expressed a desire for “Reform voters to come back to us,” she insisted that those MPs who left are merely “people who just cause problems.”
Her comments came during day three of the Conservative Party Conference in Birmingham, focused on regaining support they lost in the last election.
Speaking to GB News, Ms Badenoch declared, “I want Reform voters to come back to us. The people in Reform as politicians, the MPs, especially the ones who left our party, they are people who just cause problems.”
“Their conference… it was overshadowed by an exposé and scandals. You know, they deny it, but they keep having these problems.”
Pressed on whether she would want Reform MPs to return, she was resolute: “No.”
Mrs Badenoch stated, “No, many of them… They’re the ones who cause the problems in the first place, and now they want to pretend they had nothing to do with it.”
She conveyed a preference to contend with two general elections quickly rather than form a coalition with Nigel Farage’s party in the event of a hung parliament.
Despite remaining third in opinion polls behind Labour and Reform, she noted that party members felt “happy because we know who we are.”
When asked by the BBC if the party’s upbeat mood indicated a sense of denial, the Tory leader replied, “We are feeling chipper because we are going back to first principles.”
