Kemi Badenoch opened Tory conference this afternoon by publishing ‘The Right Way’, a 100-page pamphlet modelled on the party’s 1976 Right Approach. Most of its policies have been announced before, although Badenoch is obviously promising more over the next three days. Tomorrow will focus on the economy, Tuesday on defence, and Wednesday on standards…
The new policy today pledges to introduce free childcare to families where a parent earns over £100,000. Below is a summary of ‘The Right Way’. Click here to read the full thing…
Economy and welfare
- Abolish Stamp Duty.
- Scrap business rates for small high street businesses.
- Reverse Labour’s inheritance tax changes on family farms and businesses.
- Introduce VAT-free shopping for tourists.
- Put at least half of every pound saved towards cutting the deficit.
- Remove the job-destroying parts of the Employment Rights Act.
- Keep the triple lock and cut working-age welfare instead.
- Bar under-25s with less than six months of work from signing straight on to universal credit.
- End bank ring-fencing and replace the Financial Ombudsman Service.
Energy
- Repeal and replace the Climate Change Act.
- Scrap the Energy Profits Levy, the Carbon Tax and the Renewables Obligation.
- Reverse the ban on new North Sea licences.
- Remove VAT from household electricity for three years.
- Scrap the ZEV mandate and the ban on new petrol and diesel cars.
Government
- Cut the Civil Service back to its 2016 size.
- Repeal the Public Sector Equality Duty.
- Require all candidates to back the party’s programme in Parliament.
Crime
- Recruit 10,000 extra police officers, including 2,000 for crime hotspots.
- Expand live facial recognition and triple the use of stop and search.
- Set mandatory standards for police investigations before cases are closed.
- Abolish the Sentencing Council and make the Lord Chancellor responsible for sentencing.
- Introduce “turnaround cards” restricting how offenders on benefits can spend the money.
Defence
- Spend 3 percent of GDP on defence by 2030 without extra borrowing.
- Restore the two-child benefit cap to pay for 6,000 more regular troops and 14,000 reservists.
- Create a Sovereign Defence Fund of up to £50 billion.
Borders and immigration
- Leave the ECHR and repeal the Human Rights Act.
- Bar anyone who arrives illegally from claiming asylum and deport them to their home country or a safe third country.
- Create a Removals Force with double the current budget, aiming for 150,000 removals a year.
- Deport foreign nationals convicted of any crime other than minor offences.
- Abolish the Immigration Tribunal and legal aid for immigration cases.
- Cut aid and visas for countries that refuse to take back their citizens.
- Set a legally binding annual cap on immigration.
- Double the wait for Indefinite Leave to Remain to ten years, with no benefits or social housing allowed during that time.
- Require both partners on a spousal visa to be over 23 and ban spousal visas for first cousins.
