Badenoch pledges to end stamp duty on home sales in Tory conference speech: live

Kemi Badenoch has accused the government of choosing “the slogan of net zero over a serious strategy of a strong economy”.

Promising to reverse the drive to reach net zero and scrap the Climate Change Act, he said the Tories would replace it with a “proper strategy that actually works”.

“A strategy that protects the natural environments and landscapes we love. A strategy that takes sensible steps to tackle climate change without bankrupting ourselves in the process. We’ll cut bills for families, slash costs for businesses”, she said.

While she denied she is a “climate change skeptic”, she said she is a “net zero skeptic”, adding: “Britain has already done more than any major country to cut emissions. But we can’t have a law that will make this country poorer, while taking jobs abroad and increasing our dependence on hostile states.

“So we’ll ax the carbon tax on electricity, we’ll scrap Labour’s wind and solar levies and instead we’ll give you our cheap power plan.”

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 that had been the case before his speech, there is now no doubt that he has the support of his members and MPs to step down as leader – especially after his pledge to cut stamp duty.

She was facing major questions about the direction of the party under her leadership. But some people will come away from the conference in Manchester feeling as if they have not been answered.

KMI Badenoch has promised to abolish stamp duty 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 house. It will go away”, she said. “That’s why we’ll help millions achieve the dream of home ownership. Home ownership should be a dream that’s open to everyone. Ending stamp duty on your home is the key to unlocking a fairer and more aspirational society. We can’t unpick every tax.”

He said: “Scraping stamp duty will benefit people of all ages as Conservatism should speak to all generations. Young professionals buying their first flat. Couples looking for somewhere to bring up their first child. Growing families, hunting for their forever home. Pensioners who want somewhere a little smaller or perhaps to move to the grandchildren.

“No longer will they be punished with a tax that hinders them from doing the right thing for them, their families and society.”

Our political editor David Maddox says:

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

He 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 for Labor and also for Nigel Farage’s reformed UK.

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

Kemi Badenoch has promised to reduce total stamp duty if 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”, says Ms Badenoch.

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

Funding for this policy will come from the cuts announced earlier in his speech.

Mobility cars “are not for people with ADHD”, Kemi Badenoch said after telling her party’s conference that the Tories would restrict eligibility for them.

“We would restrict mobility vehicles to people with severe disabilities. Those cars are not for people with ADHD,” she said.

He also criticized the time “wasted” by police on non-crime hate incidents.

“Convention, we are going to free up the police to protect the public, not to pursue political correctness,” she said.

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

The Tory leader pointed to measures his top team and each of his shadow cabinet colleagues will take to save cash.

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

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

He promised that under a new “Golden Economic Rule” half of the savings would go towards paying down Britain’s deficit, while the other half would be used to cut taxes.

Our political editor David Maddox says:

The former Prime Minister’s early years were in his father’s corner shop in Grantham.

So on the 100th anniversary of his birth it seems appropriate that his latest successor as Tory leader has announced the abolition of business rates for shops on the High Street.

In fact, this is the final roll of the dice to save high street shops being killed by competition from Amazon and other online providers. Ms Badenoch said she started working at McDonald’s on the High Street.