Badenoch hints she is open to inheritance tax changes as Tory conference begins

Kemi Badenoch has suggested cutting inheritance tax would be “morally right”, as the Conservatives begin their party conference with a raft of new policy pledges.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.Speaking to the Sunday Times ahead of the conference, Mrs Badenoch was asked if she planned to abolish the tax.She replied: “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.”Mrs Badenoch 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.”The Conservatives have made a series of policy announcements in the days approaching the annual party conference in Birmingham, as they seek to broaden their platform for government ahead of the next general election.The party has pledged to end a childcare “cliff edge”, which currently means parents earning more than £100,000 do not qualify for the entitlement.All parents working 16 or more hours a week would be eligible to get 30 hours of free care a week under the Tories’ proposals.The policy is estimated to cost £700 million a year, which party officials say could be funded by cutting the number of public servants at arms-length bodies.Elsewhere, the Tories also announced a plan to tighten access to student loans for non-UK nationals – a policy they say would save the taxpayer £900 million a year.Read MoreThe proposals would also block EU Settled Status (EUSS) claims, a system the Tories said is being “abused”.Mrs Badenoch arrived at the conference on Saturday afternoon, her second as Conservative Party leader.As she arrived, Mrs Badenoch was asked by reporters about the public’s opinion of the Tories, who find themselves behind both Labour and Reform UK in the opinion polls.She told replied: “I think that people will see that we have gone on a journey. We’re not the party that the public said no to in 2024. We are a new Conservative Party.“I’ve got a strong team. So much of my shadow cabinet are here, and they are going to be showing all the wonderful plans we have to get this country working again.”The Conservative leader arrived at the conference venue in the centre of Birmingham alongside her husband, Hamish Badenoch, a banker.