Kemi lashes Labour's 'tax doom loop': Badenoch to vow to slash job-killing NICs and death duties in Tory speech today - as she warns party election will be 'battle for Britain's soul'

Published: 04:52 EDT, 7 October 2026 | Updated: 06:01 EDT, 7 October 2026 Kemi Badenoch is rallying her Tory troops with a brutal attack on Labour's 'tax doom loop' today. Closing the party's conference in Birmingham, Mrs Badenoch is laying out a starkly Thatcherite alternative path for the country.That includes slashing the burden for firms wanting to employ young people, and curbing inheritance tax - which has been hitting growing numbers of middle-class families.Mrs Badenoch will tee up the next election - which senior Conservatives still believe could come as early as next year - as a 'battle for the soul of this nation'. The big set-piece moment comes at the end of a four-day gathering that has cemented Mrs Badenoch's authority.The Tories have been declaring their intent to make the state smaller in a bid to get the UK economy growing and competing once again. Pledges have included cutting a tax every year if they win power, including removing the 'cliff edge' that strips childcare from high earners. Funding would be freed up with tough restrictions on benefits. Net Zero red tape and quangos have also been in the party's crosshairs, while shadow ministers have backed a huge expansion in defence spending and pressing ahead with Heathrow's third runway.Kemi Badenoch arriving at the Tory conference with husband Hamish today ahead of her big speech In her speech, Mrs Badenoch will say the country once again faces a Left-wing Labour government that believes economic growth is 'created by politicians' and a PM who wants to 'wind back the clock to failed ideas of the past'. '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.'Mrs Badenoch will accuse Labour of believing 'growth is created by politicians' and presiding over a 'tax doom loop that is making us all poorer'.She will warn that 'everything' now depends on tackling a crisis in the public finances that has left Britain in the 'crazy' situation of borrowing tens of billions of pounds a year to pay the interest on a national debt approaching £3trillion.The Tory leader will also urge her party to make economic growth 'the central organising principle' of the next government.She will tell Tory delegates in Birmingham: 'We are running out of money and running out of time to put it right.'Employers have blamed a triple whammy of changes under Labour for making it less attractive to employ young people.These include hikes in the youth minimum wage, a wave of new employment rights and increases in NI. The Tory leader preparing her speech at the conference hotel yesterdayUnder the new Tory plans, employer NI for workers aged 21 to 24 will be halved from 15 per cent to just 7.5 per cent.This would allow businesses to keep an average of £1,545 for every young worker, making them more attractive to hire.The move will cost £2.3billion a year and will be funded by cuts from existing spending as part of a new 'Conservative Savings Plan' to be published today.