Conservative party leader, Kemi Badenoch has announced that the party will scrap stamp duty if it forms the next government.
She made this assertion in her first keynote speech as leader at the Tory party conference where she insisted that at the heart of a Conservative Britain is a country where people “who wish to own their first home, can.”
She stated that however, the UK housing market is not working as it should. “The next Conservative government will abolish stamp duty,” she added to a thunderous applause.
In a press release after Badenoch’s speech, the party specified that the plan will be related only to primary residences irrespective of the price.
It will not apply to any additional homes, properties purchased by companies, or by non-UK residents.
The statement further underscored that separate taxation exists in Scotland and Wales and therefore this policy will not apply there either.
Stamp duty is paid by someone purchasing a home in England and Northern Ireland – it begins on property costing £125,000, or £300,000 if it’s your first home.
The amount of stamp duty one owes depends on the cost of the property, whether it will be used for residential purposes, and whether one owns any other property. In short, the more expensive a person’s new home, the more stamp duty he or she is liable to pay.
Badenoch began her conference speech by saying that the test in the 2020s is to “restore a strong economy, secure our borders, and rebuild Britain’s strength.” She emphasized that only her party can deliver the strong economy and borders that will give people a more prosperous future.
Badenoch took aim at Labour, describing Labour’s term thus far with the words, “Unemployment up. Inflation up. Borrowing up.”
Also, Badenoch noted that Tories want to scrap Labour’s “vindictive tax on education… their tax on family farms [and] their tax on family businesses.”However, she added that reversing Labour’s measures is “not enough.”
“We are creating a Blueprint for Britain – a new settlement – based on Conservative values…Secure our borders, take the UK out of the ECHR, scrap the Human Rights Act and deport 150,000 illegal immigrants.”
Kemi Badenoch
Speaking of the welfare system, Badenoch pledged that the party will return to its “founding principle that support only goes to those that really need it.”
She stated that the other political parties are all demanding more welfare spending not caring that “it’s not fair.”
Tories To Have A New Economic “Golden Rule”
Moreover, Badenoch stressed that her party would have a new economic “golden rule.”
She noted that the Tories are the “only party with a plan to get our economy back on track” and that plan starts with “fiscal responsibility.”
She said that the UK has to get the deficit down, and show how every tax cut or spending increase is paid for.
She outlined her new “golden economic rule,” saying that every pound saved will be put to work. Badenoch disclosed that at least half will go towards cutting the deficit because “living within our means is our first priority” and with the rest going towards getting “Britain growing” and bringing down taxes.
Badenoch claimed that Labour will double the deficit with a borrowing and tax “doom loop” and accuses Chancellor Rachel Reeves of “stealing from our children and grandchildren.”
Badenoch noted that her party has “already identified £47bn in savings” from areas including the overseas aid budget, the civil service and welfare.
Under the “golden rule,” Badenoch said that half of those savings will go towards reducing the deficit, with the rest “going to unleash our economy.”
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