Badenoch announces £2.3bn proposal to cut employer national insurance for young workers – as it happened

Kemi Badenoch has declined to criticise the shadow minister who said there are “no-go zones” in Luton where “white people won’t go”.

Asked about the comments by Blake Stephenson, a Home Office spokesperson, Badenoch told ITV News:

Blake Stevenson is a very sensible MP. He’s put out a lot of good stuff on immigration.

If he is saying there are no go zones, he will have a reason for that and I’m sure that he can explain it. So I’m very happy to stand by him.

Kemi Badenoch has claimed that the Conservative party has changed under her leadership because she is now “captain … coach [and] owner” of the team.

In an interview with GB News, asked why voters should believe that the Conservative party is different from the one they rejected, she replied:

We are under new management. Your viewers will know that sometimes you have a football team that’s disappointing. There’s a new captain, there’s a new coach, there’s a new owner, effectively, which is all me.

And I’ve got a great team around me. I’ve got a new team of people. We’re changing our policies. We know we got things wrong. You know, immigration was too high.

Kemi Badenoch has said the UK should allow the US to use the Diego Garcia military base in the Chagos Islands for bombing missions whenever they want

In an interview with GB News, asked if the UK should allow the jointly-run base to be used “for any bombing missions by US bombers”, she replied: “Yes.”

She went on:

Why is the US removing its bombers [from RAF Fairford]. I am worried that they think that we’re not a serious country. We’re not taking defence seriously. The government has to focus on defence.

While the UK has normally allowed the US to use Diego Garcia when it it wants to dispatch long-range bombers from the base, sometimes it hasn’t. At the start of the Iran war this year, Keir Starmer refused permission, on the grounds that Donald Trump’s attack was not authorised under international law. Trump was furious.

In 1973 Edward Heath did the same when the US wanted help for an intervention in the Yom Kippur war.

Kemi Badenoch has said that, in the event of a hung parliament, she would rather fight a second election than form a pact with Reform UK.

Speaking to Sky News, she said she would not do a deal with Nigel Farage’s party before an election.

Asked what would happen after an election, if no party had an overall majority, she replied:

If there is a hung parliament, then we can have another election. We had this in 1974. It’s not about, do a deal with Reform or don’t be in government. In 1974, there were two elections. I believe that the public will see who is serious and who is not.

Asked to confirm that she would rather have a second election than go into coalition with Reform U, she said:

I would rather have another election, yes.

Kemi Badenoch has said that Andy Burnham should stop trying to be “everybody’s boyfriend”.

In her interview with Beth Rigby from Sky, Badenoch was asked to accept that Burnham was good at connecting emotionally with the public. She implied that was not important.

She told Rigby:

The job is about running the country. He’s not applying to be everybody’s boyfriend.

He is applying to be, or rather he is, in the job where he needs to make sure that we are protected, that we have money, that we can look after ourselves and we’re not bankrupt. That’s what I want to see from him.

Kemi Badenoch has insisted the Tories’ annual conference is “buzzing” after facing ridicule over empty seats in the main hall.

As the Press Association reports, Badenoch said “I have absolutely no idea what you’re talking about” when questioned over jokes about turnout made by political opponents and commentators including Jeremy Clarkson. (See 11.18am.)

Asked whether Clarkson’s observation had been embarrassing, Badenoch told Channel 5 News:

I have absolutely no idea what you’re talking about. This conference is buzzing.

We have many more people than last year. I saw Jeremy Clarkson, I saw Jeremy Clarkson’s event – people were standing up, you could barely see him.

There were loud cheers. I was at a Young Conservatives event last night where you could barely get in. It was absolutely heaving.

Kemi Badenoch has rejected claims that cutting inheritance tax would mostly benefit the very wealthy.

With speculation rising that she will announce a cut to inheritance tax in her speech tomorrow, Badenoch has had a series of questions on this from broadcasters.

Sky’s Beth Rigby put it to Badenoch that, given only one in 20 estates pays inheritance tax, this would be a cut for the rich.

Badenoch did not accept this. She said:

Inheritance tax right now has dragged in a lot of people who weren’t covered before …

The wealthiest people don’t pay it, they have all these trusts and so on. It really affects the middle class.

The Tories have pledged to halve employer national insurance on jobs worked by young people if they win the next election, the Press Association reports. PA says:

The flat rate would be slashed from 15% to 7.5% for workers aged 21 to 24 at an estimated cost of £2.3bn, the Conservatives said.

Kemi Badenoch insisted the plan was “fiscally credible” as party officials said they would publish a “savings plan” setting out how it would be funded on Wednesday.

They said the move would put tens of thousands of young people in jobs, meaning that many claiming out-of-work benefits would instead contribute taxes to the exchequer.

The “static” cost of the policy has been calculated as £3.25bn, which officials estimate would fall to a “dynamic” cost of £2.3bn in 2029-30 once extra tax receipts and lower universal credit spending were counted.

In a series of broadcast interviews, Badenoch said there was a “graduate recruitment crisis” that needed to be fixed as she faced questions about why the rate would be left the same for most employees.

“We are being fiscally credible. We find savings and then we spend it. If I could afford to cut it for everybody, I promise you that I would. But young people have a much worse problem than everybody else,” she told the BBC.

Under party proposals for a “tough love” approach to unemployed under-25s announced last week, young people would be barred from going straight from school on to benefits if the Tories returned to power.

People aged 16-24 who have not worked continuously for six months would be unable to claim universal credit, the Conservatives said.

Explaining the policy, the Conservative party said:

Employer’s national insurance is a tax on jobs, yet Labour have imposed a £25bn increase which has hit young workers the hardest. Earnings above £50,270 would still face the standard rate, so the cut goes to the starter jobs where young people get their first break.

It smooths the cliff edge which currently exists – at age 21 employer national insurance goes from zero to the full rate. Halving the jobs tax for young people costs £2.3bn and is fully funded from the Conservative savings plan to be published in full on Wednesday.

Halving the rate for 21- to 24-year-olds would let a business keep an average of £1,545 for every young worker. At 2026-27 thresholds, halving the rate would save an employer £1,125 a year on a 21 to 24-year-old earning £20,000. £1,484 on one working full time on the national living wage, £1,875 on one earning £30,000 and £2,625 on one earning £40,000. The savings hit £3,395 for every young worker earning £50,270 or more, the point at which the standard rate resumes. A firm employing ten young graduates on £30,000 would keep £18,750 a year.

This announcement also means the Tories will be announcing cuts worth at least £2.3bn tomorrow, with savings likely to come from welfare.

Kemi Badenoch has been doing a series of interviews with broadcasters today. They are embarged until 5pm, which means that in about 10 minutes a serious of Badenoch stories will start to drop.