One of the big disadvantages of coming up with a great policy in Opposition is that you can’t make it happen immediately, and in the interim the Government can steal it.
When I announced last week that the next Conservative government will abolish stamp duty on homes, people immediately understood why. You get it.
Stamp duty is holding Britain back. Abolishing it would free up the housing market, help every generation, and get Britain moving again.
Abolishing stamp duty shows the Conservatives have a serious plan for a stronger economy. But this is not about the Conservative Party, it’s about the country.
I’m serious about ideas, not territorial about their ownership. If the Government wants to take a good idea, I’ll applaud them for it – Britain wins either way.
Rachel Reeves would steal it if she has any sense, but we know she doesn’t. She should look at the reaction to my stamp duty announcement and think very carefully about why it’s had a near-universal welcome.
Stamp duty is a tax on aspiration. A tax on mobility. A tax on doing the right thing: working hard, saving up and wanting to move your family into a better home.
Stamp duty locks people in place. It stops families from moving to where the jobs are. It traps young parents in flats that are too small, and keeps older people in houses that are too big.
When I announced last week that the next Conservative government will abolish stamp duty on homes, people immediately understood why, says Kemi Badenoch
The Tory leader electrified her party’s annual conference in Manchester by announcing plans for an audacious £9billion tax cut funded by a crackdown on welfare and waste
Mrs Badenoch and her husband waved for the cameras after her successful turn on stage
Some 2.8 million people in this country say they would downsize if stamp duty was abolished.
That’s millions of properties, many of them family homes, that could be freed up for the next generation. Think of what that would mean for young couples desperate to get on the ladder, for growing families hunting for space, for pensioners wanting to live near their grandchildren.
And the housing market doesn’t just get people moving – it gets the economy moving.
Every home move triggers a chain reaction of activity of movers, builders, decorators, plumbers, DIY stores, furniture makers. Trips to IKEA and B&Q. Deliveries. Renovations. Jobs.
And it also gives people a stake in society. It means more stability, responsibility and pride in community. I still remember the moment when I got the keys to my first flat. The excitement of opening the door.
I want everyone to experience that feeling of pride I felt. Owning your own home is more than just about bricks and mortar, it’s about belonging and putting down roots in your community.
But today, too many can’t afford that next step.
The average buyer in England pays thousands of pounds in stamp duty. In London it can be far higher. That’s a tax on ordinary people doing the right thing, a tax on aspiration.
I want Labour to steal this idea because the alternative is that they steal more of your money.
Instead of abolishing stamp duty, the rumour is that the Chancellor is planning to freeze the thresholds, dragging more people into paying this hated tax.
Ms Badenoch said the move would mean first-time buyers, growing families and pensioners looking to downsize would no longer be ‘punished’ by the tax
Keir Starmer and Reeves have got themselves locked into a tax-and-spend doom loop — borrowing to spend, spending to borrow. Crushing growth while fuelling inflation and unemployment.
And we know Reeves is coming back for more in her November Budget of Doom.
That’s not how my party would do things.
At conference last week, we announced a host of spending cuts.
These included slashing the size of the bloated Civil Service, reducing overseas development spend and welfare changes focused on people claiming benefits who should be working.
And to make sure these savings are not wasted, I also introduced my Golden Economic Rule – every pound a future Conservative government saves, we would put to work.
Half of it goes to cutting the deficit and the rest goes to either cutting the taxes that are holding Britain back or funding other priorities. That’s the Conservative way: fiscal responsibility today, opportunity tomorrow.
In just one year we have already identified £47 billion in savings.
Our plans are all costed. Funded. Paid for. We are not shaking the same magic money tree as Labour, Lib Dems and Reform.
If you want to cut taxes, you have to make savings. That’s the difference between Conservatives and other parties.
Labour’s and Reform’s idea of ‘fairness’ is pulling everyone down to the same level.
Our idea is lifting people up – helping them to build, buy, own and achieve.
A hand up the housing ladder, not a handout. Everything Labour is doing will make it harder for people to get on in life.
Ms Badenoch has called on Rachel Reeves to ‘steal our plan’ if she ‘wants to help working people’
They’ve wrapped red tape around energy, employment, enterprise – everything that makes Britain dynamic.
They’ve driven businesses out of business, and ambition out of the economy.
But, given how catastrophically it’s working out for them, maybe they’ll finally change course.
So today I’m calling out Rachel Reeves: if you really want to help working people – steal our plan.
Bring down welfare spending. Cut the Civil Service. Cut the overseas aid budget. We’ll even help you with the votes in Parliament to do it.
I’m not writing a blank cheque, but I am saying work with us and if we can agree a sensible way forward, we will vote for these savings on a three-line whip.
When, inevitably, Keir Starmer says he ‘can’t afford’ to scrap stamp duty, what he really means is, he doesn’t have the backbone to make difficult choices.
He can’t say no to his Left-wing backbench MPs. He can’t stand up to the trade unions. Our Prime Minister is so weak and spineless, he can’t do the courageous things needed to make the country stronger.
Britain deserves better. At the heart of a Conservative Britain is a country where people who wish to own their own home can do so, from young professionals to pensioners.
All of them are currently being punished by a tax that says, ‘Don’t move, don’t improve, don’t aspire’.
We want to set them free. And we can afford it because we’ve done the hard work.
We’ve got a plan, we’ve found the savings and we will make the tough choices. Because that’s what a responsible government does. That’s the way to achieve the real British dream.
Abolishing stamp duty isn’t about helping a few homeowners – it’s about unlocking the energy of a nation.
It’s about freeing people to move and grow. It’s about telling every person who works hard, saves hard and wants to get ahead: ‘We are on your side.’
If Labour truly cared about fairness, mobility and aspiration they’d take our advice and accept our help.
So, I say to Labour: ‘Go on. Steal our idea. Cut the waste. Scrap stamp duty. Do something bold and brave. Get this country moving again.’
Your move, Rachel.
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