Kemi Badenoch speech: Conservatives leader vows to scrap VAT on private school fees, axe stamp duty and LBTT

The Conservative Party leader also vowed to scrap stamp duty on homes in England and Wales - with the Scottish Tories calling for the devolved Land and Buildings Transaction Tax (LBTT) to also be abolished.

Mrs Badenoch announced a slew of Labour government policies which she would reverse in her speech at the Conservative Party conference in Manchester on Wednesday. These included the national insurance rise for employers, inheritance tax for farmers and increased workers’ rights.

She said: “We must reverse Labour's measures. We will cancel their vindictive tax on education. We will scrap their tax on family farms. We will scrap their tax on family businesses.

“We will reverse the terrible measures in Angela Rayner's unemployment bill.”

Her main policy announcement was scrapping stamp duty, which she called “a bad tax”. The levy does not apply in Scotland, with the Scottish Government having control over LBTT instead.

Calls to scrap LBTT

Soon after the speech, Scottish Conservative shadow cabinet secretary for housing Meghan Gallacher said the SNP should abolish the tax on primary residences in Scotland.

She said: “Everyone who works hard in Scotland and Britain should have the opportunity to own their own home.

“We are calling for the SNP to abolish LBTT, Scotland’s version of stamp duty, on primary residences. This bold tax cut would encourage aspiration and help people get onto and move up the property ladder.

“The SNP’s instinct is to punish people with ambition and aspiration. Our party is different. We believe in bringing down bills for the strivers who want to put in hard graft and get ahead.

“Kemi Badenoch’s new policy announcement would make our economy stronger, ensure the housing market is fairer, and give everyone a real stake in society.

“It would benefit people of all ages. Young people who are trapped renting would be able to achieve the dream of home ownership, families would no longer be penalised for needing more space for their children, and pensioners who want to move to a more manageable home would be able to do so tax-free.

“It would also be fully funded because unlike other parties, we believe in fiscal responsibility and not leaving a vast debt burden to future generations. This is a policy for the aspirational and the SNP should enact it in Scotland as soon as possible.”

Did Badenoch talk about Scotland?

Mrs Badenoch only made a few references to Scotland during her speech.

She thanked her MSPs and Scottish Tory leader Russell Findlay early on, before lumping the SNP in with all other parties for its approach to benefits.

“Labour, Lib Dems, Greens, the Nationalists and Reform are all demanding more welfare spending,” she said. “They don't care that it's not fair, but we do.”

Most of Mrs Badenoch’s speech was focused on the Labour government, despite Reform leading in the polls and taking lots of Tory support.

She also pledged to keep drilling in the North Sea, saying: “It is time to put British prosperity first.

“Give this country the cheap, reliable energy it needs to thrive again, backing nuclear, but also recognising that it is pure folly to ban new oil and gas extraction while paying to import resources that Norway takes from the very same basin you.

“So when it comes to the North Sea, we have a very simple policy - drill our oil and gas now.”