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Battle of ideas looming in British politics, Badenoch to say
Confirmed
In Short: Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch will deliver a speech at the party's annual conference, emphasizing the ideological battle against Labour.
Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch is set to deliver a speech at the party's annual conference in Birmingham, where she will outline a vision for the future of Britain that contrasts sharply with the Labour government's policies.
According to BBC, Badenoch will tell delegates that the differences between her party and the Labour government go to the core of what kind of country they envision.
In her speech, Badenoch is expected to criticize Labour's policies, saying they want to 'wind back the clock to failed ideas of the past.' She will also highlight the Conservative Party's commitment to returning to its traditional values, as she described in an interview with BBC political editor Chris Mason.
Badenoch is planning to propose cutting the 40% tax rate and reducing employer National Insurance contributions for those aged 21 to 24 from 15% to 7.5%. She may also introduce changes to inheritance tax, though details are yet to be confirmed.
Ahead of the conference, Badenoch published a 30,000-word essay titled 'The Right Way,' which outlines the Conservative Party's philosophy and contrasts it with Labour's approach.
Badenoch's essay emphasizes the importance of individual responsibility, private ownership, and competition within a free market. It argues that the state should not expand beyond what the public demands.
While the focus remains on domestic politics, international issues such as the economic situation in Iran continue to be monitored. The U.S. administration has assessed that Iran is in a 'death spiral,' with the Iranian rial trading at a record rate of more than 2.5 million to a dollar.
Despite efforts to clear the Strait of Hormuz of mines, maritime traffic remains 75 percent below pre-conflict levels, and regional exports of refined products are at only 58 percent of prewar norms.
The conference and Badenoch's speech are expected to set the stage for the next general election, with the Conservative Party pitching the fight against Labour as 'a battle for the soul of this nation.'
What this adds
The mock-up of the Bayeux Tapestry has become a focal point of the conference, drawing more attention than Kemi Badenoch herself.
What's confirmed
- Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch is set to deliver a speech at the party's annual conference in Birmingham, where she will outline a vision for the future of Britain that contrasts sharply with the Labour government's policies.
- According to BBC, Badenoch will tell delegates that the differences between her party and the Labour government go to the core of what kind of country they envision.
- In her speech, Badenoch is expected to criticize Labour's policies, saying they want to 'wind back the clock to failed ideas of the past.' She will also highlight the Conservative Party's commitment to returning to its traditional values, as she described in an interview with BBC political editor Chris Mason.
- Badenoch is planning to propose cutting the 40% tax rate and reducing employer National Insurance contributions for those aged 21 to 24 from 15% to 7.5%. She may also introduce changes to inheritance tax, though details are yet to be confirmed.
- Ahead of the conference, Badenoch published a 30,000-word essay titled 'The Right Way,' which outlines the Conservative Party's philosophy and contrasts it with Labour's approach.
- Badenoch's essay emphasizes the importance of individual responsibility, private ownership, and competition within a free market. It argues that the state should not expand beyond what the public demands.
- While the focus remains on domestic politics, international issues such as the economic situation in Iran continue to be monitored. The U.S. administration has assessed that Iran is in a 'death spiral,' with the Iranian rial trading at a record rate of more than 2.5 million to a dollar.
- Despite efforts to clear the Strait of Hormuz of mines, maritime traffic remains 75 percent below pre-conflict levels, and regional exports of refined products are at only 58 percent of prewar norms.
What's still developing
- The Tory party has been enjoying itself in Birmingham, not least thanks to the delightful wheeze of mocking up the Bayeux Tapestry to tell the story of British politics under Labour’s first two years in power.
- The exhibition may well prove to be among the most popular offerings at the party conference; behind Jeremy Clarkson and ahead of Kemi Badenoch.
- With Labour moving to the left as it rolls out state control into ever more areas of national life, Badenoch’s essay offers a vital alternative.
- It is a monumentally important fight and who knows, perhaps many years from now, scenes from this battle will be immortalised in another tapestry.
- The United States is “winning tremendously,” Trump boasted.
- The document of 50 years ago stated that “the Conservative approach entails living within our means, paying our way in the world, mastering inflation, reviving the wealth-creating part of the economy and encouraging all those on whom it depends.” Our problems today are very different, but the solutions are remarkably similar.
- The former quipped on Monday that “a lot of people seem to have come dressed as seats” as he surveyed the hall from the main stage, but there’s no denying that luring the nation’s most famous farmer to address what’s left of the Conservative party was something of a coup.
- The International Monetary Fund projects that the Iranian economy will contract by 5.4 percent in 2026, and the U.S. administration has assessed, as Treasury Secretary Bessent said early last month, that Iran is in a “death spiral,” desperate to make a deal.
- But in late August, the U.S. military claimed a “major milestone”: It had cleared the strait’s transit routes of mines.
- The maritime intelligence company Kpler reported the September daily average of oil through the strait at 10 million barrels; an additional 6 million barrels left the area by means of ports and pipelines that avoided the strait.
- Year-over-year food inflation was more than 125 percent in late August, according to Iranian-government statistics.
- According to a JP Morgan assessment that circulated on social media late last month, regional exports rebounded to just 11 percent below prewar levels.