Conservatives to “reward work” with £5,000 tax rebate for young homebuyers…
“The Conservatives will set out plans to “reward work” by giving young people a £5,000 tax rebate towards their first home when they get their first full-time job. In his speech to the party’s conference in Manchester, shadow chancellor Mel Stride is expected to announce proposals for a “first-job bonus” that would divert national insurance payments into a long-term savings account. The party says the plans will be funded by cuts to public spending worth £47bn over five years in areas such as welfare, the civil service and the foreign aid budget.” – BBC
- Government consults on cutting housing transaction costs – BBC
>Today:
…as proposed welfare savings are set out
“The Conservatives have pledged to scrap sickness benefits for milder mental health conditions and end tax breaks for cars on the welfare system as they pitch themselves as the party of lower spending. Sir Mel Stride, the shadow chancellor, will promise on Monday to find savings worth tens of billions of pounds and argue that the Tories are “the only party standing up for fiscal responsibility” as both Labour and Reform make promises of higher spending. Half a million foreigners will also be barred from claiming benefits and more than 130,000 civil servants laid off if the Tories return to power, Stride will say.” – The Times
- Foreigners to be banned from claiming benefits under Tory plans – Daily Telegraph
- It’s back to the basics of Beveridge or bust – Jenni Russell, The Times
Whateley: The welfare system should be a safety net not a lifestyle choice. That’s why we’ll stop benefits for anxiety
“We’ll make sure it pays people to work, and stop abandoning young people onto a life on benefits. That will save billions. That’s only fair to taxpayers and means the welfare budget can go to those who need it, not be wasted on people who would be better off getting a job. Our welfare system should be a safety net, not a lifestyle choice. These are common-sense changes rooted in Conservative values – responsibility, fairness and aspiration.” – Helen Whateley, Daily Mail
ECHR 1) Warning the EU could terminate policing ties if we leave
“The EU would be able to “terminate” all policing and judicial co-operation with Britain if the Conservatives were to pull the country out of the European Convention on Human Rights, legal advice commissioned by Kemi Badenoch concluded. On Sunday The Tory leader told activists that all candidates standing at the next election would have to sign up to her plan to quit the ECHR, saying it was the only way to tackle the “scourge of illegal immigration into Britain”. – The Times
>Today: ToryDiary: Our survey: Party members overwhelmingly support Badenoch’s new policies on deportations and the ECHR
ECHR 2) Conservatives will block candidates who refuse to back leaving
“Kemi Badenoch will block Tory candidates from standing for Parliament if they do not support leaving the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). The Conservative leader announced that Britain would withdraw from the ECHR if she took office as part of a long-awaited immigration plan. In an interview with The Camilla Tominey Show on GB News, she said: “I was very clear at the shadow cabinet, where we agreed completely – it was unanimous – that we cannot have a party where people do not abide by manifesto commitments. “If you do not agree with leaving the ECHR, then you should not and cannot stand as a Conservative candidate at the next election. They can be in the party but they cannot stand as MPs.” The position risks creating tensions with Tory MPs who have long dismissed claims that there is a need to leave the ECHR to protect the UK’s borders.” – Daily Telegraph
>Yesterday: Video: Potential candidates will be banned from standing for MP if don’t support leaving ECHR – Badenoch
ECHR 3) Hill: Will the Conservatives’ deportation plan work?
“We have heard big promises on immigration too many times to take them at face value. Remember David Cameron’s repeated pledges to cut it to the “tens of thousands”? Kemi Badenoch’s commitment to withdrawing from the ECHR is one reason to give the plan a second look. It won’t be enough to guarantee the plan will work, but our continued membership makes any tough border control regime functionally impossible. The big question is on deportations. It takes two to tango, and it doesn’t matter what the British policy is if we can’t persuade another country to take back an illegal migrant. And that’s assuming we can even prove the migrant is one of their citizens. Politicians can only guarantee deportations if they have somewhere guaranteed to send the deportees. Looks like a reheated Rwanda scheme might be back on the menu.” – Henry Hill, The Sun
- Tories plan new Trump-style deportation force to remove 150,000 people a year from UK – Daily Express
- Leaving the ECHR won’t fix illegal migration – David Gauke, The Times
- A sitting ovation for Kemi Badenoch, but they stood up for Philp – The Times
>Yesterday:
“I went too far on Net Zero,” Johnson admits
“Boris Johnson has admitted he went “far too fast” on net zero when he was prime minister, in his most outspoken comments against the policy he championed. Mr Johnson said he got “carried away” by the idea that renewable energy sources could replace fossil fuels and, as a result, electricity is “too expensive for ordinary people”. He warned against “junking net zero altogether” but said Labour’s target of making the UK carbon neutral by 2050 should be pushed back. Mr Johnson’s comments come in a forthcoming book called Prosperity Through Growth, which has Lord Elliott, the Tory peer and founder of the TaxPayers’ Alliance, and Dr Arthur Laffer, a US economist, among its co-authors.” – Daily Telegraph
Government accused of “contempt” for Parliament by letting spy case collapse
“The government has been accused of treating parliament “with contempt” for refusing to allow Sir Keir Starmer’s national security adviser to appear before MPs over the collapse of a Chinese spying case. Ministers have refused to explain why the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) abruptly dropped the charges against Chris Cash, 30, a former parliamentary researcher, and Christopher Berry, 33, an academic from Oxfordshire. Jonathan Powell told a secret briefing that Beijing would not be deemed an “enemy” of Britain at the trial, which subsequently collapsed over what the CPS described as “evidential failure”. The joint committee on the national security strategy has repeatedly asked Powell to give evidence but has been blocked by ministers.” – The Times
- Starmer must ‘come clean’ over China spy case, say Tories – Daily Telegraph
- Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood denies Labour officials were behind collapse of Chinese spying trial – The Sun
- PM’s national security chief could be held in contempt of Parliament if he refuses to appear before committee over China spy scandal after Commons espionage case collapses – Daily Mail
- How supine Labour is in its dealings with China. And what a scandal if they have compromised our security to keep our new masters happy – Stephen Glover, Daily Mail
Green Party votes to abolish landlords
“The Green Party has committed itself to “abolishing landlords”. Party members at its conference in Bournemouth on Sunday passed a motion that makes seeking the “effective abolition of private landlordism” official policy. Tenants would be given first right to buy when a landlord sells, with their “total rent paid discounted” and government-backed financing provided. Councils would be given second right to buy. The party also wants to introduce rent controls, abolish Right to Buy for public tenants and end buy-to-let mortgages.” – Daily Telegraph
- Fundraising for Green party a challenge, says new leader – Financial Times
Call for workers’ rights to include free speech protection
“A Tory Peer insists Labour’s flagship workers’ rights package must be changed to protect people from being sacked or disciplined for online posts. Baron Young, who founded the Free Speech Union, says any messages more than a year old shouldn’t be used to reprimand employees and “cancel” people. Bosses would have to be able to prove that “tangible” harm had been caused rather than “reputational” damage which is too vague. The Employment Rights Bill is currently in the House of Lords and will be debated when Parliament returns after the party conferences.” – The Sun
Reform UK “likely to raise Kent council tax”
“Kent’s local authority is likely to raise council tax rates next year as Reform UK has struggled to find big savings under an Elon Musk-inspired cost-cutting drive. Kent was one of 10 English councils that Nigel Farage’s rightwing populist party seized in a swath of victories at local elections in May this year. He vowed to save “a lot of money” by abolishing “wasteful” spending. But Diane Morton, Reform’s cabinet member for adult social care on Kent county council, told the Financial Times that services in Kent were already “down to the bare bones”. – Financial Times
Other political news
- Civil liberty groups express concern over plan for more anti-protest powers – The Guardian
- Planning rules relaxed for big data centres in AI bill proposal – The Times
- MPs’ pay watchdog to give public more of a say on how politicians are funded – The Guardian
- Manchester synagogue attacker was cannabis-smoking university dropout – Daily Telegraph
- Rayner unlikely to face investigation over car use – The Times
- Fury at staggering number of illegal cigarettes after gangs flood Britain’s black market – The Sun
- Cyclists are injuring more pedestrians than ever – Daily Mail
- Trump: Hamas faces ‘complete obliteration’ if it fails to give up Gaza – Daily Telegraph
- Sky Sports faces boycott calls over £1.1m-a-year star Gary Neville’s ‘racist’ outburst against ‘angry middle-aged white men’ who are ‘creating division’ – as the lefty pundit reveals he tore down a Union Jack he saw on a building site – Daily Mail
Ahmed: Badenoch has one option. In a world of clowns, seriousness matters
“The Tories should uniquely offer a smaller-state, lower taxes and free market reforms to release growth. Each policy must be properly researched with support from leading right-leaning think tanks such as the Centre for Policy Studies, the original Thatcherite policy factory. They must survive scrutiny, not be defeated by it – in sharp contrast to both Labour and Reform. “Nothing good comes quickly,” Badenoch says as talk of leadership challenges persist. The Tory leader has until May and the Scottish, Welsh and local England elections. If there are no glimmers of momentum by then, she is finished – an ex-parrot to join the long list of Conservative opposition leaders who could find neither a way to engage voters nor a way back to Number 10.” – Kamal Ahmed, Daily Telegraph
- Despite epic failures, both the Church of England and Tories are worth saving – Tim Stanley, Daily Telegraph
- The realistic goal for Kemi Badenoch is simply to keep the show open – Stephen Davies, Daily Telegraph
- Kemi Badenoch must demonstrate a viable new vision for the country – Leader, The Times
- Tories invoke Thatcher legacy in search of a comeback – BBC
- Conservative membership “falls below 120,000” – Daily Mail
Hannan: When the money runs out, the public will listen to the Conservatives
“When it is clear the money has run out, that our quangogracy and administrative state have led us to ruin and we need a thorough overhaul of how we are governed, there will be a demand for a party with a plan. Argentina needed to touch bottom before it turned to the radical libertarian Javier Milei. Britain itself needed to go through the trauma of the IMF bailout and the Winter of Discontent before it was ready for Margaret Thatcher. From Badenoch’s point of view, this will seem unattractive. Must she wait for a crash before people are willing to listen to her? Not exactly. ‘Wait’ is the wrong word. If they want to be heard when the time comes, the Tories need to put the work in now, explaining what the problem is – we are spending beyond our means, and we are run by unaccountable judges and bureaucrats – and setting out their solutions.” – Daniel Hannan, Daily Mail
News in brief
- Tory deportations pledge is a weak Farage tribute act – Tom Jones, Unherd
- Badenoch’s ECHR pledge could be the start of a Tory revival – Andrew Tettenborn, The Spectator
- The new schools guidance on gender ideology is a disgrace – Caroline ffiske, Daily Sceptic
- Reform voters mean what they say – Anthony Bowles, The Critic
- This Government is tearing itself apart – Harry Phibbs, CapX
