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Kemi Badenoch is set to face questions from Tory members after sparking controversy for describing maternity pay as “excessive” and calling for greater personal responsibility.
In an interview with Times Radio, the Tory leadership hopeful argued that government intervention on issues like the maternity benefit had gone “too far”, placing a burden on businesses.
Ms Badenoch’s remarks have drawn fierce criticism, with union bosses and campaigners condemning them as “out of touch” and “another example of dog-whistle politics”.
Reacting to the comments, rival candidate Tom Tugendhat said he did not know the context of Ms Badenoch’s claims but that it is important for women to have the ability to choose, while Robert Jenrick said the party should be “firmly on the side of parents and working mums”.
During a Conservative Friends of Israel fringe event, Mr Jenrick called for the Star of David to be displayed at every point of entry to the UK to show “we stand with Israel” while wearing a “Hamas Are Terrorists” hoodie.
Today, leadership rivals Mr Tugendhat and Ms Badenoch will appear on the main stage of the Tory conference to make their cases to party members.
The Independent’s political team will be reporting live throughout the Conservative Party conference in Birmingham.
Key Points
- Badenoch sparks Tory leadership row over maternity pay
- Tugendhat and Jenrick push back on Badenoch’s maternity pay claims
- Tory rivals to face questions from party members at conference
- Robert Jenrick calls for Star of David to be displayed at all UK borders
- Labour calls for probe into Robert Jenrick £75,000 donation
Jenrick: UK facing ‘leave or remain choice’ on ECHR
Robert Jenrick has said that the UK is facing a “leave or remain choice” on the ECHR, our political correspondent Millie Cooke reports from the conference.
During a rally, the leadership hopeful told party members: “Leave means subject our people to dangerous criminals on our streets, leave means end this farce once and for all.”
But he claimed that for the Conservatives the issue is “leave or die”, adding: “Our party doesn’t have a future if it fails to fix this problem.”
Shadow chancellor says Labour ‘badly burnt’ by winter fuel allowance cuts
Jeremy Hunt has said the Labour Party has been “badly burnt” by its decision to cut winter fuel payments for pensioners.
The shadow chancellor told the Tory conference: “My worry about the last 12 weeks is that Labour have got themselves so badly burnt with the mess they’ve got into over winter fuel allowance is that welfare reform will now become untouchable for them.
“If they worried about a battle with the Labour Party on benefits paid to pensioners, including wealthier pensioners, you can imagine what a challenge it would be to cut the bill for working age, disabled people, which is due to increase by £25 billion a year over the next five years. It’s a huge, huge increase.
“But the argument the Conservatives are making is if you do have mental health issues, one of the worst possible things is to be signed off, having to look for work, because that means your isolation is likely to increase, your mental health problems are likely to get worse.”
Salma Ouaguira30 September 2024 09:52 1727686140Jenrick holds rally at Tory conference in Birmingham
While Jeremy Hunt is at the mains stage in conversation with Daniel Finkelstein, Robert Jenrick is busy holding a rally for Tory members.
Our political correspondent Millie Cooke reports from the conference:
Mr Jenrick has ramped up an anti-migration rhetoric, telling the rally: “Churchill would turn in his grave if he saw what had happened to the ECHR today.
“Churchill wanted to defend the right to family life, not terrorists on our streets terrorising our citizens.”
Hunt: Labour not taking difficult decisions to address economic issues
The shadow chancellor has now moved to discuss the “difficult decisions needed to tackle the problems in our welfare state”.
But Mr Hunt claimed Labour has been shying away from them and the party has been “attacking their predecessors” instead.
He told the Conservative Party conference: “When it comes to the big decisions we need to secure our economic growth for the future, I think people are beginning to wonder whether Labour has a plan at all because we have had absolutely nothing in the 12 weeks when they’ve been in office.”
Salma Ouaguira30 September 2024 09:43 1727685580Jeremy Hunt: Labour believes its own propaganda on economy
Jeremy Hunt has accused the Labour Party of believing “its own propaganda” about the state of UK finances.
The shadow chancellor rejected Sir Keir Starmer’s claims that things would get worse, adding: “They will get worse if Labour makes catastrophic mistakes in the Budget and hikes up tax in a way that destroys growth.
“And I think one of the biggest lies we’ve had since Labour came to office is this nonsense about having the worst economic inheritance since the Second World War.
“I note not a single independent economist has been prepared to come forward and back up Rachel Reeves in that claim. And the reason is very straightforward. I mean inflation, two per cent, jobs, a succession of Conservative governments that created 800 jobs for every single day that they were in office.”
Praising his own time as cabinet minister, he said: “And growth, it wasn’t just the fastest growth in the G7 when Labour took over, but the International Monetary Fund said over the next six years we are projected to grow faster than France, Italy, Germany or Japan. That is a legacy I would have died to have when I became chancellor.
“I think the economy has got very solid foundations. My worry is that Labour believes its own propaganda and starts taking a whole series of decisions, particularly on things like capital gains tax, which have a massive impact in deterring investment in the economy which we really need.”
Polling expert warns two-party system ‘effectively died a death’
Professor Sir John Curtice has warned the two-party system may have “effectively died a death” at the general election.
The polling guru told Times Radio: “The first thing about the 2024 election is that the big parties could no longer assume that the contest is simply between them.
“It’s perfectly obvious, in the case of the Conservative example, that while yes, they need to get back around the one in eight people who switched to Labour from them, they also need to get back the roughly one in four who switched to Reform.
“All parties now are going to have realise that 2024 may be the election in which the two-party system effectively died a death.”
Salma Ouaguira30 September 2024 09:30 1727684939Coming up: Jeremy Hunt in conversation on the main stage
Shadow chancellor Jeremy Hunt is set to appear ‘in conversation’ on the main stage of the Conservative Party conference.
He was a key Tory figure under Rishi Sunak’s administration and a prominent critic of the new chancellor Rachel Reeves.
Salma Ouaguira30 September 2024 09:28 1727684717Pictured: Conservative Party conference day two
Businesses urge more ‘measures to support working parents’ after Badenoch’s remarks
Rain Newton Smith, director-general of the CBI, has told Times Radio that businesses “want to see measures to support working parents”.
Asked whether maternity pay is a concern for small businesses in light of Kemi Badenoch’s comments on Times Radio yesterday morning, Newton-Smith said: “It hasn’t been raised with me. In fact, I would say what our members say is what they want to see is measures to support working parents.
“And in fact, they’re concerned about the high cost of childcare, childcare provision, and what they want to see is high quality childcare provision to really help working parents.
“We know in the UK, we have challenges in terms of the number of people who are participating in the workforce.
“So in fact, one of the things that we have done at the CBI is successfully campaigned for more support for childcare and for ensuring that working parents and in particular, women who often bear a lot of the caring responsibilities have the right support to remain in work, both through maternity, but as they’re returning to work and as their children are young.”
Salma Ouaguira30 September 2024 09:16 1727683378Robert Jenrick calls for Star of David to be displayed at UK borders
Tory leadership frontrunner has called for the Star of David to be displayed at every point of entry to the UK to show “we stand with Israel”.
The former immigration minister told a Conservative Friends of Israel event that he wanted to Britain to become the “most welcoming country in the world for Israelis and the Jewish community”.
Mr Jenrick claimed that he had pushed for Israelis travelling to the UK to use e-gates during his time as cabinet minister and promised that if he became prime minister he would move the British embassy, which is currently in Tel Aviv, to Jerusalem.
He added: “If the Foreign Office or the civil servants don’t want to do it, I will build it myself.”
His remarks come after he was spotted various times wearing a hoodie that said “Hamas are terrorists” around London.
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