Tom Tugendhat has refused to rule out the possibility that the Conservatives would scrap inheritance tax if Kemi Badenoch becomes Prime Minister.
Speaking to GB News, the Shadow Foreign Secretary was reacting to reports that the Tory leader would announce the policy at her party conference next month.
Keen to get to the bottom of the speculation, Camilla Tominey asked the Tory MP directly if his leader was planning to ditch the levy.
Mr Tugendhat said he had seen “a lot of rumours” about the proposal, but insisted that neither he nor Mrs Badenoch would pre-announce any new tax policies.
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“She’s not going to be announcing anything until a conference. Nice try, Camilla.”
When pressed on whether he personally supported scrapping inheritance tax, Mr Tugendhat said he backed policies that would make Britain more attractive to wealthy taxpayers.
“I would like to reduce many, many, many taxes.
“I like all ideas that see people returning to the United Kingdom,” he said, arguing that Labour’s tax policies had encouraged wealthy individuals to leave the country.
Camilla asked: “I note that you are not ruling out announcing that you want to scrap inheritance tax at the Tory party conference. Would that be an accurate summation?”
Rather than committing to scrapping inheritance tax, Mr Tugendhat instead singled out Labour’s inheritance tax changes affecting farms.
“The one I really want to get rid of right now is the family farm tax,” he said, branding it “an absolutely abusive attempt” to damage family businesses.
He also warned the policy could affect Britain’s food security by preventing farmers from investing for the long term.
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Mrs Badenoch is said to be seeking to “go hard” on tax ahead of the next election, spying “weakness” in Andy Burnham’s Labour on the subject.
The Conservative leader has previously placed tax cuts and economic growth at the heart of her pitch to voters.
Scrapping inheritance levies entirely is said to be part of her plan to simplify Britain’s tax regime, according to a report in the Sun on Sunday.
Speaking to GB News earlier today, Reform UK Treasury spokesman Robert Jenrick said such a move was “not a priority” for him if he one day becomes Chancellor.
“Today I read that Kemi Badenoch is going to abolish inheritance tax, which is a tax cut predominantly for the well-off.
Camilla cut in, asking: “So you’re ruling out cutting inheritance tax if you were Chancellor?”
“I am. It’s not my priority,” Mr Jenrick responded.
“I mean, if there was a chance to do it at some point in the future, maybe. But it’s not my priority because we are on the side of working people.”
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