The shadow chancellor has pledged to offer young people a £5,000 “first job bonus” as he sought to position the Tories as the party of “fiscal responsibility”.
Sir Mel Stride used his speech at the Conservative Party conference in Manchester to promise a tax-rebate for first time buyers if the Tories win the next general election.
“So we will introduce something called the first job bonus,” Sir Mel said to a half-empty hall on Monday.
“When someone takes their first job, the first £5,000 pounds they pay in national insurance won’t go to the taxman. It will go towards a deposit on their first home, or it will go towards savings for their later life.”
The shadow chancellor also unveiled proposals to slash £47 billion of government spending if the party win power, including cuts to welfare, foreign aid and the Civil Service.
He also promised to abolish business rates for high street shops and pubs if they win the next election.
The pledge to cut aid spending has prompted an outcry from development organisations, with Romilly Greenhill, chief executive of aid coalition Bond, saying it would be “an epic act of self-harm”.
UK Politics live: Key points
- Tories promise young people a £5,000 ‘first job bonus’
- Reform is the party of ‘more spending and more debt’ Stride tells Tory conference
- What is happening at the Conservative Party conference today?
- Tories promise to abolish business rates for high street shops and pubs
- Comment: End of the Tory story? Why the Conservative Party is slouching towards oblivion
Tories promise young people a £5,000 ‘first job bonus’
11:27
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Athena Stavrou
The shadow chancellor has pledged to offer young people a £5,000 “first job bonus”.
Those starting their first full-time position would receive a £5,000 national insurance rebate to put towards buying a home, Sir Mel Stride announced.
“So we will introduce something called the first job bonus,” he said.
“When someone takes their first job, the first £5,000 pounds they pay in national insurance won’t go to the taxman.
“It will go towards a deposit on their first home, or it will go towards savings for their later life.
“For a working couple, that means £10,000 pounds, helping them buy a home, build a family, save for the future.
“That is the Conservative dream, a dream that built my life.”
Shadow energy secretary vows to scrap green pledges
11:16
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Athena Stavrou
The shadow energy secretary has vowed to scrap a number of green pledges if the Conservatives win power.
Claire Coutinho said a future Tory government would scrap Great British Energy if it wins the next election.
Ms Coutinho told members it was a “vanity project that won’t cut bills” from Energy Secretary Ed Miliband.
She also said the party would scrap the ban on new oil and gas licences, reverse the energy profits levy and start drilling in the North Sea again.
You know you’re in trouble when Steve Bray doesn’t show up
11:09
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Athena Stavrou
The Independent’s political correspondent Archie Mitchell reports from Manchester:
It is almost impossible to work in politics without being familiar with the antics of Steve Bray, the die-hard anti-Brexit protester who blasts politically-themed remixes of popular hits outside parliament every Wednesday.
He is not shy to travel either, and is a staple of the Conservative and Labour conferences each year.
But he is nowhere to be seen at the Tory gathering in Manchester, in a sign of just how irrelevant the party has become.
Mr Bray was hard at work singing about Brexit, Sir Keir Starmer and the Conservatives as Labour gathered in Liverpool last week.
It is not just Mr Bray, there are usually scores of different protesters hanging out outside the Tory conference, but none to be seen this year.
A shadow minister lamented to The Independent that “something is missing” this year, adding that even the protesters have not bothered to show up.
Tory baby grows and teddy bears on sale at conference
10:55
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Athena Stavrou
In between speeches and fringe events, those at the Tory conference may be looking to do some shopping.
Among the merchandise on offer includes some vintage-style Conservative prints, tea towels and “future prime minister” teddy bears and baby grows.
Tories promise to abolish business rates for high street shops and pubs
10:39
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Athena Stavrou
The Independent’s political correspondent Millie Cooke reports from Manchester:
The Conservative Party has promised to abolish business rates for high street shops and pubs if they win the next election, with the shadow chancellor promising to fund the pledge by "getting public spending under control".
Speaking on the main stage of the party conference in Manchester, Sir Mel Stride said: “Under Labour, many have seen their business rates double. We need to get business rates down. In fact, we need to go further – much, much further.
“So, today I can announce that as a direct result of getting public spending under control, a future Conservative government will completely abolish business rates for shops and pubs on our high streets."
“End of. End of, finished, gone", he added.
Stride accuses Reform of 'marching to the left'
10:33
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Athena Stavrou
The shadow chancellor has accused Reform UK of “marching to the left” as he sought to position the Tories as the party of “fiscal responsibility.
“Reform want to get back to the days of nationalisation and state control. They are marching to the left,” Sir Mel Stride said.
“Be in no doubt they are the party of more spending and more debt.
And when it comes to Reform be assured of this: That when the glitter, the shimmy of the sequin dress, the razzmatazz, the spinning plates, the fireworks have faded you will be left with emptiness. The hollowed out promises that never were.
“But Reform are being found out - and it is this Conservative Party that is holding them to account.”
The Tories will bring taxes down but 'only when it is affordable', says Mel Stride
10:24
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Athena Stavrou
The Independent’s political correspondent Millie Cooke reports from Manchester:
The Conservative Party will bring taxes down but "we will only do so when it is affordable", Mel Stride has said, promising to never make the mistakes Liz Truss made in her mini budget.
"We will bring taxes down. We must. But we will only do so when it is affordable - just as Nigel Lawson did - because we know where the alternative path leads.
"We saw that with a mini budget in 2022. So let me be clear, the Conservative Party will never ever make fiscal commitments without spelling out exactly how they will be paid for.
"We are and will always be the party of fiscal responsibility. Labour have trashed the finances and it will only be the Conservative Party, our Conservative Party, that can be trusted to fix them."
Stride attempts to reassure party members - but there is hardly anyone there to listen
10:20
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Athena Stavrou
The Independent’s political correspondent Millie Cooke reports from Manchester:
Mel Stride is working hard to persuade the party that the Tories can once again be a trustworthy political force - but unfortunately for the shadow chancellor, there is barely anyone there to hear him.
Speaking to a room full of empty seats - with only the front few rows full - he promised a "radical plan to rebuild our economy".
But with so few people in the room, applause is thin, and far from convincing.
Stride unveils welfare cut plans
10:19
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Athena Stavrou
Mel Stride is now unveiling his plans to cut government spending if the Tories win power.
He said the party would cut welfare spending, including replacing payments to people with “low level” mental health conditions with treatment and barring non-citizens from claiming support.
“We say Labour wants to park you on benefits, we want to help you to a better life,” he said.
“The culture of something for nothing must end now.”
Analysis: Mel Stride attempts to restore trust in Tories with appeal to the past
10:16
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Athena Stavrou
The Independent’s political correspondent Millie Cooke reports from Manchester:
Mel Stride has painted a rose-tinted vision of previous versions of the Conservatives, harking back to Margaret Thatcher as part of an attempt to restore trust in the party.
Speaking on a backdrop of a conference that has Thatcher imagery at every turn, the shadow chancellor spoke about his experience growing up in the UK, saying he had Nigel Lawson – one of the key architects of Thatcherism – “cutting my taxes and removing the red tape”.
He continued: “The whole spirit of that time was one of enterprise and opportunity.
“And later I had in my hand a key to the first home that I owned. That foundation for the rest of my life, for the wife I had yet to meet, for the family I was yet to create.
“That is a conservative vision of opportunity, aspiration and achievement.”
'You name it, they'll tax it', Stride says of Labour
10:15
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Athena Stavrou
Sir Mel Stride has criticised Labour for their tax strategy, which he says the government has “no clue how to build the economy of the future.”
Speaking during his speech at the Tory party conference, he said: “Under Labour nothing is safe from the taxman. Not your job, not your home, not tour pension not your farm nor your business not even that which you simply want to pass on to ur own children.”
He said: “You name it, they'll tax it, and we say enough is enough!”
UK economy 'stagnating under the cold dead hand of a Labour government', says Mel Stride
10:10
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Athena Stavrou
The Independent’s political correspondent Millie Cooke reports from Manchester:
Britain’s economy is “stagnating under the cold dead hand of a Labour government”, Mel Stride has claimed.
While the shadow chancellor hit out at Labour’s management of the economy, he also attempted to strike a more optimistic tone, telling the Tory party conference that the UK is a “great country of drive and ambition and creativity, of decency, of tradition and heritage”.
He added: “We made the modern world and we can remake ourselves, for there is a path for us for a more prosperous future where this country, our country, can get back to a sense of ‘we can and we will’.
“A country in which it is instinctively understood that wealth creation should be fostered and cherished.
“A country that once again understands that wealth is created not by governments, striking unions and a bloated public sector but by entrepreneurs, businesses and the hardworking millions”.
Stride delivering speech to plenty of empty seats
10:09
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Athena Stavrou
As the shadow chancellor began his speech at the Conservative Party conference, he stepped in front of a sparse crowd.
There were a number of empty seats at the main stage on Monday morning, as the Tory party struggles to keep the nation’s attention amid Reform UK’s rise in the polls.
Stride begins speech
10:03
,
Athena Stavrou
The shadow chancellor has begun his speech at the Conservative Party conference.
Sir Mel Stride took to the main stage in Manchester on Monday morning, where he is expected to unveil proposals to cut £47 billion of public spending.
Among the plans to be announced is a £23 billion cut to the welfare bill, replacing payments to people with “low level” mental health conditions with treatment and barring non-citizens from claiming support.
He is also expected to outline cuts to foreign aid and the Civil Service if his party wins the next election.
Shadow chancellor to deliver speech shortly
09:54
,
Athena Stavrou
Sir Mel Stride is about to take to the main stage at the Conservative Party conference in Manchester.
The shadow chancellor is expected to unveil plans to cut £47 billion of public spending if the party win power at the next election.
We will bring you the latest updates here.
Pictured: Cleverly plays car racing game at Tory conference
09:50
,
Athena Stavrou
Stride defends benefit cuts for non-citizens
09:43
,
Athena Stavrou
The shadow chancellor has suggested that foreigners who could not claim welfare under Tory plans to restrict benefits to UK citizens could instead go home or “work longer”.
“Well, they’ve come from other parts of the world and they would have an option to return to those other parts of the world,” Sir Mel Stride told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme when asked what those people would be expected to do.
He added: “I can’t speak to everybody’s individual circumstances. There are some that it wouldn’t necessarily impact them, this change.
“There are some that it would impact them.
“It’s some that will be able to adjust their working arrangements, or perhaps work longer, or whatever it may be as a response to this.
“The point that I think is important is that UK citizenship should mean something.
“I think when it comes to the benefits system, I think most people in this country feel that it’s right and proper that it is there for UK citizens.”
Kemi promises economic responsibility as party tries to shake off Liz Truss' legacy
09:39
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Athena Stavrou
Kemi Badenoch used her opening speech of the Conservative Party conference to try to shake off Liz Truss’ legacy of economic disaster.
In her speech on Manchester on Monday, Mrs Badenoch stressed her party’s commitment to economic responsibility, saying it had “learnt” from Liz Truss’s mini-budget.
She said: “Economic responsibility is the hallmark of the Conservative approach and today it is right back at the heart of everything we stand for.
“We may be in Manchester, but the theme of economic responsibility will run through this conference like the words in a stick of Blackpool rock.”
What is happening at the Conservative Party conference today?
09:33
,
Athena Stavrou
It is the second day of the Conservative Party conference, with a day full of speeches from the shadow cabinet scheduled.
Here is who we are expecting to speak on the main stage and when:
10am: Shadow chancellor Sir Mel Stride
10:30am: Shadow energy secretary Claire Coutinho
10:55am: Shadow technology secretary Julia Lopez
11:30: Shadow environment secretary Victoria Atkins
2pm: Shadow business secretary Andrew Griffith
2:25pm: Shadow work and pensions secretary Helen Whately
2:50pm: Shadow transport secretary Richard Holden
3:15pm: Shadow culture secretary Nigel Huddleston
3:40pm: Shadow housing secretary Sir James Cleverly
EU nationals still to be able to receive welfare under proposals
09:20
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Athena Stavrou
EU nationals would still be able to get welfare payments under Tory plans to restrict them to British citizens, shadow chancellor Sir Mel Stride has said.
He was asked if he would have to redo the Brexit deal to exclude them from the restrictions under plans to cut spending if the Conservatives came back into government that he is due to set out today.
Sir Mel told Times Radio: “The figures that we’ve come forward today, and the policy we have today, excludes EU nationals, so that they are exempt from that situation by virtue of the very point that you’ve raised, that we have arrangements with the EU to that effect.”
Asked if he was looking to change that, he said: “We do not envisage doing that. This would be for those that are outside of that group, who are on indefinite leave to remain or limited leave to remain.”
Comment: End of the Tory story? Why the Conservative Party is slouching towards oblivion
09:16
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Athena Stavrou
It really is over for the Tories, says John Rentoul, which leaves Kemi Badenoch going through the motions at the party’s annual conference in Manchester.
But the demise of the party of Margaret Thatcher is part of a seismic wider realignment – in which the left, not the right, will be the political home of the better-off.
Read the comment piece here:
Mel Stride: Tories to be 'grown up party of fiscal responsibility'
09:10
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Athena Stavrou
The Conservatives will be the “grown-up” party of fiscal responsibility, shadow chancellor Sir Mel Stride has said ahead of his speech to Tory conference.
He told Sky News: “For far too long, our country has been living beyond its means.
“We’ve got a huge amount of debt, huge servicing costs on that debt and a trajectory for our economy that, I’m afraid, is unsustainable.
“Whilst the other parties are either busy messing the economy up, which is what Labour is doing, or fantasy economics from Reform, we have to be that grown-up party that sets out its stall around fiscal responsibility.”
Tories threaten to strip migrants of right to claim benefits
09:08
,
Athena Stavrou
The shadow chancellor is set to unveil proposals to bar non-UK citizens from claiming benefits if the Conservative Party wins power.
Among the plans to be announced on Monday is a £23 billion cut to the welfare bill, replacing payments to people with “low level” mental health conditions with treatment and barring non-citizens from claiming support.
If implemented today, the policy would prevent around 470,000 people — about 6% of the UK’s eight million universal credit claimants — from receiving the benefit.
The same restrictions would apply to disability benefits and the carer’s allowance, though access to pensions and public services would remain unchanged.
EU citizens with settled status under the Brexit agreement with Brussels would be exempt.
