briantrumpet
Timewaster
It's just a proposed bung to the people Badenoch thinks might vote Tory with a bribe. There's nothing subtle (or thought-through) about it.
Badenoch's (Lack Of) Vision Quest
- Thread starter Psamathe
- Start date
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It's just a proposed bung to the people Badenoch thinks might vote Tory with a bribe. There's nothing subtle (or thought-through) about it.
First Aspect
Squire
In her speech she did point out that you dont need to worry about policy announcements from someone who won't ever be able to carry them out.
AuroraSaab
Epic Member
I think part of it is the perception that it was something only the mega wealthy paid. Rampant housing inflation has brought fairly bog standard homes into the equation. Not saying they shouldn't pay inheritance tax but I think that's partly why people view it a bit differently.
icowden
Pharaoh
EXCLUSIVE! Henry Morris has the lowdown from Tory Conference!
Mark Francois’ Tory Conference Diary
Birmingham 2026 - as it happened
Henry Morris
8 hours ago
DAY ONE
11am - Coach departs CCHQ half empty. Mood grim. This time five years ago Theresa Villiers was beatboxing while a shirtless Kit Malthouse crowd surfed up the Megabus. Today, we sit in silence. Chris Philp is doing a Sudoku, Claire Coutinho is watching Celebrity Traitors on catch up, Gavin Williamson plays his Nintendo. What I wouldn’t give to have all the Spartans singing the Dambusters March on the back seat one more time.
11:15am - A furious Richard Holden demands to know why the coach driver is headed for the M1 and not the M40. “Only an idiot heading for Birmingham would go through Archway.” The coach driver is unmoved. “I live this stuff” bellows Holden, before lifting his shirt to reveal an ‘RAC’ stomach ripper tattoo.
12:50pm - Steve Barclay berates the driver for not singing the national anthem beside the Toddington services massage chairs with the 1922 Committee.
12:51pm - I berate the driver for not wearing a poppy.
12:52pm - Driver quits.
12:57pm - After a KFC crisis meeting, I put myself forward to drive the coach, but point out I’ll need something extra to sit on. Kevin Hollinrake authorises the release of party funds to buy three Squishmallow beanbags from WH Smith. I’m a little rusty, but the TA catering corps training soon kicks in.
1:20pm - It is observed that I have rejoined the M1 southbound and we are returning to London.
1:27pm - With the mood lower than the pound after a Liz Truss budget, I thank heaven for the irrepressible Des Swayne after he spikes Alex Burghart’s Huel with some New Forest magic mushrooms. Suddenly everyone is laughing. Conference is go!
2:42pm - Atmosphere plummets again outside Daventry, when Burghart locks himself in an overhead baggage compartment and starts calling for Skippy the Bush Kangaroo.
3:10pm - Kemi Badenoch is livid when confronted with the coach’s single chemical cassette. It is unclear whether this is because the toilet is gender neutral, or because it has just been vacated by Nick Timothy.
4:20pm - After his second unsuccessful reverse charge call to Jeremy Clarkson, and thirteenth to Skippy, Burghart is dragged from the coach by an incandescent Gavin Williamson. Several of us help him put Burghart in the luggage compartment under the bus. We are less startled than we should be to find former MP Matt Hancock stowed away in there too.
9.45pm - Disembark at the Birmingham NEC.
9:47pm - Reembark at the NEC after realising we are supposed to be at the ICC.
10:30pm - Arrive at Ramada Inn, Birmingham.
DAY TWO
8:21am - Tension in our shared hotel room when Steve Barclay switches from Police Interceptors to Takeshi’s Castle on UK Challenge and a furious Des Swayne upends the teamaking facilities. At times like this, I really miss Andrew Bridgen.
9:45am - At breakfast, using a fleet of Kellogg’s variety packs as a visual aid, I explain to the Ramada Inn breakfast host that Britain is like “A convoy. And a convoy can only move as fast as its slowest ship. Which means we need to cut taxes for the Aircraft Carriers like James Dyson and Duncan Bannatyne, and scuttle the rest of the fleet.” I think she got it, even if the presentation was hampered by Roger Gale eating the Frosties that represented Crispin Odey.
10:14am - Return to hotel room to freshen up and discover that Des Swayne has thrown our 32inch TV out of the window. The effect is ultimately underwhelming as we’re on the ground floor.
11:45am - Andrew Griffiths gives a scorching keynote speech. It is so hot only 13 delegates feel able to listen to it.
12:01pm - Jeremy Clarkson explains that his harvest was bad, but that this was probably down to bad luck rather than the decades of peer reviewed data that conclusively proves we’re cooking ourselves inside our own atmosphere.
1:11pm - Attend a champagne reception with hedge fund managers at TGIs Edgbaston. The event is livened up by Matt Hancock bursting through the double doors in a batman costume shouting ‘Fathers for Justice’.
3:18pm - Education Minister Laura Trott delivers some blistering rhetoric about higher education being a hotbed of ‘social Marxism, critical race theory and turncoats with glasses.’
6:42pm - After an afternoon of disastrous panels, media appearances and excruciating speeches in front of half-empty rooms, the mood at dinner is worse than the incident with Michael Howard and the coq au vin in 1998. Scores of frontline Tories eat our lamb cutlets in near silence.
7:19pm - I am extracted from the meal by Kemi’s team and given a private audience.
“Mark. If you could implement one policy, what would it be?” she asks.
Ignoring the white papers I have spent my entire life working on – Daily RAF flypasts over primary schools, 365-day poppy wearing, The Quorn Laws (prohibition of) – I look Kemi square in the eye and say “My dear: Operation Britannia Shield.”
8:52pm - Des Swayne brings a delegation from the Selly Oaks Young Conservatives back to our hotel room to drink a new cocktail he’s invented called a Mongroni: Monster Energy, Campari, and bash.
11:41pm - After three hours of trying to watch Nazi Megastructures while ignoring ruddy adolescents in ill-fitting shirts repeatedly assert “you can’t be poor if you’ve got a mobile phone” I open the emergency can of Abbott Ale in my briefcase.
2:20am - Finally get to sleep, only to be reawakened by a call from reception. Steve Barclay has been pulled over on a Lime Bike by a pair of West Midlands PCSOs during a Campari resupply mission to Tesco Express.
DAY THREE
8:55am - Struggling to lift myself after three hours of broken sleep, I remind myself that allied soldiers during the invasion of Normandy were operating on less, and head to the Lockheed Martin stand where Chris Chope has tipped me off about an excellent drone pilot simulation. While away a pleasant hour flattening Iranian villages.
12:32am - In her keynote address, I am stunned to discover Kemi announcing the launch of Operation Britannia Shield. “The Iron Dome over Wickford was my policy!” I repeatedly shout. I am promptly ejected from the auditorium by the SERCO security team. Is this the Tory party’s nadir?
7:49pm - No. After spending the afternoon regrouping in Vodka Revolution necking Pineapple Daiquiris with the rest of the shadow cabinet, Victoria Atkins calls Joy Morrissey “several photocopies short of a book” and Joy responds by calling Victoria a “budget Debbie McGee.” The pair fight
.
7:53pm - Joy is restrained by Des Swayne in an NWA t-shirt and reversed black leather cap. John Whittingdale sits on Victoria Atkins.
9:53pm - Against the backdrop of Gavin Williamson smashing up IDS’s Porsche with a baseball bat in the Vodka Revolution carpark, Kevin Hollinnrake delivers an emergency statement asserting that the party has never been in better health.
11:15pm - I begin crying. It is unclear whether this is because the Tories are doomed, because Des Swayne is smoking meth with Geoffrey Clinton-Brown in our en-suite toilet, or because I’ve just remembered we lost 361 Spitfires during the Battle of Britain.
Mark Francois’ Tory Conference Diary
Birmingham 2026 - as it happened
Henry Morris
8 hours ago
DAY ONE
11am - Coach departs CCHQ half empty. Mood grim. This time five years ago Theresa Villiers was beatboxing while a shirtless Kit Malthouse crowd surfed up the Megabus. Today, we sit in silence. Chris Philp is doing a Sudoku, Claire Coutinho is watching Celebrity Traitors on catch up, Gavin Williamson plays his Nintendo. What I wouldn’t give to have all the Spartans singing the Dambusters March on the back seat one more time.
11:15am - A furious Richard Holden demands to know why the coach driver is headed for the M1 and not the M40. “Only an idiot heading for Birmingham would go through Archway.” The coach driver is unmoved. “I live this stuff” bellows Holden, before lifting his shirt to reveal an ‘RAC’ stomach ripper tattoo.
12:50pm - Steve Barclay berates the driver for not singing the national anthem beside the Toddington services massage chairs with the 1922 Committee.
12:51pm - I berate the driver for not wearing a poppy.
12:52pm - Driver quits.
12:57pm - After a KFC crisis meeting, I put myself forward to drive the coach, but point out I’ll need something extra to sit on. Kevin Hollinrake authorises the release of party funds to buy three Squishmallow beanbags from WH Smith. I’m a little rusty, but the TA catering corps training soon kicks in.
1:20pm - It is observed that I have rejoined the M1 southbound and we are returning to London.
1:27pm - With the mood lower than the pound after a Liz Truss budget, I thank heaven for the irrepressible Des Swayne after he spikes Alex Burghart’s Huel with some New Forest magic mushrooms. Suddenly everyone is laughing. Conference is go!
2:42pm - Atmosphere plummets again outside Daventry, when Burghart locks himself in an overhead baggage compartment and starts calling for Skippy the Bush Kangaroo.
3:10pm - Kemi Badenoch is livid when confronted with the coach’s single chemical cassette. It is unclear whether this is because the toilet is gender neutral, or because it has just been vacated by Nick Timothy.
4:20pm - After his second unsuccessful reverse charge call to Jeremy Clarkson, and thirteenth to Skippy, Burghart is dragged from the coach by an incandescent Gavin Williamson. Several of us help him put Burghart in the luggage compartment under the bus. We are less startled than we should be to find former MP Matt Hancock stowed away in there too.
9.45pm - Disembark at the Birmingham NEC.
9:47pm - Reembark at the NEC after realising we are supposed to be at the ICC.
10:30pm - Arrive at Ramada Inn, Birmingham.
DAY TWO
8:21am - Tension in our shared hotel room when Steve Barclay switches from Police Interceptors to Takeshi’s Castle on UK Challenge and a furious Des Swayne upends the teamaking facilities. At times like this, I really miss Andrew Bridgen.
9:45am - At breakfast, using a fleet of Kellogg’s variety packs as a visual aid, I explain to the Ramada Inn breakfast host that Britain is like “A convoy. And a convoy can only move as fast as its slowest ship. Which means we need to cut taxes for the Aircraft Carriers like James Dyson and Duncan Bannatyne, and scuttle the rest of the fleet.” I think she got it, even if the presentation was hampered by Roger Gale eating the Frosties that represented Crispin Odey.
10:14am - Return to hotel room to freshen up and discover that Des Swayne has thrown our 32inch TV out of the window. The effect is ultimately underwhelming as we’re on the ground floor.
11:45am - Andrew Griffiths gives a scorching keynote speech. It is so hot only 13 delegates feel able to listen to it.
12:01pm - Jeremy Clarkson explains that his harvest was bad, but that this was probably down to bad luck rather than the decades of peer reviewed data that conclusively proves we’re cooking ourselves inside our own atmosphere.
1:11pm - Attend a champagne reception with hedge fund managers at TGIs Edgbaston. The event is livened up by Matt Hancock bursting through the double doors in a batman costume shouting ‘Fathers for Justice’.
3:18pm - Education Minister Laura Trott delivers some blistering rhetoric about higher education being a hotbed of ‘social Marxism, critical race theory and turncoats with glasses.’
6:42pm - After an afternoon of disastrous panels, media appearances and excruciating speeches in front of half-empty rooms, the mood at dinner is worse than the incident with Michael Howard and the coq au vin in 1998. Scores of frontline Tories eat our lamb cutlets in near silence.
7:19pm - I am extracted from the meal by Kemi’s team and given a private audience.
“Mark. If you could implement one policy, what would it be?” she asks.
Ignoring the white papers I have spent my entire life working on – Daily RAF flypasts over primary schools, 365-day poppy wearing, The Quorn Laws (prohibition of) – I look Kemi square in the eye and say “My dear: Operation Britannia Shield.”
8:52pm - Des Swayne brings a delegation from the Selly Oaks Young Conservatives back to our hotel room to drink a new cocktail he’s invented called a Mongroni: Monster Energy, Campari, and bash.
11:41pm - After three hours of trying to watch Nazi Megastructures while ignoring ruddy adolescents in ill-fitting shirts repeatedly assert “you can’t be poor if you’ve got a mobile phone” I open the emergency can of Abbott Ale in my briefcase.
2:20am - Finally get to sleep, only to be reawakened by a call from reception. Steve Barclay has been pulled over on a Lime Bike by a pair of West Midlands PCSOs during a Campari resupply mission to Tesco Express.
DAY THREE
8:55am - Struggling to lift myself after three hours of broken sleep, I remind myself that allied soldiers during the invasion of Normandy were operating on less, and head to the Lockheed Martin stand where Chris Chope has tipped me off about an excellent drone pilot simulation. While away a pleasant hour flattening Iranian villages.
12:32am - In her keynote address, I am stunned to discover Kemi announcing the launch of Operation Britannia Shield. “The Iron Dome over Wickford was my policy!” I repeatedly shout. I am promptly ejected from the auditorium by the SERCO security team. Is this the Tory party’s nadir?
7:49pm - No. After spending the afternoon regrouping in Vodka Revolution necking Pineapple Daiquiris with the rest of the shadow cabinet, Victoria Atkins calls Joy Morrissey “several photocopies short of a book” and Joy responds by calling Victoria a “budget Debbie McGee.” The pair fight
.
7:53pm - Joy is restrained by Des Swayne in an NWA t-shirt and reversed black leather cap. John Whittingdale sits on Victoria Atkins.
9:53pm - Against the backdrop of Gavin Williamson smashing up IDS’s Porsche with a baseball bat in the Vodka Revolution carpark, Kevin Hollinnrake delivers an emergency statement asserting that the party has never been in better health.
11:15pm - I begin crying. It is unclear whether this is because the Tories are doomed, because Des Swayne is smoking meth with Geoffrey Clinton-Brown in our en-suite toilet, or because I’ve just remembered we lost 361 Spitfires during the Battle of Britain.
AuroraSaab
Epic Member
True. It's the result of house prices in some areas going nuts though; a nettle that every government since the 80's has been unwilling to grasp. Because if our houses keep going up we feel wealthy and moan less about other stuff, or we do until we realise our kids will never get on the housing ladder, then we start moaning by which time it's too late.
Dorset Boy
Über Member
Whilst true that the £325k hasn't increased, the Residence Nil Rate Band was introduced in 2017, so for many effectively increasing the threshold to £500k each.
Personally I don't like the RNRB. If the effective threshold is going to be £500k, then don'tr differentiate between investments and residential property.
Inheritance Tax is an aspirational tax which is why some dislike it - they hope their wealth will increase above thresholds, but don't want to pay it.
However, it is the easiest tax to pay as it doesn't impact you - you are dead!
There are ways to reduce or avoid it, but with the spiralling cost of care being a greater concern, avoiding it becomes less attractive as doing so could impact on the type of care available.
Revenues from IHT continue to rise almost every month.
OP
OP
Psamathe
Squire
Somebody needs to explain to Ms Badenoch the limits to power any Government/Parliament has. Ms Badenoch said "The next Conservative Government will legislate so nobody will ever pay Inheritance Tax on their family home" (exact words she spoke). No way does any Government/Parliament have the ability to prevent any subsequent Parliament from repealing or amending any legislation passed. And she doesn't seem to even understand that!
Pblakeney
Shaman
Seems like she is taking the Dementia Donnie exit route of promises...
Dorset Boy
Über Member
Picking holes there. She's not the first by far, and won't be the last by far to say something similar.
Of course she knows that any subsequent government or parliament can change things.
OP
OP
Psamathe
Squire
But she's so smart, gets everything right and keeps telling us such then seems reasonable we expect her to live up to that self-declared brilliance.
Stevo 666
Guru
Clearly you can't bind future governments. Although people may take a chance that they will die when a policy that helps their children etc is in place. Better that than giving it to financially incontinent lefties.
secretsqirrel
spiteful class warrior
briantrumpet
Timewaster
Sorry, but here's Dan Neidle demolishing the maths of the Tories' IHT proposal. Various people pointing out that there will be a strong incentive for older people to divert any savings they might have into buying bigger properties, rather than downsizing and getting much higher liabilities for IHT as a result.
https://taxpolicy.org.uk/2026/10/08/conservatives-inheritance-tax-family-home-cost/
https://taxpolicy.org.uk/2026/10/08/conservatives-inheritance-tax-family-home-cost/
OP
OP
Psamathe
Squire
... but ... but ... but Kemi is brilliant, high IQ and gets everything right where everybody else gets everything wrong (at least that's what she keeps telling us and expects us all to believe).
But thinking through a policy? that would be a first.
