Labour Party chair Bridget Phillipson has accused Kemi Badenoch of looking to the past after the Conservative leader launched a Thatcher-inspired statement of principles at the opening of her party’s conference.
Phillipson: ‘stuck in the past’
“The Tory Party is stuck in the past,” the Labour chair said, arguing that its plans remained out of touch with voters. She contrasted Badenoch’s approach with the programme Prime Minister Andy Burnham set out at Labour’s conference last week, saying it offered Britain hope rather than a return to the politics of the past 40 years.
The Right Way
Badenoch unveiled The Right Way at the Conservative conference in Birmingham on Sunday. The 95-page document takes its cue from The Right Approach, published by the party in 1976 before Margaret Thatcher came to power. Badenoch presents it as the foundation for a future programme for government, rather than a fully costed election manifesto.
The document argues for lower taxes, less regulation and a smaller state. It also criticises previous Conservative governments, acknowledging that the party failed to deliver on some of its promises during its 14 years in office. Badenoch says the state grew under the Tories despite their stated principles.
Alongside the document, the Conservatives have proposed extending funded childcare to families currently excluded when a parent earns more than £100,000. They have also pledged a major expansion of prison capacity, funded in part by reducing overseas aid. These are party proposals, not measures contained in a government programme.
Badenoch told delegates the Conservatives could win the next election if they showed voters what kind of government they would be. Phillipson’s response sets out Labour’s competing case: that a party seeking renewal through Thatcher-era ideas has yet to show how it would meet the country’s present needs.
