Today [Wednesday 7th October 2026], MP, Leader of the
Conservative Party, will address Conservative Party Conference
2026.
In her speech, Badenoch is expected to say:
Conference, there is a fight coming in British politics.
A fight that we have not seen in this country for more than half
a century.
It will be a battle for the soul of this nation.
A battle of ideas.
A battle that goes to the very core of who we are and what kind
of country we want to be.
On one side we have a government that wants to wind back the
clock to failed ideas of the past.
They believe economic growth is created by politicians.
They think government knows best.
They think that your income, your pension and your savings are
theirs to take and then hand out as they see fit.
They claim that what they are doing is compassionate but we know
that these ideas will make every single person in this country
poorer.
Your taxes will be higher. Your bills will go up. You will find
it harder and harder to make ends meet.
Just because these ideas are delivered on TikTok doesn't make
them any less dangerous than they have always been.
On the other side of the battle is us.
A renewed Conservative Party fighting again for the belief that
what people earn belongs to them, not government.
That the collective wisdom of people in our country is greater
than the central planning of bureaucrats and politicians.
That spending money we don't have on things we can't afford is
not kind, it is reckless.
This is a critical moment.
The world is becoming more dangerous.
Western economies are becoming more fragile.
We are running out of money and running out of time to put it
right.
Conference, we have a fight on our hands and we need to be
ready.
No one else is going to solve these problems.
No one else is going to deliver a stronger economy and a stronger
country.
Everyone else has been going the wrong way, we are the ones who
know the right way.
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Conference, the fundamental problem we have right now is that our
country is running out of money.
Almost everything else flows from this.
Our national debt currently stands at nearly £3 trillion and we
are adding more than £100 billion every year.
Last year, four in every five pounds borrowed by the Government
was spent on debt interest alone.
That's like taking out a second mortgage just to pay the interest
on your first mortgage.
This is crazy.
Unless we start creating more value, unless we start growing our
economy, something is going to break.
That is why growing the economy will be the central organising
principle of the next Conservative government.
We know that a stronger country is built on a stronger
economy.
The two go hand in hand.
That there is no national security without economic security, and
there is no economic security without national security.
We cannot have one without the other.
Andy doesn't understand this.
He sees no need to fix the public finances.
I'm not even sure he knows what is going wrong.
If he did, he would be making tough decisions to bring spending
down.
He is making a lot of promises.
Promises need to be paid for.
More government costs more money.
That means higher taxes and higher borrowing.
Those will weaken business, weaken investment, weaken hiring and
lower growth.
Then what will you do? Put up your taxes again.
This is the tax doom loop that is making us all poorer.
Round and round we go.
That is the wrong way.
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The right way starts by living within our means.
Every family and every business knows this.
Labour's choices are adding billions to the national debt.
Our children will already inherit a more dangerous world.
They should not inherit our bloated debts as well.
Every politician is tempted to spend money on a pet project
rather than cut the deficit.
Last year, I announced our Golden Economic Rule to impose
self-discipline.
For every pound we save, 50 pence will go towards cutting the
deficit.
Restoring confidence in the public finances is the foundation of
economic growth.
That is the right way.
