Griffith rejects claim Conservative tax cuts are a pitch to wealthy voters

Andrew Griffith, the shadow chancellor, has defended Conservative Party conference pledges on inheritance tax and other tax cuts after claims they are aimed at wealthy voters.

In an interview with Laura Kuenssberg, Griffith rejected the idea that the Conservatives had become a party for the wealthy. He said the list of measures put to him was partial and pointed to other announcements: a plan to cut the cost of building a new home by £50,000, efforts to tackle youth joblessness by reducing national insurance costs for employers hiring 21 to 24 year olds, defence funding and deficit reduction.

Kuenssberg said Kemi Badenoch had made a handful of economic promises at last week's conference to applause. Badenoch ruled out any suggestion of deals with Reform UK and attacked Reform's Suella Braverman over remarks on race. Kuenssberg said many of the announcements seemed to target voters in the wealthy South.

She listed policies including extending free childcare to people earning over £100,000, no mansion tax for homes worth over £2 million, no inheritance tax at all for more valuable homes, couples being able to pass on an extra £1 million tax-free, and no inheritance tax on farms worth more than £1 million. She asked: 'Are the Conservatives now a party for the wealthy?'

Griffith said inheritance tax was no longer only a concern for the rich. He argued it used to be paid by one in 20 estates but would be paid by one in six families because Labour had expanded the tax to small businesses and farmers while house prices had risen and thresholds had stayed the same. He called it a big and wrong tax. He said people should be able to pass on their family home without paying inheritance tax, which many other countries do not levy. He said the policy would help ordinary people who work hard.

Kuenssberg said the wealthiest 5% were affected by inheritance tax at present. Griffith said that was true historically but repeated that the scope would widen to one in six families. She said the inheritance tax cuts would cost £6 billion a year. She asked why the party would not use that money to scrap Labour's national insurance rise for more employers, rather than only those employing 21 to 24 year olds. Griffith said choices were rooted in values. He argued inheritance tax reduced incentives for hospital consultants, doctors and GPs to work and was a double tax for middle-income people who had already paid tax on their income.

He said a Conservative government would make £71 billion in savings, with half used to reduce the deficit. He added that £120 billion a year was being spent on interest, money that could go to doctors, nurses and police instead of creditors.

Kuenssberg cited Savills analysis that the inheritance tax cuts would benefit one person in 344 in Wales and one person in 472 in the North East of England. She asked whether the strategy was to target wealthy southern voters. Griffith denied this, saying his approach was about doing the right thing for the country and drawing on his 25 years in business as a finance director. He said it was about balancing the books and growing the economy, not collecting political groups.

Earlier, Paul Johnson said inheritance tax cuts had little impact on growth. He praised plans to scrap stamp duty, calling it a disastrous tax, and said he supported removing lumps and bumps in income tax. But he warned against treating owner-occupied housing differently, arguing it would encourage older people to stay in large expensive homes and block up the housing market. He said the better approach was to raise the inheritance tax threshold or cut the rate, not treat assets differently.

Kuenssberg also asked whether the tax plans were an open goal for Reform UK. She cited former Conservative colleagues who had defected. Robert Jenrick said 'Kensington Kemi knows who her people are.' Danny Kruger said the party was 'literally helping a few million wealthy households'.

Earlier in the interview, Griffith criticised Donald Trump over Ukraine. He said Trump was wrong to suggest Ukraine should get a new president and to blame Ukrainian attacks on Russian oil refineries for rising diesel costs. Griffith said the US was the UK's closest ally, but close allies could disagree. He said President Zelensky had led his country against Putin, that Putin could stop the war tomorrow, and that there could be no peace in Europe without an acceptable outcome decided by the Ukrainian people. He criticised a deal Trump had done with Putin on diesel, saying no one in British politics would have done it and it sent the wrong messages. He said the answer was to properly fund defence and prepare for war, and accused Wes Streeting of being evasive about funding defence at 3% of GDP by 2030.