Britain’s Conservatives have been accused of copying Reform UK as Kemi Badenoch’s party unveiled plans for what it described as the most ambitious programme of deregulation in a generation, promising to cut the cost of homes, groceries and doing business.
Andrew Griffith, the shadow chancellor, is using the Conservative conference in Birmingham to set out a package intended to reduce regulation and “reinvigorate” the economy, arguing that lower costs and fewer administrative barriers are essential to restoring growth.
The programme includes proposals to scrap the so-called “polluter pays” packaging charge, remove a series of housebuilding regulations and abolish Natural England and the Environment Agency, transferring their functions to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.
The Conservatives say removing the Future Homes Standard and other requirements, combined with their existing proposal to abolish stamp duty on primary residences, could reduce the cost of a new-build home by as much as £50,000.
Griffith has framed the package as an attempt to reduce the burden on businesses and households while giving investors greater certainty.
Speaking ahead of his conference speech, he said his objective was “to save taxpayers’ money and allow them to keep more of what they earn”.
The Conservatives have also pledged to simplify what Griffith described as the UK’s “cat’s cradle of complexity” in the tax system, while backing the expansion of Heathrow and measures intended to accelerate major infrastructure projects.
But the proposals have immediately intensified the economic contest between the Conservatives and Reform, with Nigel Farage’s party seeking to establish itself as the more radical alternative on taxation and regulation.
Richard Tice, Reform’s deputy leader, accused the Conservatives of adopting policies that his party had already announced.
“They are pledging to scrap some costs regulations and taxes they put in place! They are trying to fix problems they created.
“Never forget and never forgive.”
Reform’s Treasury spokesman Robert Jenrick separately accused the Conservatives of “copying our policies”, while arguing that Reform would go further by raising the income-tax personal allowance from £12,570 to £15,000.
The exchange highlights a strategic problem for Badenoch as she attempts to reposition the Conservatives around lower taxes, smaller government and fewer regulations while competing for voters with a party that has made similar themes central to its economic platform.
Griffith has nevertheless insisted that the Conservatives have changed under Badenoch’s leadership and are developing a detailed programme for government rather than simply reacting to their opponents.
The party’s proposals have also drawn criticism from Labour and the Liberal Democrats, who have questioned the Conservatives’ economic record and the credibility of their plans. Labour chair Bridget Phillipson accused the party of seeking to return to “a politics that let so many people down over the past 40 years”, while Liberal Democrat Treasury spokeswoman Daisy Cooper described the proposals as financially unrealistic.
The Conservatives argue that Britain’s problem is not a shortage of regulation but an accumulation of rules that has made construction, investment and infrastructure unnecessarily expensive and slow.
That argument places deregulation at the centre of Badenoch’s attempt to redefine the party’s economic offer.
For Griffith, the ambition is deliberately broad: cheaper homes, lower business costs, simpler taxation and faster infrastructure development.
For Reform, however, the question is whether the Conservatives are developing a distinct economic programme or moving towards policies already associated with Farage’s party.
The battle over Britain’s regulatory regime is therefore becoming part of a wider contest over which party can claim ownership of the agenda for lower taxes, smaller government and faster economic growth.
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