The Conservatives are planning to make sweeping cuts beyond the £47bn announced last year if they win the next election, according to leaked comments by the shadow chancellor.
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they → plan → chancellor
Speaking last year when he was shadow business secretary, Andrew Griffith told Conservative members he and fellow shadow cabinet ministers had discussed making further cuts in “every part of government”.
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he → speak → government
The comments, which have emerged on the eve of the Tory party conference in Birmingham, suggested that the Conservatives are planning to make cuts similar in scale to those made during the austerity years should they take power.
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they → emerge → power
Last October, Griffith said: “There are decisions made and signed up to by everybody to deliver that £47bn.
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Griffith → say → 47bn
Last week at the shadow cabinet, we talked about [how] we will need to go further.
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we → talk → cabinet
“The rate at which the economy is deteriorating, as well as our ambition to cut more taxes, means that we will have to find further savings, and I’m up for that in my department.
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I → deteriorate → department
I know there are areas that we can make savings, and that’s true of every every part of government.”
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that → know → government
He added: “There is a moral mission to get our economy growing, give people opportunity, as well as let people keep more of what they earn.
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they → add → what
It’s pretty simple.
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It → ’ → ?
We’re Conservative, this is what we stand for.”
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we → ’re → what
A Tory spokesperson acknowledged the party was seeking to make cuts beyond what it had already announced.
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it → acknowledge → what
“Under Kemi Badenoch’s leadership, the Conservatives have consistently advocated for a smaller state and a government that does fewer things but better,” the spokesperson said.
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spokesperson → advocate → things
“In Birmingham, we will go further, setting out further savings to Labour’s bloated welfare bill and cracking down on wasteful spending as part of our plans to build a stronger economy and a stronger country.”
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we → go → economy
Kemi Badenoch has previously outlined how the government would cut government spending by £47bn, mainly by cutting welfare spending for all non-British or EU citizens.
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government → outline → citizens
The plans would also save £8bn by cutting 132,000 civil service jobs, another £1.6bn by scrapping almost all of Labour’s clean energy scheme and more than £7bn by cutting international aid.
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plans → save → aid
In August she promoted Griffith, who previously worked as chief operating officer for Sky, from his role as shadow business secretary.
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who → promote → secretary
In government, Griffith worked in the Treasury under Kwasi Kwarteng and was one of the ministers tasked with defending the mini-budget even as the markets tanked in response.
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markets → work → response
On Friday Badenoch promised another £4bn of spending reductions, including taking another £2.5bn out of the aid budget – leaving it with just £1bn as year – as well as reducing the budget of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport by £1bn.
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Badenoch → promise → 1bn
The Tory leader said she would use half of those savings to pay for an additional 50,000 prison places.
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she → say → places
She has previously promised to use half of any cuts she makes to reduce the deficit.
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she → promise → deficit
Griffiths’ leaked comments come as the Tories prepare to gather in Birmingham for their annual conference, with Badenoch seeking to make a virtue of the growing distance between Labour’s plans for government and her own.
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Badenoch → leak → government
The prime minister, Andy Burnham, has promised a series of potentially expensive interventions, including a new national care service and public control over utility companies, as he seeks to end what he calls “40 years of neoliberalism”.
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he → promise → neoliberalism
However, Badenoch, who has called Margaret Thatcher her hero, is attempting to gain an electoral advantage with her vision of lower taxes and a significantly smaller state.
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who → call → taxes
“[Thatcher] is somebody who brought a lot of wealth and prosperity to this country,” the Tory leader told ITV Meridian on Friday.
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leader → bring → Friday
I don’t think that Andy Burnham running the water companies is the answer to those problems.”
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Burnham → think → problems
The Tories remain in third place in the polls, behind Labour and Reform UK, although Badenoch’s personal ratings have rallied over the last 12 months.
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ratings → remain → months
The Aporia
