Griffith pledges biggest deregulation drive in a generation

The Conservative shadow chancellor, Andrew Griffith, is to outline his plans for the UK economy, including hopes to cut taxes, red tape and house-building costs. Griffith and his colleagues will also use the second day of the party's conference in Birmingham to explain how they would want to reduce food costs, support Heathrow Airport expansion, and abolish Natural England and the Environment Agency. Another prospective policy is replacing agreements designed to compel developers to fund community projects and services in areas they want to build. Griffith will describe his approach as the most ambitious deregulation project in a generation. Reform UK suggested the Tories were copying our policies.

Griffith's speech comes after the Conservative Party leader, Kemi Badenoch, published a 100-page document explaining her guiding principles and how her party would act should it return to government by winning the next general election. Following their historic defeat in the 2024 general election, the Conservatives have been trying to rebuild and convince voters that they can be trusted again. The Tories have faced repeated attacks from their opponents for their record in government, including on the economy, between 2010 and 2024.

Speaking to BBC Breakfast, Griffith said infrastructure development was key to his plan, throwing his support behind the expansion of Heathrow airport. Someone, sooner or later, has to get serious about getting this country growing again, he said. It's a national embarrassment that we can't get that third runway built — we've said we will get full square behind that and the government should do that right now. Whether it's reservoirs or reactors, we need a system of getting infrastructure in this country that really works.

Pressed on whether he would keep the pensions triple lock, which Prime Minister Andy Burnham has proposed changing, he said: We are going to keep it. In 2021, then-backbencher Griffith wrote an article saying the state pension triple lock was unfair, as pensioners could gain from the misfortune of others. Senior Conservatives including former chancellor Jeremy Hunt and shadow foreign secretary Tom Tugendhat have individually suggested the current triple lock is unsustainable.

Griffith will accuse Burnham of wanting to pursue a socialist fever dream of the 1970s, adding that the Tories want to deliver cheaper homes, lower taxes and less red tape. Labour Party chairwoman Bridget Phillipson said the Tories had 14 years in government to grow the economy and help people get on the housing ladder, but had completely failed at every turn. Chancellor John Healey said last week that all promises the government made would be built on the rock of fiscal discipline, and that the Budget on 28 October would give families and businesses a bit of breathing space.

During a series of speeches on Monday, Conservative shadow ministers will continue to make their case and provide more details of their proposals. This will include ditching environmental and energy efficiency regulations, including the future homes standard. The Tories believe their changes could cut the cost of delivering a new home by up to £50,000, which in turn they expect could save money for buyers.

A single levy for developers would be implemented in place of section 106 agreements and the Community Infrastructure Levy, which fund projects in the community when building plans are progressed. The Conservatives argue this new charge would remove delays and improve how the funds are spent to the benefit of residents. The party has been critical of the roles of Natural England and the Environment Agency in relation to house building and flood prevention work respectively, and wants to abolish both. Their functions would be looked after by the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

Mike Clancy, general secretary of the Prospect union, whose members work in Natural England and the Environment Agency, said Conservative budget cuts have left these regulators struggling to perform their vital functions, with lack of resources the most common reason for planning delays. The solution is to restore their funding to adequate levels, not scrap vital safeguards, he said.

The Extended Producer Responsibility scheme, which requires firms to cover the cost of collecting, recycling and disposing of packaging they produce, would also be scrapped by the Conservatives. The party believes this would help lift a burden from businesses and in turn could cut the cost of the weekly shop. On Heathrow, Griffith is expected to say the next Conservative government would do whatever it takes to end the delays and boost capacity by backing the third runway. Plans for expansion were scrapped by the Tory-led coalition government in 2010. The former chancellor Rachel Reeves championed the runway to boost the economy after Labour won power, although Burnham has refused to say whether he backs the project since becoming prime minister. Burnham has described it as principally a matter for London and Londoners.

Daisy Cooper, the Liberal Democrat deputy leader, said the Conservatives have cemented their position as a pointless anti-growth, anti-business party by rejecting closer ties with Europe. No one can take anything the Conservatives say on the economy seriously given their litany of fantasy-land financial pledges, she added. Robert Jenrick, Reform UK's economy spokesman, accused the Conservatives of once again copying our policies. He added that the Tories were unable to match Reform's pledge to raise the tax-free personal allowance to £15,000. Ellie Chowns, a Green Party MP, said scrapping rules that secure affordable homes and vital community infrastructure is not a plan for growth. It is a gift to developers, she added, leaving communities to pick up the bill for new housing while handing ordinary people higher costs and fewer protections.