Badenoch defends plan to extend free childcare to high earners as Tory conference opens

Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch defended her party's plan to extend free childcare to high-income parents, including millionaires, as the Tories opened their annual conference in Birmingham.

Badenoch argued that the party's policies are designed to benefit "everybody," rejecting criticism that extending free childcare to wealthy families was an inequitable use of public funds at a time of broader economic pressure on household budgets.

The childcare proposal has drawn scrutiny from opponents who argue that state support should be targeted at lower and middle-income families rather than extended universally to the highest earners.

Pensions debate in the background

The conference opening also comes amid separate reporting that Katie Lam, the Conservative communities secretary, told a private meeting earlier this year that the state pension system needs a fundamental overhaul, raising questions about the sustainability of the pensions triple lock as life expectancy rises.

Lam reportedly told activists that funding retirement for an increasingly long-lived population would require significant changes to the system, while stressing that those who had contributed to the state pension deserved to receive it.

The Birmingham conference is expected to see further debate over the party's fiscal and welfare priorities as the Conservatives seek to define their policy platform ahead of future elections.