Kemi Badenoch says the new Conservative policy on free childcare would stop the "cliff edge" for people earning more than £100,000, adding that people shouldn't be "punished for working harder".

In her interview with Laura Kuenssberg, Badenoch explained that removing the threshold where higher earners lose their entitlement to free childcare could help more people stay in work and take promotions.

She also defended her commitment to keeping the pension triple lock, after Labour announced plans to change it last week. "The triple lock is our policy," she said.

If elected, the Tories would also build an extra 50,000 prison places to relieve pressure in the system, Badenoch has pledged, saying: "I do think prison works."

The Conservative leader also took aim at people "cheating" the benefits system, which she said had seen an "explosion" of claimants for "low-level conditions". She said conditions such as anxiety could actually be helped by working.

In Kuenssberg's interviews with other guests, Justice Secretary Alex Norris defended the government's handling of the early release of prisoners and a reversal on plans for some judge-only trials. And Reform deputy leader Richard Tice attacked Badenoch's prison policy as a fantasy, adding that Reform intends to win her seat.

That's the end of our coverage of this week's Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg; you can read more in our news story here.

Henry Zeffman
Chief political correspondent

Image source, Getty Images

When Kemi Badenoch arrived for her first Conservative conference as leader last year, a member of her entourage overheard somebody wonder aloud: "Who's that?"

This baffled member of the public was actually working at the Conservative conference. Badenoch had been the party's leader and the leader of the opposition for almost a year.

It is an anecdote which underlines the scale of the challenge Badenoch faced at that conference. It is also an anecdote which also underlines that, far from break her, that conference represented the start of a major turnaround for Badenoch.

Twelve months on, Badenoch will arrive in Birmingham this weekend in total command of a party whose leading lights are beginning to permit themselves the occasional flicker of optimism after years of misery preparing for, and then experiencing, a brutal election defeat.

Yet for all that Conservatives now believe their leader is an electoral asset, they still face an existential threat from Reform UK and the challenge of how to adjust their strategy to face a new prime minister, Andy Burnham.

• Read more from our political correspondent here

Vanessa Clarke
Senior education reporter

The childcare sector in England has changed significantly in the last few years, as more families became eligible for government-funded hours.

Demand has risen, but a recent London Economics report found that almost half of nurseries and childminders are not receiving enough income to cover their costs.

Early years charities say government funding does not cover the full cost of a place, and argue that any changes to who is eligible should not happen until the current policy is fixed.

And while today’s proposal from the Conservatives focuses on lifting the cap at the higher end of earnings, there are also questions about the lower end.

Some argue that children from the disadvantaged families who do not qualify for the working family entitlement, because both parents are not in work, could have the most to gain from high-quality early education.

The government spent £6bn on funded childcare last year and has previously said the scheme has halved working families’ childcare costs.

As the show comes to an end the panel give their thoughts on what we’ve just heard.

Geordie Greig, editor-in-chief of The Independent, says Badenoch faces a difficult political landscape where the vote of the right is split between the Tories and Reform, and she has a conundrum about whether to do a pre-election deal with the rival party so they don’t steal votes from each other.

Poppy Coburn from The Telegraph says there is the chance of some “weird outcomes” in the next election due to multiple parties at similar levels in the polls, and the UK's first-past-the-post voting system.

Former cabinet minister Penny Mordaunt is hoping to return to parliament and says the Conservatives should not consider any deal with Reform. She says this week's party conference is “so important” to increase the Tories' chances in the next election.

Reform deputy leader Richard Tice has also been on today's programme.

Responding to Kemi Badenoch's interview with Laura Kuenssberg, Tice calls the Conservative leader a "fantasist".

"Her first fantasy is that she'll still be an MP after the next election," he says, adding that Reform intend to win her seat.

Tice also denies that Reform and the Conservatives have a lot in common.

He argues that a number of the policies shared by the two parties - such as ditching net zero targets - were copied from Reform.

The daughter of David Amess, an MP killed by an Islamic State supporter, says threats against Kemi Badenoch show her father's death "wasn't an isolated incident".

Katie Amess tells Laura Kuenssberg that "we are seeing increasing threats towards members of parliament".

"My dad was murdered five years ago," she says.

"If so much has changed why are we seeing other members of parliament, or former members of parliament, being targeted like this?"

Last year the government rejected calls for a public inquiry into David Amess's death.

However, his daughter says a full public inquiry must go ahead into how Ali Harbi Ali was able to kill her father despite having been referred to the government's deradicalisation programme, Prevent.

Next up to face questions from Kuenssberg is Justice Secretary Alex Norris.

Following the early release of some prisoners this week, Norris is asked if the country is as safe now as it was seven days ago.

He replies that it was a "difficult decision, but the right one" and that if the 700 individuals were not released the government would have run out of prison spaces, which would have been a larger risk to the public's safety.

Pressed on how many of the prisoners were tagged upon release, Norris says that the presumption is that all early released prisoners would get a tag, but he hasn't yet got the figures from Thursday.

He says a wide set of tools is in place to support probation staff's ability to monitor former convicts, and £700m was being invested in the system.

Moving on to the scrapping of plans to scale back jury trials in an effort to combat a record backlogs of trials, Norris says reform is still needed, and a "significant programme of reform" will be brought to parliament.

He says that by removing the judge-only trials element, the other package of changes can be moved forward more quickly and the backlog is expected to fall over the next 10 years.

Kuenssberg asks Badenoch about threats to politicians.

It comes after a man pleaded guilty to sending the Conservative leader emails threatening to shoot her dead.

Badenoch says there should be a "crackdown" on threats to politicians.

You can watch her answer below.

Badenoch is then asked about her pledge to build 50,000 extra prison places in England and Wales - and whether "prison works".

"I do think prison works," she replies.

Badenoch says that the government "has to do more", admitting the Tories "did not do enough" when they were in power to create more prison places.

Kuenssberg points to a review by former Conservative justice secretary David Gauke, which found "tough on crime" policies were behind the prison crisis and that there should be more focus on rehabilitation.

Badenoch says she disagrees with Gauke's approach and says while "we want to see rehabilitation", there is "no magic rehabilitation machine that people go into and come out rehabilitated".

"My priority is public safety, I'm not going to be gambling with people's lives."

Badenoch is asked about the comments she's previously made regarding people "cheating" the benefit system, and how many people she thinks are doing so.

The Tory leader says we have seen an "explosion" in the number of people who are claiming benefits for "low-level conditions", such as ADHD and anxiety - conditions which she says "work would actually help them with".

During the Covid pandemic, Badenoch says people "worked out how to game the system" because the number of available face-to-face appointments was reduced.

With around 10 million people of working age on benefits, Badenoch is pressed on how many of those are believed to be cheating the system, compared to those who are in work and claim benefits to make up for low wages.

She says she doesn't have those figures to hand, but adds that it's "not enough" for people to work four to eight hours a week and "the best form of welfare is a well-paying job".

Badenoch claims the increase in disability clamants has been "higher in the UK than it has been in Ukraine where they're actually at war", adding: "that cannot be possible".

Kuenssberg quizzes Badenoch on why she won't back Andy Burnham's plans to end the state pension triple lock, despite prominent Conservatives such as ex-chancellor Jeremy Hunt saying it's "unaffordable" and "immoral".

For context: The prime minister has pledged to end the existing triple lock from 2030 to help fund a new national care service. His plans would see the state pension increase every year at least by inflation or 2.5% - but remove the automatic annual link with average earnings.

Badenoch says the problem with the economy "is not lots of elderly people earning £10-12,000 per year on the state pension", but rather "the huge number of people who can work, who don't work".

Kuenssberg pushes and says in 2017, Badenoch was elected as an MP on a Tory platform to change the triple lock.

Badenoch responds by saying there have been "different policies at different times" but you "go with what the leader does", adding: "I am the leader now."

She adds changing the triple lock does "not create growth" and that it's more important to tackle "the root cause".

"The triple lock is our policy. We believe this is the right policy for pensioners," she says.

Badenoch begins by defending her pledge to end what she describes as a £100,000 "cliff edge" to stop the higher earners losing their entitlement to free childcare.

Under current rules, families with young children in which both parents earn less than £100,000 a year can receive 30 hours a week of free childcare, but lose the entitlement if one parent crosses this threshold.

Badenoch says the Conservatives would abolish this limit entirely because "we want to see more people in work and not taking wrong decisions or choices".

Pressed on whether someone earning £1m a year should have access to free childcare, Badenoch says "it doesn't matter what you earn, we don't want you to be punished for working harder".

In her view, she says the "number of people who have very small children, who are earning tens of millions of pounds is negligible", adding that this policy is about people at that £100,000 "cliff edge".

It's just gone 09:00 BST and it's time for Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg to begin.

A reminder that today's main guest is Kemi Badenoch, speaking to the show as the Conservative Party conference gets under way.

We'll bring you all the lines from her interview, along with the other guests, and you can follow along by hitting the watch live button above

Badenoch has cemented her image, now she wants to put party back on the big stagepublished at 08:54 BST

08:54 BST

Laura Kuenssberg
Presenter, Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg

Image source, Reuters

The 2026 Conservative conference is big enough to justify using Birmingham's Symphony Hall as its main stage again.

So, Kemi Badenoch will tread the same stage ageing rockers Marillion took last month - and where sequinned soprano Katherine Jenkins will perform next week.

The party is able to put bums on seats again - and by that measure, things are looking up.

Badenoch goes into the conference with her own position secure in the party.

One senior Tory says "she has actually defied cynics like me" who initially disapproved of her leadership.

Her standing with the public has improved and she is now, again on a very simple but crucial measure, much better known.

• Read Laura Kuenssberg's full analysis here

Image source, Getty Images

Ahead of their party conference, the Conservatives have also promised to build 50,000 new prison places in England and Wales to stop criminals being released early, if they return to government.

The party said it would fund the new prisons, which would cost £2bn per year to build, by spending cuts including to the foreign aid budget.

On Thursday hundreds of prisoners were released early, under new rules introduced to prevent jails reaching capacity, with around 4,500 prisoners due to be freed by next summer.

Labour blamed the previous Tory government for leaving "our criminal justice system at breaking point" and said the party's proposals were not "credible".

• You can read more in our news story here

Becky Morton
Political reporter

The Conservatives have promised to scrap the "absurd cliff edge" that mean parents in England lose out on childcare support when they earn more than £100,000 a year.

Under the current system, only families where no parent earns more than this threshold are eligible for government-funded or tax-free childcare.

"What we want to see is that people who work harder don't get punished for doing so," Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch tells Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg.

The announcement comes as Conservative members gather for the party's annual conference in Birmingham.

The party said the move would be a "first step" in broader efforts to address issues in the tax system which damage incentives to work or invest.

• Read the full story from our political reporter here

Image source, Getty Images

Pension changes: In his first Labour Party conference speech as PM, Andy Burnham set out his plans to end the existing state pension triple lock from 2030 to help fund a new national care service.

Brexit debate reignited: Burnham told the BBC that rejoining the EU is among the options the government could look at after he pledged during his conference speech to explore closer ties with the bloc at a summit later this year.

Green Party rent cap: At the Green Party's conference in Brighton, leader Zack Polanski called for a three-year cap to limit rent rises in the private sector.

Prisoners released early: Hundreds of prisoners across England and Wales were releasedunder a new scheme designed to free up prison space.

Following this, the Conservatives promised to build 50,000 new prison places in England and Wales to stop criminals being released early, if they return to government.

Image source, Getty Images

Kemi Badenoch will be in the hot seat this week on Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg.

The leader of the Conservatives will be questioned by Kuenssberg ahead of her party's annual conference, which starts today and runs until Wednesday.

Badenoch told interviewers this week that the Tories were "finally saying what we believe" and "should be more aggressive" in displaying its core.

In keeping with this message, the Conservatives have proposed two new policies - a dramatic expansion of prison places and a "tough love" approach for young people trying to claim benefits.

Along with Badenoch, Justice Secretary Alex Norris and Reform UK's deputy leader Richard Tice will also appear on the programme.

We will bring you the key lines here, and you can follow along by clicking watch live at the top of the page from 09:00 BST.