Badenoch pledges to scrap £100,000 childcare "cliff edge" ahead of Tory conference
Tory leader Kemi Badenoch has pledged to remove the £100,000 income threshold that cuts families off from childcare support, at an estimated £700m a year, funded by cutting jobs at arm's-length public bodies. Labour says the Tories set the thresholds and are prioritising higher earners.
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The story, neutrally told
Centre · 2Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has pledged to scrap the £100,000 income threshold that makes parents lose childcare support, ahead of the party's conference in Birmingham. BBC NewsN “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.” Read at BBC News ↗ Evening StandardN “Kemi Badenoch has pledged to end a £100,000 childcare “cliff edge” to stop higher earners losing their entitlement.” Read at Evening Standard ↗ Centre · 2Under current rules, families lose the 30 hours of free weekly childcare if a parent earns above £100,000; the same threshold applies to tax-free childcare. BBC NewsN “The same £100,000 threshold applies to the government's tax-free childcare scheme, external.” Read at BBC News ↗ Evening StandardN “lose the entitlement if one parent crosses this threshold.” Read at Evening Standard ↗ Centre · 1The Evening Standard reports that under the Tory proposals all parents working 16 or more hours a week would be eligible for 30 hours of free care a week. Evening StandardN “All parents working 16 or more hours a week would be eligible to get 30 hours of free care a week under the Tories’ proposals.” Read at Evening Standard ↗
Mixed · 2The Conservatives estimate the policy would cost about £700m a year, and say it would be funded by cutting the number of public servants at executive non-departmental public bodies, saving about £1.6bn by 2029-30; City A.M. says the costing draws on a report by the Centre for the Analysis of Taxation. BBC NewsN “It said this would save £1.6bn by 2029-30, covering the estimated £700 million cost of removing the childcare "cliff edge".” Read at BBC News ↗ City A.M.RC “The £700m costing is based on a recent report by the Centre for the Analysis of Taxation.” Read at City A.M. ↗ Mixed · 2Bodies named as examples include Arts Council England and the Environment Agency; City A.M. also lists the Climate Change Committee and the Health and Safety Executive, and the Standard says NHS bodies would be excluded. City A.M.RC “Such bodies include the Climate Change Committee, Arts Council England, the Environment Agency and the Health and Safety Executive.” Read at City A.M. ↗ Evening StandardN “NHS bodies would not be included in the savings, the Tories said.” Read at Evening Standard ↗ Centre · 1Badenoch called the system "absurd" and said: "Conservatives believe that you shouldn’t be punished for working more, but this childcare cliff edge does exactly that." She cited being a mother of three and said women often carry more childcare responsibility. Evening StandardN ““Conservatives believe that you shouldn’t be punished for working more, but this childcare cliff edge does exactly that,” she said.”““It is often women who end up carrying more of the childcare responsibility” Read at Evening Standard ↗
Centre · 1Asked on the BBC's Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg whether someone earning £1 million could get free childcare, Badenoch said: "It doesn't matter what you earn - we don't want you to be punished for working hard." BBC NewsN “"It doesn't matter what you earn - we don't want you to be punished for working hard. What we're trying to do is grow our economy."” Read at BBC News ↗ Centre · 1The party calls the move a "first step" towards lower, simpler and fairer taxes, and shadow chancellor Andrew Griffith will make it a theme of his conference speech on Monday. The Tories also argue the threshold, which is assessed on individual rather than household income, may lead people to delay or forgo having children. BBC NewsN “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.”“They added that it would tackle the "unfairness" that the threshold is calculated on an individual earner's income rather then for the whole household.” Read at BBC News ↗ Right · 1City A.M. says Jeremy Hunt, as chancellor, created the cliff edge, and that the policy distances the current leadership from Rishi Sunak's Conservatives, who lost the 2024 election. It cites Centax estimates that nearly 12,000 parents keep income below £100,000 to get free childcare. City A.M.RC “Former Chancellor Jeremy Hunt created the cliff edge when he announced that parents on income under £100,000 could claim 30 hours of free childcare for under four-year-olds.”“Centax estimated that there are nearly 12,000 parents deliberately holding their income below the £100,000 threshold in order to get free childcare.” Read at City A.M. ↗
Centre · 1A Labour spokesperson said the Tories' first tax policy to unpick was "one helping higher earners", that they "set the thresholds in the first place", and pointed to Labour's childcare expansion and its Childcare Review. Evening StandardN ““It tells you everything you need to know about the Tories that the first of their own tax policies they want to unpick is one helping higher earners.”““They clearly don’t want to admit that they set the thresholds in the first place.” Read at Evening Standard ↗ Centre · 1The BBC notes economists have criticised the threshold because it can leave parents worse off even after a pay rise of tens of thousands of pounds, and that the Tories currently poll behind Labour and Reform UK. BBC NewsN “The threshold has been criticised by economists, who point out it can leave parents worse off overall even after a pay rise of tens of thousands of pounds.”“The party - which is currently polling behind Labour and Reform UK - is expected to use the event” Read at BBC News ↗
Every sentence links to the reporting it rests on. The pill in front of each says where its sources sit: Left, Centre or Right when one side supplies at least half of them, Mixed when they are evenly split. The number is how many outlets it cites.
Left1 outlet
No left outlet in our sources has covered this story yet.
Centre2 outlets
- Framing
- Report the pledge as a policy announcement, with costing, funding and the Labour response (Standard) or Badenoch's BBC interview and economists' criticism of the threshold (BBC).
- Emphasis
- Cost, funding via arm's-length body cuts, work incentives, Badenoch's quotes; Standard includes Labour's rebuttal; BBC includes the £1m earner question.
- Leaves out or plays down
- Neither mentions Hunt's role in creating the threshold or the Centax figures; the BBC does not carry Labour's response.
- Charged language
- “absurd”“cliff edge”
- For example
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“What we want to see is that people who work harder don't get punished for doing so,” — BBC News
“Responding to the proposal, a Labour Party spokesperson said” — Evening Standard
Right1 outlet
- Framing
- Presents the pledge as Badenoch breaking from the last Tory government, whose chancellor created the threshold, and from Sunak's leadership.
- Emphasis
- Hunt's origin of the policy, Centax data on parents holding down income and a loophole, and Griffith's career-progression point.
- Leaves out or plays down
- Does not include Labour's criticism or the BBC interview exchange about a £1m earner.
- Charged language
- “absurd”“childcare trap”“engineered”
What every side reports
- Badenoch pledged to scrap the £100,000 childcare threshold.
- The Tories estimate a cost of about £700m a year.
- Funding would come from cutting staff at arm's-length public bodies, saving about £1.6bn by 2029-30.
- The announcement came ahead of the Tory conference in Birmingham.
Where accounts differ
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Whether the policy mainly helps higher earners
- Centre
- Labour, quoted by the Evening Standard, says it helps higher earners and that the Tories set the thresholds; the BBC reports economists' criticism of the threshold itself.
- Right
- City A.M. presents it as removing an absurd trap that deters work, noting it was created by the last Tory government.
-
Removing the £100,000 childcare threshold would cost about £700 million a year.
Reported- Reports 3
- BBC News, Evening Standard, City A.M.
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Cutting headcount at arm's-length public bodies would save about £1.6bn by 2030, funding the policy.
Reported- Reports 3
- BBC News, Evening Standard, City A.M.
Kemi Badenoch person
Says people should not be punished for working more, calls the threshold absurd, and cites her experience as a mother of three.
““No one should be turning down a promotion or a pay rise because they literally cannot afford to earn more.” — Evening Standard
Conservative Party party
Says scrapping the threshold is pro-family and pro-growth, a first step towards lower, simpler, fairer taxes, funded by public body job cuts.
“describing scrapping it as "both pro-family and pro-growth".” — BBC News
Left1 article
Centre2 articles
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Tories pledge to end £100,000 childcare ‘cliff edge’ on eve of conference
Neutral Straight policy report with Badenoch's quotes and a Labour rebuttal that the Tories set the thresholds.
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Tories pledge to scrap £100,000 childcare 'cliff edge'
Neutral Explains current rules, the Tory plan and funding, and presses Badenoch on whether very high earners would benefit.
Right1 article
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Badenoch vows to end £100k childcare cliff edge introduced under last Tory government
Mixed Frames the pledge as a break with Hunt and Sunak-era policy, backed by Centax data.
- 3 Oct 22:00 First City A.M.RC Badenoch vows to end £100k childcare cliff edge introduced under last Tory government
- 3 Oct 22:00 First Evening StandardN Tories pledge to end £100,000 childcare ‘cliff edge’ on eve of conference
- 3 Oct 22:00 First The GuardianLC Tories plan to expand free childcare to high earners to end ‘cliff edge’
- 3 Oct 22:03 +3m BBC NewsN Tories pledge to scrap £100,000 childcare 'cliff edge'
Times are when each article was published, or when we first saw it if the outlet gave no time.