Kemi Badenoch will pledge to scrap the notorious childcare ‘cliff edge’ which potentially leaves many working parents tens of thousands of pounds worse off.

On the opening day of the Conservative Party conference in Birmingham, she will vow that a Tory government would stop couples losing access to free childcare once one parent earns more than £100,000.

Branding the current system ‘absurd’, the Tories instead promised to introduce new childcare arrangements that are ‘both pro-family and pro-growth’ and were just a ‘first step’ to wider reforms of the tax system. 

Ms Badenoch’s party pointed out that under existing rules, families can lose access to up to 30 hours a week of free childcare if one parent earns more than £100,000.

That means some parents are better off earning £99,999 and forgoing pay rises worth tens of thousands more because they will lose access to free childcare.

The Tory pledge comes after the Centre for the Analysis of Taxation warned that by 2030, the average parent crossing this cliff edge would have to earn £124,000 to be no worse off after losing free childcare.

But citing data from the Institute for Fiscal Studies, the Tories said a parent with two children at nursery in London would need to earn nearly £150,000 to be better off than earning just below the £100,000 threshold.

They claimed that the policy effectively punished parents for working more, working harder, seeking a promotion or moving to a better-paid job. 

Kemi Badenoch will pledge to scrap the notorious childcare ‘cliff edge’ which potentially leaves many working parents tens of thousands of pounds worse off

It also made it more difficult for aspiring couples to juggle a career with raising a family, meaning some might choose not to have children, or delay having children, the Tories said.

But removing the cliff edge would make life much easier for thousands of parents who are working hard and paying their taxes, as well as boosting economic growth through improved incentives to work and become more productive.

It would also tackle the unfairness of a threshold that was calculated on an individual earner’s income, not on a household basis.

The Tory move comes after Chancellor John Healey was urged to reform the system.

Shadow Education Secretary Laura Trott said: ‘The childcare cliff edge creates problems for families, workplaces and nurseries – it means promotions turned down, hours reduced and endless forms. 

That’s why the Conservatives would abolish the £100,000 childcare cliff edge for both free childcare hours and Tax-free Childcare, so parents have the freedom to make decisions about work and childcare based on what is right for their family.’

She added: ‘We want working families to have children. There’s a real contrast between us and Labour here. 

‘We want to reduce childcare costs for parents who are working and trying to do the right thing; meanwhile, Labour have just abolished the two-child benefit cap. It’s a real statement of values.’

Shadow Chancellor Andrew Griffith said: ‘Removing this childcare cliff edge is the first step in our mission to deliver lower, simpler and fairer taxes across the board.

‘We need a tax system which gives people the right incentives – supporting those who work hard, invest and run businesses here in Britain. 

‘Hardworking parents should not be punished just for trying to juggle a successful career with raising a family.’

The Conservatives said scrapping the childcare cliff edge would cost more than £700million, but claimed that would be covered by reversing the increase since 2016 in the number of people working for ‘executive non-departmental public bodies’ such as the Arts Council.

Brexit bigwigs want migrant referendum vote push for migrant cap drive

Arron Banks (left) was pictured alongside Donald Trump and Nigel Farage in the days after the Republican’s 2016 presidential election win

The so-called ‘bad boys of Brexit’ are reuniting to campaign for a national referendum on restricting immigration.

Arron Banks and Andy Wigmore – who ran the Leave.eu movement and were key allies of Nigel Farage – plan to bring the organisation back to raise support for a national vote on enforcing a hard cap of 50,000 net migrants a year.

Mr Banks, who gave £8million to leave.eu, said it would match Marine Le Pen’s committment to a French referendum on immigration if she wins power. His donors include Malcolm Robinson, a Manchester-based businessman who has donated substantial amounts to Reform UK.

Mr Banks was even pictured alongside Mr Farage and Donald Trump in the days after the Republican’s 2016 presidential election win.