The Conservatives are using their party conference to put inheritance tax back at the centre of political debate. In this video, I question why Kemi Badenoch is focusing on a tax that affects only a small minority of estates when millions of people face much more immediate economic pressures.

According to the figures discussed in this video, just 4.72% of deaths resulted in an inheritance tax charge in 2023–24. More than 19 out of every 20 estates therefore paid no inheritance tax at all.

The headline 40% inheritance tax rate can also be misleading. Allowances mean substantial amounts can potentially be passed on without inheritance tax, while the 40% rate applies only to the taxable portion of an estate above the available thresholds.

I argue that the bigger question is why inherited wealth should receive greater political protection than income earned through work. Inheritance is wealth received because of family circumstances rather than something the recipient has earned through employment.

Meanwhile, Britain faces problems with housing costs, insecure work, stagnant wages, struggling public services, poverty and substantial inequalities of income and wealth. Cutting inheritance tax does little to address those problems.

There can be legitimate debate about how inheritance tax should operate and whether it needs reform. But making it a flagship political issue tells us something about the priorities being placed by the Tories on inherited wealth compared with the economic insecurity experienced by many households.

The question is not simply whether inheritance tax should change. It is whose economic problems politicians choose to prioritise.