Kemi Badenoch says her first act as prime minister would be to restore tax breaks for private schools

Tory leadership contender Kemi Badenoch has pledged her first action if she became prime minister would be to restore tax breaks for private schools.

Ms Badenoch also described Labour’s plans to impose VAT as “cruel”, as she tried to woo Conservative members at a crucial stage of her campaign to replace Rishi Sunak.

But the Brexiteer, who pledged to “cut through the crap” if she is elected party leader, also admitted much of the UK’s exit from the EU had not been a success.

She told the Tory faithful: “We need to stop blaming Brexit for all our problems... and start fixing problems.”

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In a televised showdown on GB News with her opponent Robert Jenrick on Thursday, she also tried to shake off her reputation as a politician who causes fights.

"I don’t like fighting. I don’t look for fights,” she said. “But if someone brings a fight to Conservatives, I will fight for us, I will fight for our values."

She hit out at Labour’s decision to scrap VAT tax breaks for private schools.

She said it was a “tax on education”, adding: “It is a tax on aspiration. Most people who go to private schools save a lot [and] work very hard. They’re not necessarily wealthy.”

“It is not fair, it is cruel,” she said.

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Ms Badenoch, who voted Leave, also admitted that Brexit had not been much of a success. “Some of it has been a success but a lot of it has not,” she said.

“Because we are still too scared to take advantage of the opportunities. There is no point in leaving the European Union if we just continue doing what the EU is doing,” she said.

“One of the reasons why Brexit has not been as much of a success as it should be is because we did not start with a plan,” she added. But she also said: “We need to stop blaming Brexit for all our problems. We need to stop blaming the EU or international agreements and start fixing problems.”

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On Nigel Farage, she said the Reform leader would not be welcome in the Tories, adding: “We are a broad church but if somebody says they want to burn your church down, we don’t let them in.”

She also hit back at a Tory MP’s suggestion that she could not lead the party because she was too "preoccupied" with her children, saying: “It isn’t always women who have parental responsibilities."

Ms Badenoch said she does not allow her children to use social media on their devices, claiming it is "for adults’’. Earlier Mr Jenrick said he would cap migration in "the tens of thousands or lower’’ if he were in charge.

He also defended his plans to leave the European Convention on Human Rights, saying when “Churchill thought of the right to a family life, he never thought of the idea of a foreign rapist or murderer having the right to stay in our country”.

Mr Jenrick further claimed the government had relinquished sovereignty of the Chagos Islands "so that David Lammy can feel better when he goes to a dinner party in north London".

He also suggested all Tory prime ministers of the last 14 years had "great qualities" apart from Liz Truss.

After the debate, Mr Jenrick’s team said "politicians should have policies" after Ms Badenoch spent much of her pitch to members suggesting "principles" were a bigger priority.