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  • The Week

    General election 2024 manifestos: what the main parties stand for

    By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK,

    20 days ago

    https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=3U0V9J_0tqHbwT400

    With three weeks until polling day, most of the UK's major political parties have outlined their priorities for the next five years.

    Here's an overview of each party's key manifesto commitments should they win the election on 4 July .

    Labour Party

    Labour leader Keir Starmer acknowledged there were few surprises and "no rabbit out of the hat" policy announcements as he launched his party's manifesto today at the Co-op headquarters in Manchester.

    The party has pledged to cut NHS waiting times by delivering 40,000 more appointments each week on evenings and weekends, paid for by "cracking down" on tax avoidance. It also pledges to launch what it calls a new Border Security Command, using specialist investigators and counter-terrorism powers to "smash criminal boat gangs".

    A centrepiece of Labour's manifesto is a promise to create a publicly owned company called Great British Energy to invest in new renewable energy projects, with £8.3 billion being committed over the next five years.

    Other key pledges include a promise to recruit 6,500 teachers in key subjects where there are shortages, such as maths, physics and computer science. Labour says it will also open an additional 3,000 nurseries "through upgrading space in primary schools", as well as providing a free breakfast club in every primary school.

    The party has also committed to votes for 16- and 17-year-olds, a policy it says will "increase the engagement of young people in our vibrant democracy".

    Labour has said it will not raise personal tax rates to fund its manifesto commitments, with the plans instead paid for by raising £8 billion through putting VAT on private school fees, clamping down on those who are underpaying tax and a windfall tax on oil and gas companies.

    But the BBC 's chief economics correspondent, Dharshini David, said there remained "much uncertainty about the amount these sources can raise and the assumptions that underpin the numbers".

    Conservative Party

    The abolition of National Insurance (NI) for the self-employed was one of the few policies that had not been briefed to the press ahead of the Conservatives' manifesto launch . Currently the self-employed – of which there are more than 4 million in the UK – pay 6% on profits between £12,570 and £50,270 and 2% above £50,270.

    The Conservatives also plan to cut NI for employees by a further 2p by 2027, which is in addition to the 4p already cut this year. The Tories say they will pay for these policies through welfare reforms, which they say will save £12 billion. However, the independent Institute for Fiscal Studies has said that making such savings "looks difficult in the extreme".

    The Tories have also promised to introduce a " triple lock plus " for pensioners, by increasing the personal tax-free allowance for them. The allowance would rise by whichever is highest out of inflation, wage growth or 2.5%.

    The manifesto also includes a pledge to build 1.6 million new homes over the next parliament, although the party had a similar pledge in 2019, which it failed to deliver.

    For those looking to get on the property ladder for the first time, the Conservatives plan to launch a £1 billion scheme that would allow first-time buyers with government-backed mortgages to buy a home with just a 5% deposit. Modelled on the recently closed Help to Buy scheme, it can be used for home purchases under £400,000.

    The manifesto also commits to ensuring a "regular rhythm of flights every month" to Rwanda , starting in July.

    Liberal Democrats

    The Liberal Democrats were the first party to officially launch its manifesto, which centres on a £8.4 billion package to improve the NHS and social care.

    The party has pledged 8,000 more GPs in England to ensure everyone has the right to see a doctor within seven days, or 24 hours for urgent care. The Lib Dems also plan to introduce free personal care for the disabled and elderly in England, in a system similar to that already operating in Scotland.

    Further health pledges for England include a guarantee that all cancer patients would start treatment within 62 days of urgent referral, as well as guaranteed access to an NHS dentist for anyone needing emergency care.

    On housing, the party has committed to building 380,000 new homes a year across the UK, including 150,000 social housing units. This would be done through the creation of 10 new "garden cities" as well as "community-led" development.

    The party has also said it would scrap the government's controversial Rwanda scheme entirely and "provide safe and legal routes" for asylum seekers. It would also scrap the current salary threshold for migrant workers and replace it with a "merit-based" system. The party also promises to end the recently introduced ban on foreign care workers bringing dependents to the UK as well as reversing the increase in income thresholds for family visas.

    Reform UK

    Reform UK has yet to say when it will be launching its official manifesto, although the party has said it will release a document it calls a "contract with the people" on 17 June.

    The party's key pledge is to get net migration – the difference between the number of people leaving and arriving in the UK each year – down to zero.

    With the tax burden one of the party's key lines of attack in the campaign so far, Reform has said it would raise the minimum income tax threshold from £12,571 to £20,000 – exempting some six million people from paying income tax – while raising the higher 40p rate threshold from around £50,000 to £70,000.

    The party has also pledged to abolish inheritance tax for estates under £2 million. The current threshold for inheritance tax is £325,000, although there are some exceptions.

    Scottish National Party (SNP)

    The Scottish National Party is yet to publish its manifesto, but it is facing "increasing pressure to commit to a just transition" to a clean energy future, said The National 's Lucy Jackson. Workers' rights and Scotland's right to choose its "constitutional future" are also expected to be priorities.

    Before resigning as first minister in May, Humza Yousaf promised that "page one, line one" of the SNP's election manifesto would be a promise to make Scotland an independent country, said The Telegraph 's Scottish political editor Simon Johnson. The party plans to "demand negotiations" with the UK government for a second independence referendum if the SNP wins a majority of Scotland's 57 seats, in a bid to "win back" some supporters who have "deserted the party in recent months".

    The SNP may pledge to devolve National Insurance and inheritance tax, said Johnson, "with a view to hiking rates for wealthier Scots". The party has also proposed a £12 billion wealth tax, "although there are scant details on how this would be assessed and collected". The SNP Trade Union Group has also recommended the party devolve workers' rights legislation, said Jackson.

    Green party

    Co-leaders Carla Denyer and Adrian Ramsay are promising a "greener, fairer country" in which "we are all safer, happier and more fulfilled". To deliver it, they are promising a massive investment of an additional £8 billion of NHS annual expenditure within the first year of the next parliament, which will increase to £28 billion by 2030. Doing so, they say, will help to cut waiting lists, guarantee access to NHS dentists and urgent access to GPs, and give NHS staff an immediate pay rise.

    The Greens would push for a "green economic transformation", involving a carbon tax to reduce the economy's reliance on fossil fuels, nationalising railways and water companies, as well as the "Big 5 retail energy companies", and investing £40 billion a year into shifting towards a green economy. The party would also aim for wind power to make up 70% of the UK's electricity by the end of the decade, and removing all oil and gas subsidies, as well as cancelling recently agreed fossil fuel licences.

    Improving home insulation is also key to their environmental and energy missions, with £29 billion promised over the next five years to insulate UK homes to an EPC B rating or above. The party has also pledged to provide 150,000 new social homes every year, and for local authorities to be able to exercise rent controls.

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