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Andrew Grice
Apr 16, 2015
Economy
- Balance the books on day-to-day spending services by 2017-8
- Leave themselves room to borrow for "productive investment" like Labour, as long as debt fell as a proportion of national income every year
- Public spending to rise in line with economy once the budget was balanced
Verdict: Splits the difference between Labour and the Tories, and could be tweaked in any post-election talks.
Tax
- Personal tax allowances would rise to at least £12,500 by 2020.
- Raise employees' national insurance threshold (currently £8,000) to the same level "as resources allow"
- "Fair" deficit reduction through a reform of capital gains tax and dividend tax relief
- Higher rate of corporation tax for banks
- £2m levy on homes
- Clampdown on tax avoidance to save £7bn by 2017-8
Verdict: They may get little credit for the personal allowance policy now the Tories have stolen it.
Education
- £2bn more than Labour and £5bn more than the Tories
- Increase the education budget for 2-19 year olds
- Free school meals extended to all primary pupils
- Core curriculum taught in every school and every child would be taught by a qualified teacher
Verdict: A useful selling point but will the voters trust them.
NHS
- Half of initial £1bn of guaranteed £8bn to NHS to provide care in people's home and communities to prevent hospital admissions
- Extra £500m to mental health
Verdict: They are blazing on trail on mental health but extra cash may be eclipsed by Tories' £8bn pledge
Welfare
- Support to "limited welfare reductions"
- 1 per cent cap on uprating working-age benefits until 2017-2018, which would then rise in line with inflation
- State pension to rise by at least 2.5 per cent a year
- Withdrawal of winter fuel payments and free TV licences from pensioners paying the 40p higher tax rate
- Reform of the "bedroom tax" so that existing social tenants would not lose benefit unless they turn down a reasonable offer of alternative accommodation
Verdict: Braver than the Tories and Labour in scrapping pensioners' perks.
Environment
- Nature Act to ensure that the government sets up a 25 year plan for "recovering nature", such as reversing the decline of UK species
- Resource Efficiency and Zero Waste Britain Act, a Green Transport Act, a Zero Carbon Britain Act, and a Green Buildings Act
- Expansion of Green Investment Bank
- Target set for legally binding decarbonisation for electricity
Verdict: No one doubts their credentials, but the Green Party may suck up some votes.
Families
- 15 hours a week of free childcare to all children aged between nine months and two years who parents are working
- 20 hours a week of free childcare for all two-to-four-year-olds
- Shared leave for parents expanded with a "use it or lose it" month for fathers
- Paid leave for carers
Verdict: Nick Clegg has a good record here, but the three main parties all make similar promises
Housing
- 300,000 new homes a year
- 10 new garden cities in areas where homes are needed most
- New rent to own homes with monthly payments buying a stake in the property
- Tenancy deposit loans from the state to help young adults
- £100 cut in council tax for 10 years for those who insulate their home
- Landlords banned from letting homes that tenants cannot reasonably afford to heat
Verdict: All good. But successive governments have not ensured enough housebuilding.
Freedom
- A Digital Bill of Rights that would protect privacy by updating data laws
- Block of any attempt to revive "snoopers' charter"
- Second Freedoms Act to protect free speech, tighten the regulation of CCTV, stop heavy handed policing and ban high frequency Mosquito devices that can be heard by young people
- Statutory public interest defence for exceptional cases where journalists may need to break the law to expose wrongdoing
Verdict: The measures are brave but politically risky.
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