Government & Policy
Rishi Sunak launched the Conservative manifesto at Silverstone today and responded to questions from journalists in attendance.
The UK prime minister, Rishi, has made the mantra “clear plan, bold action, section future” the cornerstone of his election campaign. Today, he launched the Conservative manifesto at the Silverstone racetrack and we have highlighted our key findings from the manifesto below.
Job so far
In the introduction to the manifesto, Rishi highlighted the plan he set to achieve since assuming office, stating inflation is down, wages are up, growth has returned, and there is more economic stability after the effects of COVID-19 and the Ukraine war. He highlighted that this proves he is the right man to lead the UK into the future, despite the challenges in faces.
Taxes
There is a promise to cut workers' taxes by taking another 2p off the employee National Insurance rate to 6% by April 2027, and to cut the main rate of self-employed National Insurance entirely by the end of the parliament. The Tories have cut the NIC rate for employees from 12p to 8p in the last 12 months; however, the overall tax burden is expected to rise because of a freeze on thresholds and allowances.
With the new triple lock plus, there is also a promise to ensure that pensioners do not pay tax on the state pension.
Welfare
In the manifesto, there is a plan to give working parents 30 hours of free child care a week from nine months old to when they start school, the introduction of a pragmatic approach guaranteeing no new green levies or charges, thereby reducing the cost of net zero for consumers and a switch to a household system to end the unfairness in child benefit.
Youth
The promise here is to provide young people with a secure future by introducing a mandatory national service for all school leavers at 18, funding 100,000 high-quality apprenticeships, banning the use of mobile phones during school hours and providing access to parents on student curriculum like sex education and introducing an Advanced British Standard to transform 16-19 education.
National Security and Migration
The conservative manifesto promises to boost defence spending by up to 2.5% of GDP by 2030, stop the boats by removing illegal migrants to Rwanda and introduce a legal cap on migration. There is also a promise to recruit 8,000 full-time, fully warranted police officers.
The prime minister echoed that “if we are forced to choose between our security and the jurisdiction of a foreign court, including the ECHR, we will always choose our security” when responding to the issue of the reality of flights to Rwanda.
Infrastructure
To strengthen communities, the Conservatives promise to increase NHS spending above inflation each year and recruit 92,000 more nurses and 28,000 more doctors to boost productivity.
The delivery of 1.6 million well-designed homes and abolishment of stamp duty for homes up to £425,000 for first-time buyers, while introducing a new help-to-buy scheme, was also contained in the manifesto. £36 billion is also expected to be invested in local roads, rail and buses to drive regional growth and also reverse the ULEZ expansion plan.
To access the full manifesto, tap here.
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