This week will see each party release its manifesto, and at 11am today Ed Miliband gave a passionate appeal to the working people of Britain in his bid to become Prime Minister.
Claiming that this manifesto is filled with promises that will be fulfilled because of a clear-cut funding plan – something Ed Miliband insisted that the Conservatives are failing to do – today Labour promised to “change the way the country is run and who it is run for”.
So what was pledged?
Concerning Employment and Living Standards, Labour intends to:
- Raise the minimum wage to £8 an hour
- Make sure those who work regular hours get a regular contract, not at 0 hour contract
- Protect those on tax credits
- Make sure working families receive 24 hours of child care
- Introduce a new childcare service that works with Primary Schools to ensure all working families have child care support
Concerning Economics and Tax, Labour intends to:
- Freeze rail fare
- Not raise Income Tax, National Insurance or VAT.
- Abolish “non dom” tax rule
- Crack down on Tax Evasion, particularly with big companies and rich individuals
- Introduce a 50% tax on those on a wage over £150,000 a year
- Control bank thresholds
- Cut and freeze business rates for 1.5 million small and medium business
- Introduce a mansion tax on properties worth 2 million and over
Concerning Education and Young People, Labour intends to:
- Improve life for young people
- Invest in the education system
- Cut University fees from £9,000 to £6,000 a year
- Increase apprenticeship opportunities for those who get the grades
- Extend the right to vote to 16 and 17 year olds
Concerning The NHS, Labour intends to:
- Use the mansion tax funding to introduce 20,000 more nurses, 8,000 more GPs, 5,000 more home-care workers and 3,000 more midwives
- Stop the privatisation on the NHS with a 5% cap on private profit
- Repeal the Health and Social Care Act
Concerning The EU, Immigration and the Rest of the World, Labour intends to:
- Commit to staying in the EU
- Try to reform EU Legislation to benefit Britain and the rest of Europe
- Make sure immigrants make a contribution to the country before being able to claim benefits
- Ensure individuals have the ability to speak English before working in Public Services
- Crack down on exploitation from gang masters and employers who pay unfair wages
- Work with allies to illuminate threats and issues such as ISIS
Concerning Communities, Labour intends to:
- End the centralisation of Government, giving power back to communities
During a question and answer session after his speech, Miliband answered an enquiry concerning the differences between his policies now and the Blair and Brown years of governance, and whether Labour’s plans might reverse the UK’s economic recovery of recent years. Stating that he had learned from the previous Labour government, Miliband insisted that he would not carry on from where they left off, stressing his commitment to a clear funding plan.
The Labour Leader did however dodge answering whether he believed that the previous Labour government overspent, tailoring his answer instead towards the mistakes made in controlling the banks, while adding that spending and investing in the public sector – specifically the NHS and education – would be an important theme of his prospective Labour government.
[…] Other manifesto pledges include an £8 minimum wage and a commitment to freeze rail fares. […]