With the general election fast approaching, who will you be giving your vote? We at Seren give you a rundown of what each party has to offer, to make that all-important decision just a little bit easier
Conservatives
ECONOMY
- Eliminate the deficit and run a surplus by the end of the parliament
- Aim for full employment for all those willing to work
- Fund 3 million apprenticeships
- Triple the number of start-up loans to businesses to 75,000
IMMIGRATION
- “Ambition” to keep annual net migration in tens of thousands
- EU migrants to wait four years before they can claim certain benefits or social housing
- No out of work benefits for migrants or child benefit for dependents living outside UK
EDUCATION
- Create at least a further 500 free schools in England by 2020
- Immediate support to turn around failing schools
- 30 hours free childcare for working parents of three- and four-year-olds
HEALTH
- Increase NHS spending in England by at least £8bn above inflation
- Seven-day access to GPs by 2020 & same day appointments for over-75s when needed
- Improve access to mental health treatments
WELFARE
- Make £12bn welfare savings
- Household benefit cap cut from £26,000 to £23,000 a year
- Replace JSA for 18-21-year-olds with a Youth Allowance limited to six months and end their automatic housing benefit
ENVIRONMENT
- Spend more than £3bn to 2020 improving the environment
- Phase out subsidies for new onshore wind farms
- Invest £500m over the next five years towards making most vehicles zero emission by 2050
DEFENCE
- Renew Trident with four new nuclear-armed submarines to maintain continuous at sea nuclear deterrent
- No further cuts in the regular Armed Forces
- Increase spending on defence equipment by 1% a year
Labour
ECONOMY
- No additional borrowing for new spending
- Raise minimum wage to £8 an hour by 2020
- Apprenticeship for every school leaver who gets the grades
IMMIGRATION
- 1,000 new border staff and exit checks
- Make it illegal for employers to undercut British workers by exploiting migrants
- Two-year wait before EU migrants can claim out-of-work benefits
EDUCATION
- Protect education budget for 0-19 year olds
- Cut university tuition fees to £6,000 a year
- Ensure all primary schools guarantee access to childcare from 8am to 6pm
HEALTH
- Extra £2.5bn funding for the NHS, to pay for 20,000 more nurses, 3,000 midwives and 8,000 GPs
- Repeal the Health and Social Care Act and cap the amount of profit private firms can make from the NHS at 5%
- End 15 minute care visits
WELFARE
- Guaranteed job for under-25s unemployed for over a year and for adults unemployed over two years, paid for by taxing bankers’ bonuses
- Scrap the “bedroom tax”
- Cap structural welfare spending
ENVIRONMENT
- Freeze energy bills until 2017 and give energy regulator new powers to cut bills this winter
- Prioritise flood prevention
- End badger culling
DEFENCE
- Strategic Security and Defence Review
- Make it illegal to discriminate against or abuse members of the Armed Forces
- International LGBT Rights Envoy and a Global Envoy for Religious Freedom
Liberal Democrats
ECONOMY
- End deficit by 2017/18 with a mixture of spending cuts and tax rises
- Expand apprenticeships and develop national colleges for vocational skills
- Raise £1bn from extra corporation tax on banking sector
IMMIGRATION
- Restore full entry and exit border checks
- End indefinite detention for immigration purposes
- Phase out child benefit for children living outside the UK
EDUCATION
- Guarantee qualified teachers, a core curriculum and sex education in all state schools
- A plan to end child illiteracy by 2025
- 15 hours a week free childcare from the end of paid parental leave
HEALTH
- Increase real terms NHS funding at least £8bn a year by 2020, starting with an extra £1bn a year until 2018
- £3.5bn extra for mental health including £1.25bn for children and teenagers and £250m for pregnant women and new mums with depression
WELFARE
- Scrap housing benefit cuts for tenants with spare rooms unless they refuse a smaller property
- A carer’s bonus of £250p.a. by 2020
- A “yellow card” to give people a warning before benefits are withdrawn
ENVIRONMENT
- Double renewable electricity by 2020, aim to decarbonise the power sector by 2030, leading to a zero carbon Britain by 2050
- Plant 750,000 trees a year
- Charge for plastic bags
DEFENCE
- Ban arms exports to countries flagged up by the FCO’s human rights report
- Help service personnel and veterans with mental health problems
Plaid Cymru
ECONOMY
- Help Welsh businesses grow by increasing business rates relief in Wales and supporting Welsh exports overseas
- Introduce an Economic Fairness Bill to ensure that wealth is shared out fairly within the UK
- Create 50,000 jobs in Wales by giving more Welsh public sector contracts to companies working in Wales
IMMIGRATION
- Create a Welsh Migration Service to ensure that migration meets Welsh needs
- Protect local workers by strengthening the Gangmasters Licensing Act, making it illegal to offer unfair advantage to migrant workers over local workers.
- Work across the UK and EU to prevent modern slavery
EDUCATION
- ICT and modern languages will be taught from an early age, and modern language GCSE made compulsory
- New National Curriculum for Wales, ensuring a “positive understanding of the history of Wales”
HEALTH
- Oppose and reject privatisation
- Train and recruit 1,000 additional doctors for the Welsh NHS
- Keep prescriptions free in Wales
- Raise awareness of mental health issues and increase access to talking therapies
WELFARE
- Scrap the bedroom tax
- Ensure that the new single-tier pension is a Living Pension for all
ENVIRONMENT
- Reduce energy emissions by 40% below 1990 levels by 2020
- Improve energy efficiency within the home
DEFENCE
- Oppose the renewal of Trident nuclear weapons system
- Create a new Minister for Veterans in the UK Cabinet
- Wales to have a seat at United Nations
Ukip
ECONOMY
- Remove EU directives which hamper the British economy
- Negotiate a bespoke trade agreement with Europe
- Enhance the UK’s position at the World Trade Organisation
IMMIGRATION
- Points system used to select migrants with skills and attributes needed to work in the country
- Immigration capped at 50,000 people a year for skilled workers
- Five-year ban on immigration for unskilled workers
- Five-year wait before migrants can claim benefits
EDUCATION
- Scrap sex education for primary school children
- Allow secondary schools to become grammar schools
- Scrap fees for students taking degrees in science, technology, maths or engineering on condition they pay UK tax and work in the discipline for five years upon completing studying
- Abolish Key Stage 1 SAT tests at primary school level
HEALTH
- Spend £200m on scrapping hospital car parking charges
- Insist migrants and visitors to UK have private health insurance
- Extra £1.2bn a year for social care
WELFARE
- Five-year wait before migrants can claim benefits
- Scrap housing benefit changes related to bedrooms
- Restrict child benefit to two children and stop paying it all together for children who do not live in Britain
ENVIRONMENT
- Protect the Green Belt
- End so-called “green taxes” to cut fuel bills
- Prioritise support for organic farms
DEFENCE
- Create a Veterans Department to look after the interests of ex-service men and women
- Keep Britain’s nuclear deterrent
- Cut foreign aid from 0.7% to 0.2% of national income
