Big issues in brief

Head-to-head: Labour vs. Conservatives in memes

How the two main parties’ manifestos shape up

Labour’s policies have been compared to those of the 1970s, when workers had rights, corporations were taxed fairly and essential public services were supported by the state. Conservative policies have been compared to those of the 1870s, when the rich could exploit the poor and there was no welfare state. Please feel free to share this infographic at no cost. Acknowledgement of www.medium.com/FuturePolitics is mandatory under the licensing rules.

Today we take a quick look at some of the most important Conservative Party and Labour Party policies from their manifestos and summarise the main points in memes that you are welcome to share.

We also take a look at how the parties are funded and how the Conservatives have fared in government.

Soon we will summarise the main points from the other parties’ manifestos, once all have been published.

Costings

Conservatives: Totally un-costed manifesto, despite routinely blaming Labour for overspending and lacking a costing strategy.

Labour: Fully costed and detailed manifesto, with an 8% excess of income compared to expenditure, in order to account for unforeseen costs.

Verdict: Conservatives have hypocritically failed, whilst Labour have proved them wrong.

Debt & borrowing

Conservatives: Have failed to live up to their 2010 promise to eliminate the deficit during their first term, having pushed the target further and further back. Although public sector borrowing has decreased by around 60%, net national debt as a percentage of GDP has increased from 66% to 87%.

Labour: Commits to reducing the national debt over the course of the next parliament, but remains vague on figures. This is perceived as a weakness by the media, but the Conservatives have proved that it is difficult to make bold claims about debt reduction. Every recession has a natural recovery period. Conservative austerity has damaged the public’s ability to spend money and strengthen the economy. Labour would have invested in public services, which in turn would have given workers more disposable income. This would likely have led to faster economic recovery without the harsh austerity policies that have had a profoundly negative effect on large sections of society.

Verdict: Rhetoric makes Labour look weak on debt reduction, but real data proves that Conservatives have the wrong approach.

Left: Labour’s manifesto is fully costed; Conservative policies are fully un-costed. Right: Conservatives have reduced the deficit by 60%, but failed to live up to their 2010 election pledge of eliminating it within one term, and caused national debt to increase from 65.7% to 86.6%. Labour commit to reducing national debt, but this will be seen as too vague by critics. Please feel free to share these infographics at no cost. Acknowledgement of www.medium.com/FuturePolitics is mandatory under the licensing rules.

Left: Net national debt as a percentage of GDP. Source: Office for National Statistics. Right: Public sector borrowing. Source: Office for National Statistics.

Pension protection

Conservatives: Dropped “triple-lock” promise, which protects pensions by ensuring they rise by 2.5%+, or in line with inflation or earnings — whichever is highest. They have now offered a double-lock, which removes the 2.5% figure.

Labour: Commits to triple-lock.

Verdict: Labour wins again. Conservatives risk losing their core voter base.

Minimum wage & salary ratio

Conservatives: U-turn on commitment to increase minimum wage (falsely-named “national living wage”) to £9 per hour by 2020. They only mention current rate of £7.50. Companies will have to publish the pay ratio of their executives compared to the rest of the UK workforce.

Labour: “Expect” to introduce a £10 true Living Wage by 2020. Will introduce 20:1 maximum pay ratio between the highest and lowest earners within public sector organisations.

Verdict: Labour cares about workers, whereas Conservatives continue to exploit them by making empty promises. Labour wants to redistribute wealth so that the majority of the workforce is better off, though the Green Party has a stronger policy on pay ratios, at 10:1, nationwide.

Left: Conservatives’ have dropped their previous triple-lock promise on pensions in favour of a double lock, whilst Labour commit to the triple-lock. Right: Conservatives have also gone back on their previous pledge to increase the minimum wage to £9/hr by 2020, whereas Labour expect to be able to increase it to £10/hr by then. Please feel free to share these infographics at no cost. Acknowledgement of www.medium.com/FuturePolitics is mandatory under the licensing rules.

Income tax & national insurance

Conservatives: No mention of any possible income tax or national insurance increases or decreases, leaving it open for them to decrease income tax for the wealthy and put up national insurance, which disproportionately affects the lowest 85% of earners.

Labour: Freeze on income tax below for those earning below £80,000 p.a. (around 95% of workers) and freeze on national insurance for all. New 45% tax band for those earning £80,000+, affecting only the top 5% of workers. Change in top tax rate from 45% on £150,000+ to 50% on £123,000+, affecting fewer than 2% of highest earners.

Verdict: Labour puts the overwhelming majority ahead of a tiny minority; Conservatives prioritise their lobbyists and own vested interests.

Corporation tax

Conservatives: Plan to reduce corporation tax — already the lowest in the G20 (richest 20 nations) — from 20% to 17%. This illustrates their commitment to the big businesses that fund and lobby them, many of which are partially owned by Conservative MPs.

Labour: Plan to increase corporation tax back to the 2011 level of 26%. This will ensure that large corporations pay their fair share for the taxpayer-funded infrastructure they rely on, and will reduce the extreme greed shown by the profits made by multinationals. They will also incentivise smaller businesses by introducing a 20% rate for those making an annual profit of £300,000 or less.

Verdict: Conservative’s vested interests are morally reprehensible; Labour shows principles, and has a strategy for funding public investment in infrastructure and social welfare.

Left: Conservatives could increase or decrease income tax and national insurance, which would potentially benefit the wealthy and hurt the poor, depending on if and how they do it. Labour has committed to freezing national insurance and has pledged to increase income tax by a small amount for the top 5% of earners. Right: Labour will increase corporation tax from 20% back to 26%, in order to fund the infrastructure that businesses rely on and social welfare services. They will keep the rate at 20% for smaller businesses. Conservative will decrease the rate — already the lowest in the 20 wealthiest nations — to 17%. Please feel free to share these infographics at no cost. Acknowledgement of www.medium.com/FuturePolitics is mandatory under the licensing rules.

Left: Proportion of gross salary going towards income tax and national insurance (combined). Each band represents 10% of the population, except the right two bands — the left of which represents the top 90.1–99% highest earners and the right of which represents part of the top 1%. The Conservatives haven’t announced any planned changes to income tax or national insurance, meaning they could change it at any time. Liberal Democrats would put up all incomes tax rates by 1%, affecting everyone earning over £11,500. Labour’s plans will see income tax rise, but only for the top 5% of earners. Right: How much extra income tax the top 5% of earners will pay under Labour’s plans. The lowest earning 95% will be totally unaffected. Someone earning £200,000 per year will only be £7,350 worse off, an increase of only 2.7%. Only those earning over £900,000 per year would pay over 50% of their earnings towards income tax and national insurance. Please feel free to share these infographics at no cost. Acknowledgement of www.medium.com/FuturePolitics is mandatory under the licensing rules.

School education

Conservatives: Will proliferate “free schools” and academies, which are for-profit and can be founded by people with no experience in education or those with vested interests. Will also reintroduce grammar schools nationwide, selecting against those who need the most support and diverting funds towards children with wealthier parents.

Labour: Will create a “National Education Service”, with no budget cuts, which will benefit pupils from all backgrounds and of all abilities, instead of investing in inefficient free schools and academies. Will cap primary school class sizes at 30 pupils.

Verdict: Labour has the interests of all schoolchildren at heart. Conservatives have the interests of the well-off and of businesses at heart.

University education

Conservatives: Increased university fees from £3,000 to £9,000, and have just pushed through a further 2.7% increase. This has left students with the burden of a lifetime of debt. Have stayed quiet on university tuition in their manifesto.

Labour: Will abolish tuition fees and reintroduce maintenance grants.

Verdict: Conservatives have turned universities into businesses. I have worked at two UK universities that have suffered significantly from the shift in focus from education to churning out profit-providers. Labour will reverse the damage and invest in Britain’s future.

Left: Conservatives will bring back selective grammar schools and for-profit “free school” and academies, bringing confusion, inequality and business interests to the education system. Labour will invest in a “National Education Service” that helps everyone succeed. Right: Labour will abolish the tuition fees that the Conservatives increased to £9,250 per year— leaving students with a lifetime of debt — and reintroduce maintenance grants. Please feel free to share these infographics at no cost. Acknowledgement of www.medium.com/FuturePolitics is mandatory under the licensing rules.

Nationalisation vs. privatisation

Conservatives: Increased the 1% limit of NHS privatisation to 49% during the coalition era, and by 2015 had already privatised 7.6% — and that was before recently prepared contracts worth £780 million and £80 million. They also sold off the Royal Mail at below market value. Due to vested interests, the Conservatives are ideologically opposed to nationalisation/renationalisation of essential public services.

Labour: Founded and continue to support the NHS. The days of New Labour — which paved the way to privatisation but kept it restricted to a maximum of 1% — are well and truly over under Corbyn’s leadership. They aim to renationalise essential public services, a policy which the public strongly backs.

Verdict: A YouGov poll (17th–18th May 2017) showed that over 80% (vs. up to 10%) of the public support nationalisation of the NHS, schools, police and the armed forces; over 60% (vs. up to 25%) support renationalisation of the railways and Royal Mail; and over 50% (vs. up to 35%) support nationalisation of the energy, water and bus companies and the BBC. Labour clearly have the backing of the public; Conservatives have a for-profit agenda.

Energy caps & sources

Conservatives: Will introduce unspecified cap on energy prices — a “Red Ed” Miliband 2015 election promise that must render the Conservatives the new communist party!

Labour: Commits to £1,000 per year duel-fuel price caps, but offers only very vague commitment to renewable energy that leaves a lot to be desired.

Verdict: Conservatives need to be more specific about their price cap. Labour could go further with their price cap and should look to the Green Party with regards to sustainable energy sources.

Left: Nationalisation of public services. Please feel free to share this infographic at no cost. Acknowledgement of www.medium.com/FuturePolitics is mandatory under the licensing rules. Centre: Public support for nationalisation vs. privatisation of essential public services. Right: Conservatives commit to an unspecified energy tariff cap, despite referring to “Red Ed” Miliband as a “communist” when he offered the same in 2015. Labour will cap duel-fuel bills at £1,000 per year, though their commitment to renewables is extremely vague. Source: YouGov (17th–18th May 2017).

Social care for the elderly

Conservatives: Claim to be protecting the elderly by only charging pensioners with over £100,000 worth of assets, down to a cap at that value. However, this will negatively affect most homeowners (the average UK house price is £217,000). This is despite their long-standing objection to inheritance tax. It is a diversion tactic, in order to help the party appear to be compassionate towards poorer elderly people, whilst they continue their systematic defunding of the social care system.

Labour: Investing £8 billion worth of much-needed — and fully costed — funds into the social care system.

Verdict: Labour care about people of all ages and financial stability; Conservatives are masquerading as caring whilst destroying the social care system in front of the eyes of those who have funded it since it was established.

Primary school nutrition

Conservatives: Will remove free school lunches from primary school children, except those most in need — though it remains unspecified what constitutes a “poor” child. They will provide breakfast to all primary school pupils.

Labour: Will extend free school meals to all primary school children, regardless of their parents’ income. This is essential for the proper nourishment of pupils, whose parents may be lacking the time or money to feed them responsibly and educate them about healthy eating. In turn, this will improve the welfare and concentration of children. Free school meals already exist in other successful economies. They will be funded by VAT on private school fees — which are currently tax exempt, despite the parents of privately educated children being amongst the wealthiest in society.

Verdict: Labour care about people of all ages and financial stability; Conservatives are masquerading as caring whilst destroying the social care system in front of the eyes of those who have funded it since it was established.

Left: Labour will invest an extra £8 bn in social care over the next parliament, which includes covering social care for the elderly. Conservatives risk alienating pensioners — one of their traditional key supporter bases — by introducing the so-called “dementia tax”. This will require that the elderly — especially those suffering from mental or physical illness and requiring additional help — retroactively pay for their social care after their death. The cost of their care will be deducted from the value of their assets, including any real estate they own, and down to a limit of £100,000 of assets that may be retained. Right: Free school meals for primary school pupils will be universally funded by Labour. Conservatives will cut lunches from all except the “poorest” — though this group remains undefined — but will provide breakfast to all primary school pupils. Please feel free to share these infographics at no cost. Acknowledgement of www.medium.com/FuturePolitics is mandatory under the licensing rules.

Donations

Conservatives: Between the announcement of the election and 21st May, had received and declared £4.1 million worth of donations to the Electoral Commission. They came from 10 companies and 46 individuals, only 5 of whom were female and most of whom are business people. Some came from prominent Conservative MPs, such as Michael Gove.

Labour: Had received and declared £2.7 million worth of donations to the Electoral Commission. They came from 4 trade unions — non-profit organisations that work to protect your rights as a worker — and two individuals.

Verdict: Conservatives have vested interests in business and their policies are heavily influenced by lobbying. Labour’s main donors are large unions that have a positive impact on social policy.

Fox hunting

Conservatives: Pure evil.

Labour: Not evil.

Verdict: Guess?

Left: Conservatives have received over 50% more funding than Labour since the election was announced, with most of it coming from companies, businessmen (not many women) and Conservative MPs. Labour is funded mainly by trade unions, which are non-profit organisations that have the interests of workers at heart. Right: Conservatives support the reintroduction of fox hunting; Labour has a soul. Please feel free to share these infographics at no cost. Acknowledgement of www.medium.com/FuturePolitics is mandatory under the licensing rules.

Summary

You know what to do. The manifestos prove that Labour is back on track to being a party that works for the overwhelming majority of society, whereas the Conservatives haven’t provided any reason to vote for them. If you have a different opinion, I’d be interested to hear! Otherwise vote for Labour, or whichever party keeps the Conservatives out of power in your constituency.