The parties have set out big promises they plan to implement if elected form the NHS to education, environment and more. Here’s what the main parties have promised on the key issues.
Brexit:
Conservative
Ratify Johnson’s divorce deal with the EU before the Jan. 31 deadline
Negotiate a free-trade agreement with the EU by Dec. 31, 2020, the end of the Brexit transition period
Aim to have 80% of U.K. trade covered by free-trade agreements within three years
Labour
Negotiate a new deal with the EU, placing the U.K. in a customs union with the bloc and securing access to the single market
Put deal to a referendum within six months of the election, with remaining in the EU as the other option
Leader Jeremy Corbyn would remain neutral during the referendum campaign
Liberal Democrat
Stop Brexit by revoking the Article 50 divorce process
If not in government, continue campaigning for a second referendum
Spend the 50 billion pounds it expects to save by staying in the EU on public services and tackling inequality
Health:
Conservative
Deliver 50,000 more nurses, including some newly-trained, some hired from abroad and some from staff retention. Reintroduction of bursaries for training. Also, introduce 6,000 more GPs.
Increase funding for NHS England by 3.1% yearly between 2020-2024.
A £2.7 billion investment in building hospitals, 40 new hospitals to be built over the next 10 year period.
Commit £1 billion per year in extra funding for local authorities to deal with growing demands for social care
Labour
Increase expenditure across the health sector by an average of 4.3% a year between 2020-2024.
Ensure mental health treatment is on par with that for physical health via an additional £1.6 billion annual investment
Free prescriptions and annual dental checkups, free social care for the elderly.
Exclude NHS and medicine pricing from any trade deals and establish generic drug company; secure access to generics if fair prices are rejected for patented drugs.
Liberal Democrat
Increase funding for NHS England by 3.1% yearly between 2020-2024 from ring-fenced 1p income tax rise.
Treat mental health with the same urgency as physical health
Introduce a wellbeing budget alongside the fiscal budget
End shortage of family doctors by 2025 through training and appropriate use of nurses, physiotherapists and pharmacists
Education:
Conservative
A £1 billion investment to boost childcare provision
Extra £4.3 billion of funding for schools by 2024
Review interest rates on student loans with a view to reducing the debt burden
Arts Premium for secondary schools
Labour
Scrap university tuition fees and bring back maintenance grants
Extra £7.5 billion of funding for schools by 2024
Create a National Educational Service, with every adult entitled to six years of free study or training throughout their life
Charge VAT on private-school fees
Cap maximum primary class size at 30
30 hours free preschool per week for two-, three- and four-year-olds
Liberal Democrat
Extra £4.8 billion of funding for schools by 2024
35 hours of free childcare a week for 2–4-year-olds, and for 9–24-month-old children with two parents working full time
Give every adult £10,000 to spend on skills and training
Recruit 20,000 more teachers as part of an extra 10 billion pounds in funding per year for schools
Restore university maintenance grants for poorest students
Economy/Taxes:
Conservative
Borrow more to invest in infrastructure under loosened fiscal rules, to allow an increase of £13.8 billion of spending across all departments by 2021
Rates of income tax, national insurance and VAT would not rise
Raise threshold for National Insurance contributions from 8,628 pounds to 9,500 pounds in the government’s first budget
Labour
Nationalize key utilities including rail, mail, water, energy production; bring BT Group Plc’s Openreach unit into public ownership to provide free universal broadband
Tax multinational corporations based on the proportion of their sales, workforce and operations in the U.K.
Top 5% of earners—those earning more than £80,000 a year—will pay more tax
Introduced real living wage of £10 hour for over 16s
Liberal Democrat
Raise income tax by 1 % point to fund health and social care
Invest £130 billion in infrastructure, including energy, transport and schools
Restore Corporation Tax to 20% from 19%
Replace business rates in England with Commercial Landowner Levy based on land value
Energy/Environment:
Conservative
Make the U.K. carbon neutral by 2050
Spend £6.3 billion on energy efficiency measures to cut fuel bills in millions of homes
A ban on exporting plastic waste outside OECD countries to reduce ocean damage
Set up an independent Office for Environmental Protection and introduce new legal targets, including for air quality
Labour
A £250 billion Green Transformation Fund dedicated to renewable and low-carbon energy and transport, biodiversity and environmental restoration
Deliver nearly 90% of electricity and 50% of heat from renewable and low-carbon sources by 2030
Target 100% electric vehicle sales by 2030
Include imports when measuring the U.K.’s carbon dioxide emissions
Liberal Democrat
Aim for 80% of electricity to come from renewable energy by 2030
Invest more than 6 billion pounds a year on home insulation and zero-carbon heating by 2023
Require pension funds to show portfolio investments are consistent with Paris Agreement on climate change
Ban fracking of natural gas
Housing:
Conservative
Build at least 1 million more homes by 2024
Ban the sale of new leasehold homes
Introduce a 3% surcharge for foreign buyers of homes in England
Ban no-fault evictions, in which tenants are removed before the end of their contract without a proper reason
Labour
Introduce a levy on overseas companies buying housing; give locals priority on new homes
Build council and social homes at a rate of 150,000 a year by 2024
Give leaseholders the right to buy the freehold at an affordable price; end the sale of new leasehold properties
Liberal Democrat
Build at least 100,000 homes for social rent each year; raise housebuilding to 300,000 a year
Allow local authorities to increase council tax by up to 500% where houses are being bought as second homes
Rent to Own program for social housing tenants, with rent payments leading to outright ownership after 30 years
Immigration:
Conservative
Points-based visa system to prioritize skilled workers (Australian –Style)
EU immigrants will only be able to access unemployment, housing and child benefits after five years
New fast-tracked visa with reduced fees for doctors and nurses with a job offer from the NHS
Prevent any more foreign national offenders entering the country
Labour
Seek to protect rights for both EU and U.K. citizens if Brexit goes ahead
Immigration system built around human rights, aimed at meeting skills and labor shortages in public services
End deportation of family members and scrap minimum income requirements that separate families
Close all immigration detention centres
Liberal Democrat
Save EU freedom of movement
A “compassionate” immigration system to end the “hostile environment” policy that resulted in the violation of rights
Abolish minimum income requirement for spouse and partner visas
Replace tier 2 work visas with ‘flexible, merit-based system’
