General Election 2019: What we know about the Conservative Party manifesto
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This weekend the Conservative Party manifesto is expected to launch ahead of the general election on 12 December.
Jeremy Corbyn unveiled Labour’s manifesto on Thursday following on from announcements by the Lib Dems and Green Party earlier this week. The Brexit Party is due to reveal its policies later today.
It will leave just the Tory manifesto to come. Here are some of the key policies likely to be involved.
Read more: Nigel Farage unveils Brexit Party manifesto
Read more: The City urges Labour to rethink its ‘hostile’ manifesto
Get Brexit done
They are the buzzwords of the campaign that everyone has heard enough of, but they underpin one of the Tories key pledges ahead of the “Brexit Election” as it has come to be known by some.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said that he has 635 Tory candidates all ready and willing to back his deal.
He has promised that a Conservative majority government will ‘Get Brexit Done’ by the new deadline of 31 January when the UK is scheduled to leave the Bloc.
Investing in public services
The Tories have also pledged to invest in public services, claiming that finalising Brexit will allow the party to focus on the important matters.
Johnson has said the Conservatives will recruit 6,000 extra GPs and deliver 50m more appointments a year by 2024-25 as part of £34bn a year in extra funding for the NHS.
The party also wants to return to its emphasis on law and order and has committed to recruiting an additional 20,000 new police officers – the amount that the force has reduced since the Conservatives took power in 2010 – as well as increase in stop-and-search powers amid the rising knife crime in London.
National Insurance tax cuts
Johnson has promised to increase the threshold that workers must pay national insurance to “lower taxes for working people”.
Currently, national insurance contributions are required on earnings over £8,628-per-year, but under a Tory government that would increase to £12,500 – in line with the current income tax threshold.
However, Johnson said it would initially rise to £9,500 in the government’s first budget, but did not give a time-frame for when the additional £3,000 would be implemented.
The £9,500 threshold would save everyone around £100 per year, the Conservatives claim, with the additional increase saving up to £500 a year, when it comes into effect.
More UK housing
The Conservatives have pledged to deliver “at least” 1m more homes in the next five years.
It follows criticism that the Tory party has failed to build a single one of its 200,000 starter homes pledged in 2014.
Johnson has also committed to helping renters by ending “no fault evictions”, preventing landlords evicting renters before the end of a contract without good reason.
While there are also set to be measures to help first-time buyers, with long-term, fixed-rate mortgages requiring only 5 per cent deposits, as well as “Lifetime Rental Deposits” allowing down payments to be transferred from one property to the next without the initial deposit having to be repaid in full.
Business tax cuts
While the planned two per cent cut on corporation tax has been shelved in order to raise £6bn a year for the NHS, there is still plans to reduce four other business taxes.
The Tories have promised to cut business rates by 50 per cent for smaller public houses, shops and cinemas as part of an effort to re-energise the high street and promote local businesses.
The party has pledged to cut the business rate, research and development tax, construction tax as well as the aforementioned National Insurance contributions.
Read more: This election is a battle Labour does not deserve to win
Climate change
The Tories have maintained their pledged to make the UK carbon neutral by 2050 in line with a legal commitment made by Theresa May’s government.
The government has also withdrawn its support for fracking and published a bill containing plans to tackle climate change and create a new regulator to ensure compliance.
It includes a ban on shark fin soup and the exportation of live animals after Brexit.
Immigration
Home secretary Priti Patel has promised to cut net migration to tens of thousands, while home office minister Brandon Lewis acknowledged the party had failed to keep its commitment previously.
The Tories plan to implement an Australian-style, points-based immigration system to allow for skilled workers to enter the country.