Promises Promises: Britain's election manifestos

It's been a big week in the UK election campaigning with four of the main parties unveiling their manifestos, ahead of the vote on July 4. 

According to Statista, the top issues for voters have stayed broadly the same since Prime Minister Rishi Sunak called the election on May 22: The economy and healthcare are far and away the biggest public concerns. Then there's immigration in third, followed by housing, the environment, crime and national defense. 

So what are the big political promises?

The ruling right-wing Conservative Party has been in government for 14 years. Parliament is now dissolved but before the dissolution on May 30, it held 345 seats. Opinion polls suggest the Conservatives are set to lose a large number of those seats and subsequently the election. 

Launching its manifesto on Tuesday, the Conservatives promised to extend cuts in social taxes (National Insurance); more help for first-time home buyers; to build 1.6 million new homes within five years; increased annual spending on health services above the rate of inflation; a limit on legal migration and a "regular rhythm" of asylum flights to Rwanda; guaranteed annual pension increases; more free childcare; increased defense spending; and mandatory national service for 18 year olds. 

The main opposition Labour Party hasn't been in government since 2010 and has sometimes struggled to gain support over the last 14 years, its leadership moving the party from the political center-left to left-wing socialism and back towards the center again. 

On May 30, it held 206 seats in parliament but is currently riding high in the opinions polls, most of which predict it will win at least a working majority at the election. Labour needs 326 seats to form a working majority.

Labour's manifesto, which it said focuses on wealth creation, was launched on Thursday. It pledged a new industrial strategy; no increase in the basic, higher, or additional rates of income tax, National Insurance or VAT; scrapping the government's Rwanda plan; doubling onshore wind, tripling solar power and quadrupling offshore wind; recruiting 6,500 new teachers; cutting healthcare waiting times, along with announcing a professed desire to "reset, deepen and improve its relationship with Europe" after the chaotic aftermath of Brexit.

The third largest party is the Liberal Democrats, which held 11 seats at the point of dissolution and sits broadly in the political center-ground between the two main parties, with some policy exceptions. It shared power with the Conservatives in a coalition government between 2010 and 2015. 

On Monday it was the first major party to launch its manifesto, with promises that include a $10 billion 'rescue package' for health and social care, including guarantees on GP access and free personal care for the elderly or disabled; higher taxes on wealthy people, as well as aviation companies, energy firms and banks; a scheme to insulate inefficient homes; more free school meals; a gradual reversal of some aspects of Brexit; and reform of the UK voting system with the introduction of proportional representation and a cap on political donations. 

On Wednesday, The Green Party unveiled its election pledges. It only held one seat on May 30, but has promised to field candidates in every constituency in England and Wales. It's also promising to increase taxes on the wealthy, in order to raise $90 billion a year to fix health services, housing and the climate crisis. 

It says it will also introduce a carbon tax on businesses and expand so-called windfall taxes on fossil fuel profits to banks. Other policies include a ban on domestic flights for journeys that would take less than three hours by train; more investment in public transport; guaranteed access to NHS dentistry; more environmental protection and the promotion of sustainable agriculture. 

Next week will see the publication of a manifesto from the right-wing populist Reform Party, formerly the Brexit Party, which is hoping to win at least one seat and take votes from both the Conservatives and Labour. Others, like the Scottish Nationalist Party (SNP), are also yet to release its full plans. The SNP won 48 of Scotland's 59 Westminster seats in the 2019 election but polls suggest it is on course to lose at least half of those, mainly to Labour.

Plaid Cymru (Party of Wales) released its manifesto on Thursday and, unlike most of its opponents, mentioned the 'B' word - Brexit. Its policies included rejoining the EU Single Market and Customs Union. It also demanded "a fair funding system for Wales" from central government.

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