Scottish Conservative Manifesto 2010 INVITATION TO JOIN THE GOVERNMENT OF BRITAIN
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ECONOMY The Conservatives will have an emergency budget within 50 days to set out a credible plan to bring the country’s massive debt under control. The debt burden is risking higher mortgage and interest rates, and threatening jobs and investment. The Conservatives will scrap Labour’s planned increase in National Insurance. We will cut waste to cut Labour’s tax on jobs. 7 out of 10 Scots will be better off and no one will be worse off.
The Conservatives support a high speed rail link between Scotland and London to be built in cooperation with the Scottish Government. The Conservatives will ensure that by far the largest part of the burden of dealing with the deficit falls on lower spending, rather than higher taxes. The Conservatives will cut Whitehall policy, funding and regulation costs by a third, saving £2 billion a year.
The Conservatives will cut Employer National Insurance contributions for the first ten employees of new businesses over the next two years.
The Conservatives will ensure everyone who is capable of work will be given the choice between engaging in return to work programmes or losing their benefits.
The Conservatives will reduce youth unemployment and reduce the number of children in workless households.
The Conservatives will ensure people who claim benefits for two out of three years will be made to work for the dole.
The Conservatives will ensure the consumer gets a fair deal at the pump by reducing the business rates on rural petrol stations and by looking at the introduction of a fuel price stabiliser.
The Conservatives will use private and voluntary organisations to help unemployed people back to work and pay them by results.
Scottish Conservative Manifesto 2010 FAMILY
POLITICS The Conservatives will cut the cost of politics by cutting back on political perks like ministerial cars. The Conservatives will reduce the number of MPs and introduce a 5% cut in ministerial pay then freeze it for 5 years. The Conservatives will allow electors to sack MPs for proven serious wrongdoing. The Conservatives will cut the perks and bureaucracy associated with Parliament to save over £100 million per year.
The Conservatives support a freeze on Council Tax for a further two years. This would follow on from the three year Council Tax freeze Scots have already enjoyed thanks to the Conservatives.
The Conservatives first raised the issue of cutting the cost of running the Scottish Parliament and will support measures over the next three years proposed by the all party corporate body to cut the Parliament’s budget by £10 million.
The Conservatives will take 9 out of 10 first time buyers out of stamp duty by raising the threshold to £250,000.
The Conservatives will abolish any quangos that do not perform a technical function or one that requires political impartiality.
The Conservatives will extend the right to request flexible working to every parent with a child under the age of eighteen. The Conservatives will introduce a new system of flexible paternal leave which lets parents share maternity leave between them.
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The Conservatives support the provision of free nursery care for pre-school children.
VOTE FOR CHANGE. VOTE CONSERVATIVE.
The Conservatives would give parents more flexibility on their free nursery school entitlement.
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The Conservatives will recognise marriage and civil partnerships in the tax system.
Conservative candidates have signed a pledge to be open and honest about their expenses if elected as MPs in Scotland. This will mean they will publish every claim on-line.
The Conservatives will raise the Inheritance Tax threshold to £1 million so parents can leave more of their savings to their children. Under Labour anyone with assets and savings worth more than £325,000 is at risk of paying Inheritance Tax.
The Conservatives will introduce a public sector pay freeze for 2011-2012 for people who earn over £18,000. This will protect up to 100,000 jobs.
The Conservatives will fight the SNP Government’s plans to abolish Right to Buy in Scotland. This revolutionary policy helped millions of people on low incomes to own their own homes.
The Conservatives will introduce a transparency revolution in public spending, for example we will publish details of all UK Government contracts worth over £25,000. The Conservatives will set up an independent expert group to make sure Governments keep their promises on spending. Page 2
Scottish Conservative Manifesto 2010 ELDERLY AND PENSIONS
The Conservatives will repair the damage done to the relationship between our Governments and Parliaments by Gordon Brown and Alex Salmond. David Cameron has promised to come to Scotland to meet with the First Minister. The Conservative ministers at Westminster will meet regularly with MSPs to discuss issues relating to finance and which require a combination of reserved and devolved powers to tackle effectively.
The Conservatives will increase the basic state pension in line with earnings, not for one year but for every year.
The Conservatives will publish a White Paper on how we propose to take forward the recommendations of the Calman Commission before the next Scottish Parliament elections in 2011. BUSINESS
The Conservatives will keep the Winter Fuel Allowance, the free TV licences for over 75s, free bus passes and provide up to £6500 to help pensioners insulate their homes. The Conservatives will keep the Attendance Allowance and Disability Living Allowance which Labour could scrap. The Conservatives have plans to allow anyone to protect their home from being sold to fund residential care costs by paying a one-off insurance premium that is entirely voluntary. This will complement free personal care. The Conservatives will end the effective obligation to buy an annuity at age 75, giving people in retirement more control over their pension income.
The Conservatives will get credit flowing again by using Government guarantees to create affordable credit for small and medium sized businesses. The Conservatives will cut the headline rate of corporation tax to 25p or lower, and the small companies’ rate to 20p.
BRITAIN AND SCOTLAND The Conservatives will reduce the burden of red tape on business with a ‘one in, one out’ rule for new regulations. The Conservatives will improve Britain’s international rankings for tax competitiveness and business regulation. The Conservatives will open up government procurement to small and medium sized businesses.
The Conservatives will fight to ensure Scotland remains part of the United Kingdom.
The Conservatives will extend the right to request flexible working to everyone in the public sector. Page 3
Scottish Conservative Manifesto 2010 DEFENCE
The Conservatives will promote integration into British society as we believe everyone coming to this country must be ready to embrace our core values. The Conservatives will extend the early deportation of foreign national prisoners. The Conservatives will create a dedicated Border Police Force to enhance national security and crack down on illegal immigration and people trafficking.
The Conservatives will always ensure our troops have the resources they need to carry out their mission properly.
The Conservatives will introduce an English language test for anyone coming to Britain to get married. BANKING
The Conservatives will double the Operational Allowance for Military personnel on active service overseas to an average of £4,800 for a six month tour of duty. The Conservatives will take proper care of our veterans and armed forces’ families by giving them special care on the NHS. The Conservatives will keep the UK's nuclear deterrent and replace the current Trident system. The Conservatives will provide university scholarships for the children of servicemen and women killed while on active duty. IMMIGRATION
The Conservatives will abolish Gordon Brown’s failed tripartite system of regulation and put The Bank of England in charge of prudential supervision. The Conservatives will reform the regulation and structure of the banking system to ensure greater availability of credit for small and medium-sized enterprises. The Conservatives will offer a “people’s bank bonus” as the government comes to sell off its holdings in the banks, so that everybody in the country has the chance to buy a stake in the state-owned banks. The Conservatives will create Britain’s first Green Investment Bank to finance new green technology start-ups and back the bright ideas of the future. INTERNATIONAL The Conservatives will never take Britain into the Euro. We will legislate to ensure any future Labour Government would have to hold a referendum.
The Conservatives will cut net migration into Britain back to the levels of the 1990s and we will set an annual limit on the number of nonEU economic migrants admitted into the UK to live and work.
The Conservatives will seek a mandate to negotiate the return of powers from the EU to the UK. The Conservatives will hold a referendum on any treaty handing more powers from Britain to Europe. Page 4
Scottish Conservative Manifesto 2010 The Conservatives will increase international aid to the UN target of 0.7% of national income by 2013.
The Conservatives will support the strongest possible protection for endangered species and work to protect vital habitats from destruction.
The Conservatives will ban any organisations which advocate hate or the violent overthrow of our society, and close down organisations which attempt to fund terrorism from the UK.
The Conservatives will transform our electricity networks with ‘smart grid’ and ‘smart meter’ technology which automatically matches supply and demand, allowing a huge increase in renewable power. HEALTH The Conservatives will protect the NHS budget and ensure that care is free at the point of delivery. The Conservatives want to end the postcode lottery system and make clinically effective drugs available to patients all across Scotland. We would fund this by scrapping Labour’s tax on jobs which will free up £20 million.
ENERGY AND THE ENVIRONMENT The Conservatives will reduce UK greenhouse gas emissions and increase our share of global markets for low carbon technologies. The Conservatives will safeguard Britain’s energy security by ensuring Britain has a diverse range of electricity generating capacity, including nuclear.
The Conservatives would pilot GP walk-in centres in busy areas so people can get easy, nonappointment, short-wait access to health-care. The Conservatives would increase the number of health visitors to give every family the best start and support in life.
The Conservatives will create a “Green Deal”, giving every home up to £6,500 worth of energy improvement measures, working with the Scottish Government to implement this in Scotland. The Conservatives will introduce honesty in food labelling, if necessary through legislation, so consumers can be confident about where their food comes from. The Conservatives will negotiate for further reform of the Common Agricultural Policy to deliver greater value for money while supporting the sustainability of British farming. The Conservatives want to reform the Common Fisheries Policy to return more control to the fishing industry in Scotland. The Conservatives will establish an independent supermarket ombudsman.
The Conservatives would introduce a new dentistry contract to stem the flow of dentists and other dental professionals out of the NHS. The Conservatives will renegotiate the GP contract at UK level to improve out of hours services The Conservatives want to expand the use of direct payments by removing the barriers which stand in the way of their uptake. The Conservatives believe an electronic bed management system, with infection tracking, to secure safer, cleaner hospitals is crucial to patient safety. Page 5
Scottish Conservative Manifesto 2010 The Conservatives would promote the use of synthetic phonics to teach reading, which has proven very successful in the areas of Scotland in which it has been tried so far.
The Conservative priority is to focus health spending on front line services rather than the phasing out of prescription charges for the well-off which will cost the NHS at least ÂŁ57 million per year. The Conservatives would target problem drinks through the tax system and clamp down on underage selling. The SNP minimum pricing policy is probably illegal and punishes responsible drinkers.
The Conservatives want to introduce a National Citizen Service providing a programme for 16 year olds. JUSTICE
EDUCATION AND YOUNG PEOPLE The Conservatives would set up Second Chance Centres so continually disruptive pupils are removed from mainstream education and taught in separate classrooms until they show they can behave. The Conservatives would give head teachers more say over the running of their schools, especially when it comes to teacher recruitment, budgets and discipline. The Conservatives would give parents more choice on where they send their children to school. The Conservatives would allow charities and not-for-profit trusts to set up new schools, which would receive funding from the state based on the number of pupils they attract.
The Conservatives in Scotland support the ending of automatic early release of prisoners. Any early release must be earned. The Conservatives want a presumption of a minimum sentence of two years for those convicted of a knife crime. The Conservatives oppose the SNP’s plan to effectively abolish custodial sentences of less than six months. The Conservatives will encourage the police to publish detailed local crime statistics every month. The Conservatives believe the names and photographs of sex offenders who have broken their registration requirements ought to be published when this is in the interests of public safety.
The Conservatives support the establishment of sports trust funds to give young people greater opportunity to take part in sports given the failure of the SNP Government to deliver 2 hours PE per week for pupils. The Conservatives would give all young people the opportunity to experience a full week of residential outdoor education at least once between the ages of 11 and 15.
The Conservatives will introduce lie detector tests for sex offenders and support greater use of GPS tracking for those deemed to be at risk of absconding. The Conservatives will increase prison capacity where necessary. The Conservatives will ensure prison places are not taken up with fine defaulters. Page 6
Scottish Conservative Manifesto 2010
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Scottish Conservative Manifesto 2010 83 Princes Street, Edinburgh EH2 2ER t: 0131 247 6890 www.scottishconservatives.com