Elect us and we will bring back 'the good life' for working people, pledges Cameron

DAVID Cameron has promised to bring back "the good life" for millions of Britons with ambitious Tory plans to boost jobs, cut tax and curb mass immigration.

David Cameron GETTY

David Cameron announcing general election manifesto

At an upbeat General Election campaign event, the Prime Minister unveiled a Conservative manifesto setting out policies designed to provide "security" at every stage of life.

To help families, he announced a surprise new proposal for 30 hours of childcare a week worth £5,000 a year.

And to confirm his bid to rebrand the Tories as "the party of working people", Mr Cameron pledged a tax cut that will guarantee that no one earning the minimum wage for a 30-hour working will week will pay any income tax.

Speaking in front of a Union Flag backdrop at the manifesto launch in Swindon, Wiltshire, Mr Cameron insisted that a job, a home, tax cuts and security in retirement added up to "the greatest sunshine" for voters.

"We are on the brink of something special in our country," he declared.

Mr Cameron struck an optimistic tone, arguing that rewards

The 80-page manifesto confirmed Tory commitments to spend an extra £8billion a year on the NHS, expand the number of free schools and freeze rail fares in real terms.

It insisted reducing annual net immigration to "tens of thousands" a year remained a Tory ambition and committed the party to delivering an in-or-out EU referendum by the end of 2017.

And in an attempt to revive the spirit of Margaret Thatcher's housing revolution, the manifesto pledged to extend the council house Right To Buy scheme to 1.3million housing association tenants.

Mr Cameron said: "These past five years have been a critical period. We have drawn on all the resources of our nation to turn a great recession into a great recovery.

"The next five years are about turning the good news in our economy into a good life for you and your family.

"They're about realising the potential of Britain not as a debt-addicted, welfare-burdened, steadily-declining, once-great nation - which is what we found - but a country where a good life is there for everyone willing to work for it.

These past five years have been a critical period. We have drawn on all the resources of our nation to turn a great recession into a great recovery

David Cameron

"Britain has lived its long life as an exemplary country, the small island with a massive impact, the bright light in the North Sea that has exceeded expectations decade after decade, century after century."

Labour last night claimed the Tory manifesto concealed unfunded spending commitments that would add up to nearly £25billion a year by 2020.

Labour leader Ed Miliband said: "The reality about the Conservative Party is that they are the party not of working people. First, last and always they are the party of the richest in our society."

Paul Johnson, director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies, said "dramatic" public spending cuts were needed to achieve the Tory manifesto promises.

"We're talking tens and tens of billions of pounds-worth of spending cuts or tax increases even before you start to think about some of the promises that we've heard on the National Health Service, on increasing the personal tax allowance," he told Sky News.

But Mark Littlewood, director-general at the Institute of Economic Affairs, said: “The Conservative Party’s plans on tax are good news for people across the UK."

And Terry Scuoler, Chief Executive of EEF, the manufacturers’ organisation, said: “The Prime Minister has set strong ambitions for Britain to be the most prosperous economy in the world by 2030."

George Osborne GETTY

George Osborne Chancellor of the Exchequer

TAX AND WELFARE

Income tax will be cut for 30million people, under Tory manifesto plans.

The document promised that a Tory government will lift thresholds to ensure that everyone who earns less than £12,500 a year will be taken out of income tax altogether.

A new law will ensure that nobody working 30 hours a week on the minimum wage would pay income tax on their earnings.

The move would mean the basic income tax threshold would rise automatically with hikes in the minimum wage recommended by the Low Pay Commission.

The Tories also promise to "back aspiration" by raising the 40p tax threshold to ensure no one earning under £50,000 a year pays it by 2020.

"We believe that cutting people's taxes is the right thing to do - not only because it's your money, but also because cutting the taxes of the lowest paid and helping them to stand on their own two feet is the most effective poverty-tackling measure there is," says the manifesto.

To cut welfare bills, the annual limit on benefit claims per household will be reduced from £26,000 to £23,000.

ECONOMY AND JOBS

Two million more jobs are to be created in Britain over the next five years in a Tory drive towards full employment.

The document also promises that a Tory government would wipe out the Treasury's deficit, balance the nation's books and deliver a budget surplus by 2020.

"We will finish the job by eliminating the deficit to keep our economy secure and keep your taxes and mortgage payments down," the manifesto says.

It calls for the building of a "Northern Powerhouse", upgrading transport networks in the North of England to encourage economic growth and end the "North-South divide".

Businesses are promised "the most competitive taxes of any major economy" in the world.

Theresa May GETTY

Home Secretary, Theresa May

IMMIGRATION

The Tory manifesto acknowledges that a surge in migration from other EU countries fuelled by Britain's economic growth stymied the Tory target to cut in immigration.

But it insists that a major overhaul of welfare rules can cut the numbers arriving from within the EU.

"Our action has not been enough to cut annual net migration to the tens of thousands. That ambition remains the right one," the manifesto says.

It pledges to clamp down on illegal immigration, enhance border security and set up a fund to ease pressure on local areas and public services.

 

SCHOOLS AND TRAINING

Every child "deserves the best start in life", the Tory manifesto says.

Ministers will turn every failing or coating secondary school into an academy and the number of free schools will continue to expand from the current 250 if the Tories return to government.

There will also be "zero tolerance for failure" in primary schools.

A further three million apprenticeships are promised to help youngsters get started on their careers.

HOSPITALS

A new Tory government would increase annual spending on the NHS to reach an additional £8billion above inflation by 2020, according to the party's manifesto.

Every NHS patient will be entitled to see a GP or get hospital care seven days a week by 2020, and people aged 75 or over will be able to get an appointment on the same day.

The manifesto promises a new Better Care Fund to integrate social care for the elderly with the rest of the NHS and promises that Britain can "lead the world in fighting cancer and finding a cure for dementia."

It insists the NHS will remain "free for you to use" under the Tories.

 

HOMES

Expanding home ownership will be a key mission for a new Tory government, the manifesto says.

"Conservatives believe passionately in home ownership," the document points out.

It promises to "help keep mortgage rates lower" by working for a stable economy.

A commitment to build 200,000 new starter homes exclusively for first-time buyers aged under 40 is set out.

The Tories also want to extend the Help to Buy Equity Loan scheme to 2020 to help more families get on the housing ladder and set up a Help to Buy ISA to support people saving for a deposit.

And in a new announcement made by Mr Cameron yesterday, the Tories plan to give 1.3million housing association tenants the right to buy their homes.

RETIREMENT

The Tory manifesto promises to make Britain "the best country in which to grow old."

It says: "Our pensioners have made this country what it is, and we believe that, in return, younger generations owe it to them to ensure they have dignity and security in their old age."

A state pension that rises every year, with in line with inflation, earnings or a minimum of 2.5% is promised.

New freedom to "invest and spend your pension however you like" is promised.

Pensioner benefits including free bus passes, television licences and Winter Fuel Payments would be protected under a Tory government.

And the manifesto also sets out a proposal to take family homes out of inheritance tax for all but the very richest by raising the death duty threshold for married couples and civil partners to £1million.

 

OTHER PROPOSALS INCLUDE:

Reclaiming powers from Brussels and an in-or-out referendum on Britain’s membership of the European Union no later than the end of 2017.

English MPs will get a veto over matters debated in Parliament that only effect England.

The Human Rights Act will be scrapped and the role of the European Court of Human Rights will be curbed so foreign criminals can be deported more easily.

Public subsidies for on-shore wind farms will be ended.

Britain will continue to meet the target of spending 0.7% of national income on overseas aid every year.

Press freedom will be defended with new protections for journalists from police snooping.

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