General Election 2010 The Labour Party

SymbolLeader Gordon Brown Born 20 th February 1951 (59) MP for Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath (Scotland) Leader of the Labour Party and Prime Minister since June 2007.

The Labour Party Fact-file Also known as ‘New Labour’. Beliefs:  People in the UK need to work together more.  The Government should not take too much of people’s money in tax BUT richer people should pay more tax the poorer people.  People should be able to rely on the Government to help them with money when they need it – there should be very strict rules about who gets help and it should be limited, but people should be able to live comfortably. People should be allowed to save and pay for themselves where they can.  England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales should stay together as one country, but each country should have its own Parliament.  People should be proud to be British, and people from ethnic minorities should be proud to be British BUT all backgrounds should be celebrated.  Britain should be a part of the European Union and allow some important decisions to be made in Europe. Britain should keep the pound until it will be better for us to use the Euro.  Britain should have a strong army, navy and air-force.

The Labour Party – Most Important Promises Wait until 2011 for the Government to spend less money and to halve what the UK owes in 4 years. Increase spending on the NHS and schools but freeze or cut spending in other areas from Ensure all people who suspect they have cancer get test results within one week. Hold a referendum (vote) on making the voting system to Parliament fairer by October 2011.

The Labour Party – Money Already have done a lot of things to deal with the economic crisis. Have saved banks which have failed, protecting the people who use them. Will cut the amount the UK owes by 50% in 4 years. The bonus (extra) payments given to bankers are being taxed. A higher tax rate for people who earn a lot of money. Increase National Insurance (for health and social security) payments by 1% from April 2011; Get rid of a tax called Stamp Duty for first-time buyers on homes up to £250,000 for 2 years. Make the Stamp Duty higher for properties worth over £1 million from Not increase the tax paid on money left when people die for 4 years/ increase spending in the NHS and schools but freeze or cut spending in other areas between Control banks more so that they cannot lose people’s money.

The Labour Party – Race and Immigration 60,000 a year less people have been allowed to settle in the UK as asylum seekers. Only people who earn a certain amount of points based on their skills are allowed to live in the UK. Have created a single border police force to guard ports and airports. Have created electronic border controls to count people in and out of the country. Give more money to parts of the country which take in the most migrants. Introduced compulsory Identity Cards for people who do not come from the UK. Employers have to advertise skilled jobs in job centres four weeks before appointing someone from outside of Europe.

The Labour Party – Afghanistan and Defence Carry on sending soldiers to Afghanistan and Iraq. Have stopped British soldiers fighting in Iraq. Buy new and better nuclear weapons for Britain. Work more with other countries to defend each other, especially France. Give free further or higher education to soldiers, sailors and people from the air force who have served for 6 years. Spend £8 billion over 10 years to make the houses people in the army, navy and air-force live in better. Make sure people in the army, navy and airforce and their families get treatment on the NHS when they are made to move homes. Build two new aircraft carriers.

The Labour Party – Crime Since Labour has come to power, crime has decreased by 40%. There are 15,000 more police since Labour won their first election. Parents of badly behaved children between 10 and 15 should be interviewed and actions taken against them if it is the parent’s fault. If a child gets an ASBO (Anti-Social Behaviour Order) their parents’ should have a ‘Parenting Order’, telling them what they MUST do to be a proper parent. People who use a knife in a crime should get a longer prison sentence. Police should carry weapons scanners. Money spent on the police will not be cut at all at least until Police should have less forms to fill in. People should NOT vote for who is in charge of the police in their area. Add 15,000 more prison places by 2014.

The Labour Party – Health To keep spending the same amount or more on caring for patients. To ensure all people who think they have cancer to get test results within 1 week. Promise cancer patients they will see a specialist within two weeks. Offer everyone between 40 and 74 a free, NHS health check every 5 years. Promise NHS patients the right to wait no longer than 18 weeks from the moment they see a doctor to when they are treated in a hospital. Set up a "National Care Service" for old and sick people to make sure that they are looked after properly. Give free personal care to people who need it the most for life. Pay for old people’s care costs after they have spent two years in special homes.

The Labour Party – Education Not spend any less on education than at the moment. Open more Academies (schools not run by the local Council), and allow Universities to set them up. Give more money to schools teaching pupils from poor families. Give school pupils one-to-one English and Maths lessons if they fall behind. Allow strong schools to help weaker schools get better. Introduce school "report cards", which would rate schools on things like exam results, behaviour and what parents’ and children’s think about a school. Let more people go to university, but make everyone pay to go. Make an extra 20,000 university places in Introduce a "licence to teach" for teachers which they have to renew every 5 years.

The Labour Party – Family Increase free nursery places for 3-4 year-olds from 12.5 hours per week to 15 hours per week. Employ two extra workers in 1500 areas to help people who are poor. Provide nursery places for 20,000 two-year-olds in the poorest areas by Provide 2 people to help parents in every council area. Provide £73 million to help poorer families afford people to look after their children while they work. Will not let married couples pay less tax than couples who are not married. Carry on paying money to new mothers for 9 months, but not increase it.

The Labour Party – Environment Cut greenhouse gases by 34% by 2020 and 80% cut by Spend £2 billion on a "Green Bank" to encourage companies to produce and use renewable energy. Encourage the building of new, better and cleaner nuclear power stations. continue to increase a tax which forces electricity companies to use renewable energy. Make energy companies use ‘smart meters’, which tell you how much energy you are using, for all homes by Offer every household the right to have home insulation, with payment back from the savings the home makes in bills. Ensure all new homes are energy efficient from 2016.

The Labour Party – Pensions Pensions should go up at the same level as wages by Increase the age people can have their pension to 66 in 2024, to 67 in 2034 and 68 in 2044; Everyone should have a second pension. Nobody should be made to retire when they reach pension age.

The Labour Party – Housing Build 200,000 new houses a year until 2016, then 240,000 a year until New companies to be set up by councils to build new, cheap housing. Continue to use Home Information Packs when people are selling their houses. Continue home ownership schemes to help people who need help to buy a home. Continue to make everyone who buys a house worth over £125,000 pay the special tax on buying houses BUT for 2 years, stop people who are buying their first house have to pay it if they are spending less than £250,000. Remind everyone that since Labour have been in charge there are less homeless people and less people living rough.

The Labour Party – Foreign Affairs and Europe Agree to get rid of the pound and join the Euro BUT only when it would be good for Britain to do this. Support the idea of Turkey and Croatia joining the EU. Keep the European law which says people can only work a certain amount of hours. Make stronger friendships with India, China and Brazil. Support the idea that Germany, Japan, India, Brazil and Africa have a more powerful voice in the United Nations. Try and sort out the differences between Israel and Palestine. Talk to Iran to stop them making their own nuclear weapons. Increase the amount we spend on helping other poorer countries.

The Labour Party – Local Government Stop local councils putting up Council Tax too much. Cut the number of things a local council has to prove it does (cutting costs and paperwork). Give more powers to local councils. Allow towns and cities who want them to have directly-elected mayors.

The Labour Party – Transport Carry on building the London Crossrail project. Build a £30 billion "Y-shaped" high-speed rail-line from London to Manchester and Leeds via Birmingham. Support the third runway for Heathrow on condition that air quality, noise and carbon emissions reductions are good. Spend £10 billion on building more railways by 2014, including £5.5 billion for Thameslink, £600m to improve stations at Birmingham New Street and Reading and £150m for 150 other stations. Not charge people to pay to use roads before Increase the tax on petrol by 3p, in three stages over the next year.

The Labour Party – Countryside and Farming Have had successful policies e.g. stopped fox-hunting, introduced conservation areas in the sea, gave people the right to walk where they wanted to in the Countryside and sorted out the 2007 Foot and Mouth outbreak. Everyone in the countryside should have broadband access by Get the EU to change rules so that farmers get help for doing useful things in the countryside. All food should be labelled to tell people where it came from. Give farmers less paperwork to do. Allow some genetically modified crops if they are safe.

The Labour Party – Human Rights and Freedoms Only allow people to be kept in prison for 28 days without being charged (although originally wanted it to be 42 days). Have introduced 5 laws which protect people against terrorism. All non-British people must have an identity card by People can have an identity card if they choose to and their details and the details of all passport holders are kept on a database. Keep holding the DNA from criminals but make sure if someone is found innocent, their DNA is removed and destroyed after a fixed period of between six and 12 years.

The Labour Party – Making Government Better Have changed Government for the better more than any Government in many years. Would have a vote on making the voting system fairer by October Replace the Human Rights Act with a British Bill of Rights. Let the Scottish Parliament collects taxes and the Welsh Assembly make laws. Not allow rich people to give too much money to political parties. Put limits on the amount that political parties are allowed to spend on elections.