Today’s election agenda: 12 April
This week is significant mostly for the First Debate of a series of three that will see the main parties leaders face off on the issue of Domestic affairs. However, we will also see the launch of the Labour’s, Tories’ and LibDems’ campaign manifestos and it’s the Labour’s one which will hit the shelves first. David Cameron is likely to reveal some more details from the Tories’ pledge as he continues his campaign trail today, while Nick Clegg will probably continue to outline Labour defficiency, having declared that the ruling party “cannot be trusted” with their promise of a fairer Britain.
Meanwhile, today’s newspapers reflect on plans by Gordon Brown’s party to sort out irregularities in public services, suggesting poor efficiency in institutions such as schools, police forces and hospitals could see new leadership in place, as well as easier lay-offs for insufficient performance at the job (The Guardian). The Daily Telegraph thinks the party’s manifesto will highlight a new “Blairite” agenda in its policy, focusing on family rights and anti-social behaviour in a move that would better their chances of capturing Middle England seats.
Waterstone’s discount on campaign manifestos
Major bookstore chain Waterstone’s are getting in tune with the main issue on the public’s mind for the next 4 weeks, by announcing a special offer on campaign material. The retailer will be giving away political manifestos in a 3-for-2 discount offer in the lead-up to the general election in early May. The three main contenders in the running campaign are all expected to release their campaign manifestos next week and Waterstone’s are one of the retailers keen to stock them in their shops.
Materials will be from all sides, with titles included in the offer coming from Labour, Conservative and Liberal Democrat sources. Waterstone representative Andrew Lake said the company doesn’t expect a major sellout on the books, but that this was one way they were showing consideration for their customers with an active interest in politics or simply the general running and future of the country. And with the general election campaign on everyone’s lips until May 6th, it is one decision that might well pay off for the big seller.
Tory to cut child benefits, say Labour
Tax increases and benefits are high on the agenda of the main contestants of the general election, and every day is another opportunity to do battle on the issue. With the Tories’ main campaign pledge a massive cut in public spending, the Labour focus on outlining what they say will be the sacrifices for this free-up in expenditure.
While visiting a Dumfries Community Centre yesterday, Labour Scottish Secretary Jim Murphy warned about the perils of The Conservatives’ financial plan on family households in particular. He said one of the components of the package includes a cut on child benefits, as well as the child trust fund, giving as an example a couple on a combined income of £31,000, which he estimated could stand to have their child credits cut completely, should a Tory cabinet be in place after May 6th.
Labour candidate in the constituency Russell Brown accompanied the Scottish Secretary in his visit, with Mr Murphy concluding that Tory leadership would not favour the “hard-working families”.
photo: ForeignOfficeLib Dems unhappy over compromises in passing bills
With the current Parliament term drawing to a close, due to be dissolved next Monday, the so-called “wash-up” period has caused a stir among some MPs, unsatisfied at the deals being made between the parties to pass several bills late on. Angry exchanges could be witnessed in the House of Commons this week, as laws such as the digital economy bill were rushed through the process, before being cleared by the Lords.
Liberal Democrats in particular complained about what they called the “collusion” between the two main parties to dilute a proposed reform of the House of Lords. Reforms put forward by the Lib Dems included measures for the resignation or expelling of Lords, as well as a plan to gradually phase out remaining hereditary peers in the House. David Howarth, Lib Dem justice spokesman, yesterday declared: “the process of ‘wash-up’ is now washed up“.
At the opposing end, Shadow justice secretary Dominic Grieve thought there was no such “collusion”. The Conservatives made such compromises as dropping their opposition to the six-year keeping of DNA information on people not charged with any offence, announcing however they would attack this again should they win power in the election next month.
photo: davidChiefNo job cuts in savings effort, say Tories
A claim by Sir Peter Gershon, Conservative Party adviser, that the Tories plan to save up to £2bn on recruitment has caused a stir among the general public, as financial experts warned this could imply 40,000 job losses in a single year. However, the poll’s current favourites for the May 6 election have come out to say the estimate was based on a halt in hiring in the public sector, rather than job cuts.
This only fueled warnings by their adversaries, as the Labour and Liberal Democrats say massive cost cutting, such as this one, without a tax raise and whilst keeping the job count intact, are not “credible” plans as such. This is especially important for the Labour, with Gordon Brown’s team having to convince the public of the utility and success potential of a financial plan based on raising National Insurance in 2011.
Tory officials have given Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs as an example of an institution that could fund the cost-cutting, saying around 20,000 vacant positions there would be included in the hiring freeze to save jobs elsewhere. Overall, the Conservatives are planning to save an estimated £12bn, of which half would likely go to other government departments.
Scottish Start for Liberal Democrat campaign
LibDem leader, MP Nick Clegg, was in Glasgow today to officially get his party’s general election campaign under way. As the marginal seats across the country are said to ultimately represent the determining factor in this election, Clegg has promised to drop in on as many such constituencies as possible in the month leading up to election. In Scotland, only a few hundred votes separate the Libder Democrats from the Tories in second place.
While in Glasgow, Mr Clegg called the Tories’ financial plans a ‘VAT bomb’, saying that people would be forced to pay up to £389 more in VAT every year while under a Conservative ruling. Not that the public would fare much better, under a Labour cabinet, he announced. Scottish Lib Dem leader Tavish Scott, as well as Charles Kennedy, also took part in the Scottish launch of the party’s campaign in the city. From there, Clegg was due to travel on to other constituency, with his schedule for today alone taking him on more than 1,100 miles by road or air.
photo: LiberalDemocratsTories propose citizen service for 16-year-olds
Conservative MP David Cameron, campaigning for his party’s general election effort, has put forward a citizen service scheme under which 16 year olds would be encouraged to take up voluntary work in their areas and getting involved in community work or all sorts of outdoor activity. Some see this as a reaction to the Labour Party’s Youth Community Action scheme, an initiative that kicked off last month, seeing teens between 14 and 16 years of age similarly encouraged to get together and take up voluntary work in their home communities.
Mr Cameron’s plan aims to “mix young people from different backgrounds, ethnicities and religions”, in a way that the Tory MP says isn’t happening at the moment. Social responsibilty and serving one’s communities are other domensions which the political leader thinks the plan will shape in the young participants.
Labour pledge no raise in basic rate in income tax
With the election debates due to heavily revolve around tax levels, national insurance and job security, Gordon Brown has come out early on to reveal that his party’s campaign pledge will announce a commitment to keep the basic rate in income tax. Some are even expecting the Labour Party to promise a freeze in all three income tax rates, including the 50p one, which has just come in effect this week.
It is, however, only one of many issues that the Conservatives are bringing on the table against the ruling party, as the Labour’s planned National Insurance tax is thought by the opposition to halt economic recovery. In turn, Tory officials are asked to account for a promised £6bn cut in government spending, their main standing point on the promise of largely keeping tax levels down, while reducing the country’s deficit level.
Tax issues held the spotlight on the second (official) day of campaigning, with Foreign Secretary David Miliband stating in an interview that the Tories do not have a solution handy to fund the tax cuts they have been promising. In opposition, Liberal Democrats are stating the poor state of country’s tax revenue will not have them contest the NI tax increase, but that they are striving to exclude the people on the lowest income from paying tax altogether.
Candidates set out on their campaign trail
As the three star runners in the general election race set off to criss-cross the country for the next 30 days, all eyes were on them to follow their every move, find reason in their smallest gestures and words and, ultimately, turn this into an early prediction for an outcome that looks anything but predictable.
Gordon Brown, Labour Prime Minister since June 2007, used his election day announcement to ask the British people “for a clear and straightforward mandate to continue the urgent and hard work of securing the recovery, building our industry for the future and creating a million skilled jobs for the next five years”. A confident message from a leader whose team (the full cabinet was gathered outside his residence) is described by the opposition as being exhausted and out of clues in the country’s financial recovery battle.
It is then not surprising that Mr. Brown’s main contender, Tory MP David Cameron, is putting on a lively image of a powerful leader. Journalists gathered outside Mr Cameron’s residence early this morning were at hand to see him rise to an early day and have an invigorating run. Later on, just across the Thames from the Parliament, Cameron pulled no punches in a speech that got up front and personal with Brown’s policies and future plans.
Liberal-democrat Nick Clegg took the predictable stance of putting the two main parties together, in an attempt to polarize the potentially undecided voters against disappointments past and present with the cabinets of the past decades, outlining their making mistakes “over and over again”.
The focus will no doubt be on the marginal seats this campaign. The libdems accompanied their leader to Watford, currently a labour constituency, while Gordon Brown travelled to several Kent seats, in a defensive stance trying to hold on to some of the key areas currently in his party’s hand. David Cameron covered some ground, with visits in Birmingham and Leeds that’s iconic of the amount of ground the Tories must cover to earn the 116 seats needed for a Parliamentary majority.
photo: WEF
Gordon Brown triggers election day – May 6th
Prime Minister Gordon Brown set the election ball rolling today as he visited Buckingham Palace to get the Queen’s formal approval for the dissolution of Parliament and setting a long-anticipated date for the general elections on May 6th. The Labour leader then rallied his cabinet around him at 10 Downing Street to the make the official announcement and set off what looks to be the most heated race for the polls in quite some time.
As Mr. Brown himself admitted in his speech today, the election was long-predicted, with media and politicians alike bringing it on the table since the summer of 2007. With the stakes running high and such an uncertain outcome, preparations have been taking place asiduously and real campaining begun long before today’s announcement for the election date.
No less than three television debates are due to catch the voting population’s attention in the coming weeks leading up to the polling day. In the meantime, all the 3 main candidates have set off across the country on a campaign trail that all will be hoping to end at Downing Street. We look at how and where each chose to start their campaign efforts later in the day.
photo: DowningStreet
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