Britain's Conservative Party launches election campaign
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The British Conservative party, currently ahead in opinion polls prior to the May 6 general election, launched its manifesto Tuesday with a promise to create a "big society."
"This is a plan to change Britain for the better. But not in the traditional way. We don't stand here and make the usual promises - we say no government can solve all the problems on its own, no individual can solve all their problems alone," Conservative leader David Cameron said at the launch.
The manifesto's title - "An Invitation to Join the Government of Britain" - captures the Conservatives' bid to put distance between themselves and the ruling Labour party.
The Conservatives want to portray Labour as a party of bigger government, which makes decisions on behalf of voters. The Conservatives aim to contrast themselves as the party of more efficient government that gives voters the power to make their own decisions.
"It is the idea that drives the Conservative party. There is such a thing as society, it's just not the same as the state," Cameron said.
By so doing, he underlined that his party had moved towards the center, away from the right and away from the political legacy of Margaret Thatcher, the most powerful Conservative prime minister since World War II.
Cameron outlined his vision of a "big society" rather than a "big state".
"Be your own boss. Sack your MP. Choose your own school. Own your own home. Veto high council tax rises. Vote for your police commissioner. Save your local post office. See how government spends your money," he said.
That chimes with traditional Conservative dogma, which favors smaller government, leading to lower costs and to lower taxes.
Cameron also struck a traditional note when he pledged that "real growth (in the economy) will only come when we get the private sector going."
One of the strongest themes in the election campaign for voters is their disgust and disillusion with politicians and politics in Britain in the wake of the Members of Parliament (MPs) expenses scandal. The scandal saw 150 MPs sacked.
The manifesto pledged reforms:
-- reducing the number of MPs by 10 percent, and to cut ministers' pay by 5 percent. To freeze ministers' pay for five years.
-- publishing salaries online of senior civil servants.
-- banning former ministers from parliamentary lobbying for two years after they step down.
-- publishing online all items of spending over 25,000 pounds (about 38,000 U.S. dollars).
On immigration, the Conservatives vowed to have an annual limit on the number of non-European Union economic migrants and to make foreign students pay a bond on entering the country that would be repaid when they left.
On the economy the manifesto repeated the main theme that Labour's planned National Insurance (the tax that pays for the National Health Service) rise for anyone earning under 35,000 pounds (about 53,000 dollars).
In addition, pay for all but the lowest paid public sector workers would be frozen in 2011; council tax (a local tax) would be frozen for two years; there would be a tax break for married couples and a review of state retirement age.
Costs would be cut in central government by 2 billion pounds a year (about 3 billon U.S. dollars); save a billion pounds (about 1.5 billion U.S. dollars) by cutting government-set up bodies, called quangos (quasi autonomous non-governmental organization); save 12 billion pounds (about 18 billion U.S. dollars) a year with a cutback in recruitment, and renegotiated contracts and a freeze on large, new IT projects.
Other headline polices included a form of national service for 16 year olds; powers for employee-led co-operatives to bid to take over the services they run; raising the inheritance tax threshold to 1 million pounds (about 1.5 million U.S. dollars).
In the National Health Service (NHS) the Conservatives said they would increase the powers for doctors and nurses, by decentralizing power, and allow patients to choose any healthcare provider that meets NHS standards, within NHS prices.
For schools and education the manifesto pledged to increase inspection of failing schools, and lower inspection of successful ones; to create 20,000 new apprenticeships and 10,000 new university places; to allow communities to set up their own schools and to improve the quality of teachers by raising the threshold of acceptable qualifications.
Prime Minister Gordon Brown reacted to the Conservative manifesto launch by saying "there is a complete hole in the center of the Conservative manifesto.
"There is nothing in it to help the recovery. Indeed their measures would put the recovery at risk," Brown said. "They are saying you are on your own. They are leaving people on their own to face the recession."
Nick Clegg, leader of the Liberal Democrats, said "Cameron seems to think he should inherit power rather than earn it. It is a manifesto of style over substance. You can't trust the Conservatives when they want to give tax breaks to double millionaires not tax breaks to everybody else."
Britain's ruling Labour party launched its manifesto "A Future, Fair for All", on Monday. Key pledges in the manifesto included a pledge not to increase taxes.
The third party in British politics, the Liberal Democrats, will launch its manifesto Wednesday. The Liberal Democrats may play a key role after the general election.
Opinion polls show that both main parties currently may not have enough support to form a majority government, and would be forced to cut a deal or form a coalition with other parties, and the Lib Dems would then be in a strong position.
All three party leaders are set to make history Thursday with the first live televised debate between party leaders in British political history.
The debate, which will be held in the north of England and focus on domestic policy, is one of a series of three in the run-up to the general election.
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