The Conservative Party took the unusual step of launching its general election manifesto on a Sunday afternoon, which could be interpreted as an attempt to avoid scrutiny.
After all, central to Boris Johnson’s pitch to the country is to ‘Get Brexit Done’, and any other policy debates could be a distraction from that core message. To that end, the respected economic think-tank the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) said on Sunday: “As a blueprint for five years in government the lack of significant policy action is remarkable.”
Despite this, the launch was notable for the plans dropped, policies the government has U-turned on and and questions raised over the proposals that have made the cut.
1. Johnson’s income tax cut promise ditched
Johnson’s promise of income tax cuts worth £8 billion for Britain’s highest earners has been ditched, the manifesto confirmed.
During his successful campaign for the Tory leadership earlier this year, Johnson made the pledge to raise the earnings level at which the 40p income tax rate kicks in from £50,000 to £80,000.
But he confirmed on Sunday that the tax cut, which would have benefited the 10 per cent richest households in the UK by up to £6,000 a year, has been dropped.
The party said instead its “triple lock” will remain in place with no increases in income tax, national insurance and VAT for five years.
The prime minister also said he had decided to focus tax cuts instead on “people who need them most” by raising the threshold for National Insurance contributions (NICs) to £9,500 next year.
2. ‘Notable omission’ of plan for social care reform
In his first speech as prime minister, Johnson made fixing the care system for older people a priority.
“We will fix the crisis in social care once and for all, and with a clear plan we have prepared to give every older person the dignity and security they deserve,” he said outside Downing Street.
In the manifesto, and as previously announced, the Tories said there will be an extra £1 billion a year for social care and a promise of cross-party working.
But the IFS suggested this fell well short of the PM’s bold ambition.
Its director Paul Johnson said: “One notable omission is any plan for social care.
“In his first speech as prime minister Boris Johnson promised to ‘fix the crisis in social care once and for all’.
“After two decades of dither by both parties in government it seems we are no further forward.”
Barbara Keeley, Labour’s Shadow Minister for Social Care and Mental Health, said the pledge on social care “is a plan to develop a plan, with no new money”.
She added: “Having cut almost £8 billion from social care, the Conservatives are letting down older and disabled people by completely failing to propose a solution to the care crisis they created.”
3. U-turn on bursaries for nurses
The Conservative manifesto reintroduces a nurse bursary – which the government had scrapped – worth £5,000 to £8,000 per year.
The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) and others had attacked the government’s decision to replace undergraduate bursaries for nurses with student loans three years ago.
Its figures suggest nursing degree applications in England have fallen by 13,000 since, and the RCN said that removing the bursary has been a “disaster”.
Johnson declined to say they should never have been scrapped but said there was a need to provide “incentives”.
The RCN questioned the proposal on Sunday, warning that “costly tuition fees” would still be a deterrent to the profession.
4. Pledge on 50,000 ‘new’ nurses questioned
Johnson pledged to recruit 50,000 more nurses - but the promise appeared to be unravelling within minutes of it being announced.
The £750 million-a-year promise to boost staff numbers was the new centrepiece of his programme for government for the next five years.
But Labour accused him of “fake” figures as it emerged that a big chunk of the ‘new’ staff would actually come from retaining existing nurses currently working in the health service.
New support for students will produce an extra 14,000 nurses, while 12,500 more will come from overseas and 5,000 from new nurse apprenticeships, party aides revealed.
However, the bulk of the 50,000 staff increase overall will come from better ‘retention’ of existing staff.
New measures to improve childcare for those who want to return to work and fresh training and management support will be the drivers for retention, party sources said.
5. Police numbers still ‘at least 6% lower than in 2010’
The manifesto promised an additional 20,000 police officers to “take take violent criminals off the streets and protect us and our country”.
But as the independent fact-checking charity Full Fact pointed out, the move means there are still fewer police officers on the country’s streets than before the start of austerity in 2010.
FullFact said: “The manifesto confirms a previously announced pledge to put ’20,000 more officers on the streets’.
“This would return the number of police officers to almost, but not quite, the total in 2010.
“Between 2010 and 2019, the number of police officers in England and Wales fell by 20,752. That’s a fall of 14%.
“But because the country’s population has grown since 2010, the number of police officers per person has fallen by 19%.
“Recruiting another 20,000 police officers would leave the number of police officers per person at least 6% lower than it was in 2010.”