The Conservative Party Manifesto 2019

TORY PARTY MANIFESTO - The independent charity Full Fact has scrutinised today’s Conservative manifesto launch.

On the cost of new nurses, of which the manifesto promises 50,000, Full Fact calculates that 50,000 extra nurses at pay band 5 (£24,000 per annum) would cost the NHS £2.8bn a year, when factoring in the costs of national insurance, pensions and training. The Conservatives claim their policy will cost the NHS £879m in 2023/24.

On increasing the number of police officers, Full Fact finds that the pledge would return the number of officers to almost, but not quite, the total there was in 2010. Between 2010 and 2019, the number of police officers in England and Wales fell by 20,752 - a 14% drop. 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 therefore leave the number of police officers per person at least 6% lower than it was in 2010.

The phrase “Get Brexit done” appears in the Conservative manifesto 22 times, but Brexit is a process, not an event. The UK will stop being a member of the EU if Johnson’s deal goes through, but negotiations with the EU on a future trade deal will take place across a transition period, during which time the UK will still follow EU rules and pay into the EU budget. Based on past deals, this may take years to negotiate.

On increased spending, the manifesto pledges £3bn of extra day-to-day spending by the final years of the next parliament - a figure that looks considerably smaller than pledges from other parties. But these figures aren’t necessarily comparable - the Conservatives did not include costings for every pledge in the manifesto; only for new spending announcements made since the election was called. So while the Conservatives plan to increase annual current spending by £3bn compared to what’s already been announced, the overall annual extra spend will be much higher than that. For example, the manifesto spending list omits its headline pledges on school funding, the NHS, and police officers.

Will Moy, Chief Executive of Full Fact, said:

In less than three weeks’ time, voters will make a decision that will affect their lives and communities. We all deserve information that is accurate and honest, which is why we and others must fully scrutinise the promises made by our politicians.

Candidates and parties are asking voters for their trust for the next five years, and like the other main parties, the Conservatives can do more to meet the standards we expect. Over the next few days we’ll be working with experts to scrutinise today’s claims in depth.

ABC comment, have your say below:

 PLEASE download below: